Tugboat Fish & Chips

The family that runs Tugboat in Carmichael are always very friendly and flexible. They have a very nice out door area you can eat, it is always clean and has condiments at the table. I highly recommend them!

I’m so not sure why I haven’t Unilocaled about this location sooner. We have been coming here for YEARS. We ABSOLUTELY love the at home welcoming, time after time. Very clean indoor and out dining areas. We love this small but welcoming location. The outside dining area is very nice for those who like dining outside during the nice days or beautiful nights. The owners are so nice and polite. They bring your food to you tableside as well.
The fish is of very fresh large size scrumptious portions ! I’m not complaining. not to mention comes with the fries. We normally eat three pieces each and I don’t like to talk while eating. I wouldn’t want any air occupying any space that the yummy crispy light battered fish can fill…
The battered zucchini is SO yummy, the prawns, onion rings, clam chowder. All item served here always taste so amazingly fresh… NEVER greasy. or tastes of old oil either.
Oh and you can watch them prepare your food right in the kitchen. Then there are the fried bananas. ooh wee. Complete!
If you don’t believe me… I challenge you, come on, try it. You absolutely won’t be disappointed.
Enjoy… All the items on the menu are well worth what your paying. Quality food

When it comes to fish and chips (which my wife an I enjoy frequently) this Tugboat is our favorite location. Everything is always fresh, the batter crispy and the service more than pleasant and cheery Nothing fancy here but we say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Covered outdoor dining. Don’t worry, someone will bring your order out when it’s ready. They have freezing cold beer etc., as well. Prices, I believe are about the same as at other fish and chip venues. Seems they usually throw in a little deep fried zucchini or some such too most of the time.
We live farther away now so it’s inconvenient to get out there, but well worth the trip. I’ve had the real thing in London, and this is every bit as good, perhaps better since here they don’t throw in the soggy canned peas. As one server in a pub said, «Want a few peas with your fish, love? I always have some myself.»

Avast there, Ishmael… AVAST there, Captain Ahab! The whale has eluded us again… I’m famished… AHOY! What’s that ahead? Is it Captain Nemo and The Nautilus? Is it Flipper? Is it Gilligan and The Skipper navigating The Minnow??? Is it Admiral Nelson and The Seaview??? It’s not Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss!!! Is it Ernest Borgnine climbing out of the SS Poseidon??? Is it a light… is it a lighthouse??? It can’t be Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner brawling atop «The Light At The Edge Of The World?!» NOOOOOoooooo… better yet… it’s TUGBOAT! Let’s batten down the hatches, stow the harpoons, and eat!
If you like stellar fish and chips then this is your place… consistently delicious food… the operators of this more than seaworthy ship are impeccably friendly, kind, polite, pleasant, and generous… no more to type… (maybe a bit more)… please, give them a try…
OH, the prawns are wonderful too!
Keep up the magnificent work, TUGBOAT crew! (HEY, that rhymes!)…
A+++

The owner was great has been for a long time. And the food was outstanding also I think if your in the area you should stop and get some great food

I drove by this a hundred times and never noticed it. They have some of the best fish and chips I’ve had! The batter was light and crispy, and the fries were great. You can tell the owners take pride in their restaurant.

Come here often, great food, great prices.
Their house tartar sauce is great: D
I bought a 3 piece fish & chips just now, and got what a restaurant would call eight pieces, so yeah. Thank you very much :)

The only negative about this place is how small it is on the inside, but there is a cute outdoor patio that makes up for that. The batter was so crunchy and yum. Really fresh tasting and the service was great!

Let’s face it these people know how to fry fish. You can tell that the oil is clean and fish comes out really tasty. It’s all quick and easy. Only complaint is that the portions have been consistently downsized. This restaurant is not cheap. They should have kept portion size right up there with the quality.

Fresh taste, friendly employees and owner. Ordered fish, prawns, fries, crab cake, and hush puppies.
We weren’t too fond of the crab cake, but everything else was delicious. Will come again!

A family owned business in Carmichael that feels like a trip to the beach as soon as you walk through the door. My family orders take-​out here maybe 5 – 6 times a year. It is the only place we go for take-​out fish and chips — and prawns and chicken with fish and chips — and onion rings… I’ve eaten inside here a few times, but it is a roadside dive no question. The main dining room is very small, but they have a tent adjoining the building for dine-​in customers. If you are expecting Red Lobster type accommodations, you aren’t in the right place. If you’ve been to a fish and chips neighborhood store in Leeds or Cornwall, England, you know exactly what kind of experience you’re getting. You’re getting fish and chips!
So why 5 stars? The good folks who own this place always go above and beyond predictable customer service. Quick story… My dad and I went there to pick up a take-​out order. They were a little backed up and busy. It was hot, hovering around the 100 degree mark outside, and standing-​room only in the dining room. Amidst the chaos, the cook in back saw my dad and I standing in the heat and quickly grabbed a couple of ice cold bottles of water and came out to the dining room, handed them to us and quickly returned to the kitchen. It is small things like that that score huge points. Not only that, it seems like every time we go there… We get something extra. Whether it is an onion ring on top of our order or a deep fried banana treat. They treat their customers right AND they serve up solid fried fish and seafood.
This is a great example of how to run a small business. I am so glad they are in the heart of Carmichael. Now some things you should be aware of. Parking is limited here. Also based on the direction you are coming from, turning into the business can be tricky. Be careful. All that aside, great place. Highly recommend!

Best fish and chips around hands down, my girlfriend brought me here for the first time under the pretext that they were the best and it was easy to agree once I had a taste. The service is great and the fish even better and to top it off an amazing fried banana! Its a small place but they make it work well!

First time there, had the fish and pawns. It was fantastic, I will definitely come back

Yes, as good as it gets, excellent fried fish, nice light batter, two crispy onion rings top
the fish and fries. The tartar sauce is very unique, in that it is a bottled white sauce, but
has all the flavors of tarter sauce without being able to see the traditional ingredients, same
with the cocktail sauce. So special. The cole slaw is done well, but I like a bit more tartness
in mine, so I just added a bit of malt vinegar and a bit of sugar and made it delicious. You too,
can doctor your food.
They management are very gentle, kind and attentive people, wishing to please and they do.
I have been offered a comp desert, but honestly a one piece (they add a little more) fish
dinner with fries and the onion rings fills me up for about $ 5.00. There is a tip JAR.
This is written after my third visit and food is consistently EXCELLENT.

We came to try out the amazing calamari, fish & chips… and fried banana! The place is pretty small but well-​lit at night. There are lots of parking spaces when the other businesses close for the night. You walk in and there are only 5 or 6 small tables inside but 3 picnic tables outside under a covered patio. If you look closely you will see that you are actually dining in what used to be the drive-​thru lane! Check it out! The covered patio doesn’t seem drafty or chilly.
So the folks who run this location are nice oriental folks. Boy do they know how to make fish & chips! We ordered a bulk order of 9 pieces of fish with french fries to match as well as an order of calamari and of course, the fried banana! Their drink selection is rather basic; ice tea, sodas, coffee and water. It took just a few minutes for our food to start arriving. The nice lady who took our order also was running the food, bussing the tables and doing the rest of the hard work. Each of my kids got their own fish basket and everything got divvied up amongst everyone. Mama got the majority of the calamari tho, I cannot lie. It was cooked just right, not greasy or chewy. Had a lot of flavour! The nice lady brought us out tarter sauce and ketchup. They DO have dark malt vinegar, you just need to ask. All of their fish were bigger pieces, deep fried in good oil… it didn’t taste like it had been cooked a hundred times and strained just as many! The fish had just the right amount of crunch without being soggy. The fries were equally as tasty. The calamari was tasty, the fried banana really is as good as the other reviewers say! Order it and I promise you wont regret it!!!

The first time we went there, we just loved it! But the last few times have led me to stop going there. Very little pieces off is with lots of gloppy batter. Deep fried batter is not what I want, let alone to pay fish weight for.

This is our go-​to spot in the Sacramento area for fish-​n-​chips. Food is always fresh, batter just right and the oil is always fresh not greasy. Great fries.
Calamari is like a steak cut into small pieces so I probably won’t order that again due to the style of calamari but their traditional fish and chips are spot on and hard to pass up for something else! The shrimp is tasty too.
The owner and his family… unbelievably nice and always a smile and so appreciative of your business! They always give you fried bananas at the end of your meal. And you get a few fried veggies with your fish. I have had zucchini spear, onion ring and carrots… A little bonus! Very clean. Cute little patio.
These folks aim to please and we have the SAME experience every time we go here. Probably 20 years now and I think that says a lot!

I have ventured out and tried the clam chowder on a cold evening and was unfortunately disappointed. This has been the only miss that I have had here and I really almost feel bad writing it but best let fellow Unilocaler know the fish and chips are amazing but clam chowder needs improvement. It was lacking in any real flavor and I actually got a lump of flour that didn’t get properly mixed in. At least the clams themselves were not old and fishy or gritty which I appreciate. I will not lower my rating overall for this establishment based on the excellent service this mom and pop place give and again the fish and chips are always amazing with extras always given free such as onion rings, tempura carrot, or the always famous fried banana.

So my fiancé show me this place for the first time about a month ago. It’s a small little place with the Nice atmosphere.
It’s affordable, clean, and the customer service is great. Food and tartar sauce is great and they also serve beer.
My new favorite place for fish and chips. I would recommend it to anybody that is looking for a nice hole in the wall place for fish and chips to go to.

Fast, friendly, not greasy over battered fish n chips. It’s been quite a while since I last had tug boat fish n chips. I was pleasantly surprised. They added a couple of onion rings on top of my fish n chip order. The gentleman who took my order even refilled my 2 pink lemonades that were to go. I was just so thirsty while waiting for my order and I guzzled both of them down. Lol It’s a small little shop. Looks like it might be a mom n pop shop. Anyway it’s not too far from where I live so I will definitely be back when the mood strikes.