Pete’s Fish & Chips

I can get better fish and chips in the frozen food section at Walmart. I went here for the first time today. I was told by a couple of people at work it was great!
Absolutely not. I had the fish and shrimp. It’s all over battered frozen crap that grocery stores sell.
And the Petes sauce! Seriously. It’s ketchup with a tiny bit of horseradish in it. And isn’t good at all. Basically it’s wanna be cocktail sauce.
In my opinion one of the worst places I have eaten in a long time.

I was debating between giving two or three stars with this review. I really really really REALLY dislike going to places that are «cash only». It is 2015! I am normally not carrying cash on me. It truly fathoms me that any restaurants are still cash only in this day and age. Pete’s is a chain, so one would think that they could figure out a pricing model that allows them to start accepting plastic.
I settled on the two star review because I feel like the employees want you to have the most inconvenient experience as possible. If you are going with someone and want to pay separate they will not let you do so. It’s really not that hard to do separate checks. I can see not letting customers get crazy with several different orders, but two separate orders should be totally doable.
As for the food, it really is very good. I always get the chicken tenders and fries. The red sauce is amazing! I just wish the service was on the same level so it would be more convenient to visit this restaurant.

I love this place! I’ve been come here since I was 13yrs old. The location was on VanBuren and 40^th street, which is no longer there. Now that I live on the west side of town I go the the Glendale location. The patio eating area is huge and clean. I go to a fish and chips place and get a monster burger, WHAT??? The simplicity of a meet patty, onions, pickles and mustered is tasty. The fish and shrimp are a must you can’t leave without having a little bit of everything. The sauce is flavorful, its a little spicy and sweet at the same time. No ketchup here.

If you feel comfortable being surrounded by diabetic sparrows, gang tattooed pigeons, piranha flies, tasteless mustard pickle hamburgers, limp Grade B fries and a spicy hot slick tasting red sauce, this is your kind of place. I pity the customer that said ««Kinda funny going to a fish and chips joint just for the monster burger», guess he has never tried an IN & Out Double Burger with all the trimmings. Guess I should have just ordered the fish and gone somewhere else for fries, ketchup. If you are going to order a drink, make sure you tell them NO ice since you want be getting a refill when they load you drink with ice and ½ cup of soda. Who doesn’t do drink refills these days? Pete’s!

Great food eat here all the time prices are great! The food tastes great and I have never had a better experience here great!

HEY all you Unilocalers out there…
Howz come it always seems that whenever a restaurant, diner or eatery hits on a successful recipe they wanna tweek it? Even a lowly place like Pete’s is no exception. Years ago, back in the 60’s, they hit on one at Pete’s. The fried shrimps were outstanding! Nice large juicy shrimps coated in a light crispy batter similar to tempura made it destination dining. Being inexpensive and delicious they appealed to the masses. When I returned from a tour in the USMC, it was beckoning for me to return. Went to the one on South Central and ordered a large shrimp and chips only to find heavily battered deep fried minced shrimps. Disappointed I ate them anyways.
Soon, I got used them and continued to go to Pete’s. Now fast forward to the present.
They are now mass produced minced shrimps coated with bread crumbs then stamped into the shape of a shrimp and deep fried, identical to frozen ones found at any grocery store except they are now more expensive and come with only a handful of
French fries! So sad, not likely to return unless someone else picks up the tab. I never turn down free food usually!
Progress? Bah!
2 stars for the food being hot and convenient.

Quite simply heroin with fins served just for you.
Yes it’s that good.
It will make you want to come back and not have that ugh feeling after eating there.

Some of the best shrimp and chips I have ever had. I’ve been coming here since I was little and every time I come back to town I always stop here. The shrimp is always good and the sauce is delicious. Definitely going to buy some sauce to go before I leave town again

I’m from Tucson AZ so they don’t have a Pete’s fish & chips there so since I moved to phx I tried this place since my gf recommended it and now I love it and like eating here!!!

We love Petes Fish N Chips. We enjoy being in downtown Old Glendale. Good food good prices.

I don’t get Pete’s at all… It’s like one afternoon someone walked into Costco, bought a bunch of frozen bags and started a fish n chips chain, and people line up for it?! First the fish… Preformed frozen patties. Crispy, but completely boring. Fries… Frozen standard boring fries. The special secret sauce… (Secret revealed!) a mix of ketchup and cocktail sauce. There’s nothing really horrible about any of it, it’s just plain, boring frozen food that’s been deep fried. The only reason people really come here is because you get a lot of food for the price.

Always on point, I’ve been coming to Pete’s since I was little. Of course it’s fried food which isn’t good for you but it always hits the spot when it’s cheat day. The sauce is the best!

Hated the monster burger the meat looked and tasted old as shit it was hard and just nasty. .shrimp was to breaded and got me sick fish was ok but really the only thing that tasted ok was the fries… I will never go back and would never recommend it

The food is good. It’s always busy. I just wish they’d accept debit cards. The shrimp is my fav!

I am completely baffled by why anyone would stick a «I am addicted to Pete’s Fish & Chips» bumper sticker on their car. Though all my friends swear by it, the one is in Glendale is not all that great compared to the others, and I have visited the others. This family owned money laundering operation has been operated since 1947. Why do I say that?
#1.) They only take cash
#2.) They have ATM machines outside 6 of their 8 locations. They don’t take your card but they got a machine to take your card. How much $$ is the bank paying the business to have those machines on site.
#3.) Aside from money laundering by ONLY taking cash, how much of it is being reported to the IRS?
My friends also said they happen to give people who have just got out of jail/​prison a chance, which I am all for that, but you have no idea what type of blackmailing those owners or managers can do to get those individuals paroles revoked. Remember in Bound by Honor when Miklo was going straight and the owner of the tire company was cutting his wages from his check for the owner’s gambling debts?
Hm. not accusing anyone of anything, I just can see through it. Enough about that.
I am surprised how long a line of cars down Glendale are lined up to buy Petes, mainly during Lent. the place is packed. but the food. not so good. Why people prefer to waste money here is beyond me.
The piece of fish tastes like paper card board. It is a piece of square that has been filleted and deep frieds. Good luck finding the shrimp among all the bread. The fries, blah soggy and sometimes cold. Never freshly made. It all lacks flavors. No salt in anything! I assume the reason behind that is so that you purchase more Pete’s sauce which consists of water downed ketchup mixed with Tapatio sauce. I’m like duh, you don’t think some of us would not figure that one out? I paid extra for tarter sauce that I never received, and I was already home before I noticed.
Makes me wonder if the extra change I paid for, for the tartar sauce, was pocketed and never rang up. hmmm Anyways.
It’s not the same Pete’s Fish and Chips I grew up on. Though it is close to where I live, Petes Fish and Chips needs to start taking it to another level before I return.

Just. Simply. Discusting.
The worst fish and chips I every had. I only went cause it was my wife’s spot when she was a kid but never again will I step foot near this place again. The fries, onion rings, fish where just gross. Over fried and no taste. Only decent thing would be the shrimp and sauce thag they have.
Oh and remember your own rag to clean your own table and bring your own napkins too.

It’s been years since stopped in here. I was looking for fish and it was handy. The fish was fine. I would have preferred the fries a little more crispy. Still not a fan of their sauce but the batter on the fish has enough seasoning I don’t really need a sauce. The price was reasonable for my 3 piece lunch and in fact I would have been fine with only the 2 piece meal. I’ll be back quicker than I was last time.

We decided to come here for the first time. We had drove by a bunch, but never actually stopped in. We would’ve been better off saving our money and just spending $ 10 at the grocery store in the freezer isle. Everything is bland, hard, and mostly batter compared to the fish or shrimp inside. The only good thing is the sauce but that’s cause sauce can mask any crappy food. Never again… So so so disappointed!

Now a lot of local residents will exclaim, «Pete’s Fish and Chips is the BEST!» but I will have to markedly DISAGREE. It is one of the ONLY fish restaurants in the area but honestly you are better off with a chain like Red Lobster than going here.
Originally from Southern California, I was craving fish after moving to Arizona so I asked colleagues where to find good fish. They recommended Pete’s. I ordered a TON of food in anticipation. I was disappointed with everything I ordered. Does NOT taste fresh, breading is HORRIBLE and you need hot sauce to cover up the fishy taste and flavor of what they serve. Extremely disappointed.
If you’ve lived in the desert your ENTIRE life and never ventured elsewhere or really don’t know what fresh fish is MAYBE (highly doubtful) you will enjoy Pete’s. If you are from the coast, don’t waste your money!
Oh, and if you go, bring CASH. They don’t take debit cards because… hmmmm. mmmm…actually I can’t think of a reason? Oh wait! I think they make money off you using their cash machine… SWEET!(for them).

This place was a super big let down. Frozen fish squares? Cold unsalted fries? Flat pop? Frozen burger patties? And a burrito that looked like someone just popped open a banquet meal and pulled one out. The banquet would probably be better. Should have known the universe was trying to tell me to leave when they only take cash. It’s the 21^st century. Get with it. If you are looking for a better fish sandwich you’ll have better luck at mcdonalds.