A favorite Fort Worth fish-and-chips restaurant is open again
When Zeke’s Fish & Chips opened in 1971 in west Fort Worth, humans were still going to the moon, teenagers were cruising Camp Bowie Boulevard in their Fords, and a generation moved to rock music from Woodstock.
All that has changed.
Except for Zeke’s.
More than 50 years later, Zeke’s remains trapped in another era, and thank goodness.
Westsiders felt a disturbance in the force last month when the restaurant, 5920 Curzon Ave., needed brief repairs after a small kitchen fire.
It reopened this week virtually unchanged, except for the fresh coat of paint that covered the original 1970s brown interior and 1992 clippings of “Eats Beat.”
The restaurant still serves picture-perfect fried or baked cod, plus catfish, shrimp, oysters and gumbo, all served to the tune of classic rock.
The all-around favorites are the addictive munchies straight out of the 1970s like fresh-cut fried okra, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant and corn nuggets.
I know. Zeke’s has changed owners — twice, actually. There is no shortage of Fort Worth residents who want to dwell on How It Used To Be.
But honestly, Zeke’s has changed less in 54 years than almost any other restaurant.
Along the way, the Dallas Observer declared Zeke’s as North Texas’ “God of Cod” and Forbes ranked it on a national list of America’s “Best Eats for the Buck.”
Zeke’s is now often listed among Texas’ iconic restaurants, along with Carshon’s Delicatessen and Kincaid’s Hambugers.
The primary reason: big, fluffy North Atlantic cod fillets.
There’s history here. The location near Camp Bowie Boulevard at Bryant Irvin Road actually has been home to fish-and-chips restaurants since 1967, starting with the Jolly Friar.
Swiss-born Otto Zurcher, a former chef at the Ritz-Carlton in New York working here on recipes at Burris Mills, put his flour-and-batter expertise to work opening Zeke’s. Then he sold it almost immediately to brothers Craig and Mark Lidell. who in turn sold it last year to Danny Ghimire.
The cod fillets aren’t like the huge haddock planks seen in the Northeast, but they’re easier to handle. And they’re just as good with malt vinegar or the excellent, house-made mustard-tinged tartar sauce.
Do not be distracted at Zeke’s. The fried catfish, oysters and shrimp are fine, but lots of other restaurants serve good fried catfish, oysters and shrimp.
Besides the fried cod and veggies, Zeke’s also excels at baked cod or catfish dinners (less than $15), creamy shrimp-and-okra gumbo and an unexpectedly good chicken salad sandwich.
The desserts are just enough.
Small pecan brownies, chocolate chip-pecan “Tugboat Annie” bars and butterscotch-toasted coconut magic bars sell for less than $2, an absolute bargain in an age of $5 and $7 desserts. Order all three.
Zeke’s is open for lunch and dinner daily; 817-731-3321, zekesfishandchips.com.
This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 4:51 AM.
