Summerhays’s Halibut’n Chips

Waited for 20 min for my order. Wasn’t to busy. Maybe they only had one cook. Better was soggy and fish was dry. Over cooked. For a fish house I would think they know how to perfect the cooking. Took two bites and threw it away. Expensive for 2 pieces. Won’t be back. The positive
Customer service was great. Nice lady.

Friendly staff. Fulfilled the boyfriend’s fish and chips craving. I can’t say I would come back here, mostly because I just don’t eat fried food but once in a blue moon. I know this is a family establishment, so I hope it lasts.

This was absolutely awful fish n chips and being that is in the name I had high hopes. I must say I’m a tough critic of fish and chips but the fish must have been processed fish bought in and frozen and the fries were 100% processed standard frozen steak fries. Would never go back there again.

I am a big fish and chips kind of guy and when done right it is tough to beat. To say that I was unimpressed with Summerhays is an understatement. I was skeptical upon entering the restaurant when there were two other tables occupied during dinner time. This has usually been my first indicator that the food quality is not great though I have been surprised from time to time. I also noticed that anyone eating here is in the 70+ club. Now I don’t mind old people, but this is an old person joint… think Marie Calendars but with horrible tasting food. I ordered the 3 piece halibut and chips for roughly $ 16. The breading was soggy and I assume the fish had been sitting in a freezer prior to sitting on my plate. I also received a horrible tasting watered down salad that was probably sharing the same freezer with the fish. The fish offered by Skippers or even Arctic Circle is better quality. Save your money and dine elsewhere! I have always been pleased with the fish and chips at Market Street and they will run you roughly the same price. I will not be dining here again.

Went in on a day I was really craving clam chowder. The lady at the counter was super nice and very patient as I stood there looking at the menu deciding if I wanted anything else. Finally ordered clam chowder in a bread bowl and fries (thick steak fries). Took about 10 minutes and it smelled amazing. Soup was nice and thick. Fries were perfectly fried. Excellent meal. Will be going back and bringing people with me!

Terrible service at lunch. Will not return wait 20 minutes for cup of soup it appears to be fast food from exterior but clerk said fine dining. Terrible interior like dirty diner thick smell of grease. I hesitate to give one star

Excellent home made batter for the fish. I learned this is an old family receptor. Love the blue cheese dressing, homemade as well. Good wholesome food that satisfies. the specials are always delicious and will help you navigate away from the norm. I love this place!

In the past, the halibut served here was the BEST. Sadly, the portions are now smaller, the quality is now lower and the price keeps moving higher. Add a soggy salad to the mix and you get a disappointing meal. I’m hoping for a fix.

I never post reviews but people need to be warned… first the good .the place was clean and the counter service pleasant and the food hot
The bad however out ways the good… fries frozen not from real potatoes some kind of processed… not the ones pictured… the haddock was good but expensive and small portions the halibut was very very very dry my husband couldn’t eat it and I didn’t want more than the bite I took. the fry sauce and thousand island dressing were the same sauce and Mia clams in the clam chowder… for these horrible meals $ 25 with coupon… we won’t be back ever.

I’ve been coming here for over 5 years I think, well it has change so much in a bad way specially after the «Russian» kid left! He used to work here he was great! The quality of the food isn’t that good anymore… So sad :(today I had the worst Chowder ever it was cold from the fridge and I told them and they just putted it in the microwave and brought back o me haha yeah that wouldn’t happen before anyways I’m just sad I just to love this place…

I feel bad for writing a review like this because I know this is a small business and I’m not trying to cause it harm but I do feel my experience tonight necessitates this review…
Eating here was like a bad pending accident that you see coming with all the signs of forewarning that entails… It starts with a semi-​nice sign out front. Then you enter the establishment and I was immediately sucked back 30 years to my first Skippers experience. Yeah, that sensation and atmosphere at about a 25% amateur level. Cheap plastic birds on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. You want to call it cute kitschy, but in this case it just looks weird. That’s your dining hall to set the scene. The food? Wow. And not in a good way.
The menu is basic as it’s a fish and chips joint. However, when trying to determine if it was made here vs. say, overnighted from mainland (insert exotic foreign locale here) we made the mistake of asking if it was «made here» without also asking «from scratch»… It isn’t. When we got our two piece cod fish and chip meal with «made here» cole slaw I couldn’t believe how small the fish part of the meal was. It took us until half way through the meal to realize that the pile of shredded cabbage with some sort of sauce on it was actually the «made here» cole slaw. I thought it was a condiment/​garnish. The shrimp and halibut fish tacos were tiny and it looked as if the contents came straight from the frozen seafood section of the local Wal-​Mart. The «made here» clam chowder tasted and looked like it just come from the canned section of the same store. The steak fries on the side could be counted on two hands.
Maybe all this would be semi-​passable if it was a cheap meal. But two dishes (one of them, the tacos a Tuesday special with the chowder) and a side of fries w/​no drinks ran up to $ 20 for almost no food. This is easily one of the worst food experiences (not service, which was fine) I’ve ever had and has prompting the longest Unilocal review I’ve ever written. Still, as we were eating, there was a steady stream of (olderish) people coming in to eat here. How do people still tolerate paying and eating for food this bad in this day and age? A fast food joint would have been significantly better then this. Anyway, I feel bad for writing this review… But food this bad — again not service, which was competent — at this price, deserves it. Sorry but it’s true.

I don’t always get fish N Chips, but when i am in that mood for them I go to here! Good size and great mix of flavor! Always recommend it!

Solid fish, well cooked, the chips are your standard Sysco steak fries. 3 pieces of halibut, a small handful of fries and a cabbage salad was $ 15.
I won’t be coming back, it’s too much to pay.

If you want great fish this is place. I like that they do not try to cover up that it is fish with a bunch of spices. My husband & I love going to San Fran to eat fresh fish. When we are here this place is THE BEST!

Um, I’ve eaten here three times in two weeks. (I kept recruiting more family members.) My husband and I split the coconut shrimp and halibut (3 shrimp, 2 big pieces of halibut, chips, and cole slaw). It’s plenty of food for two, and a total NOMfest. Five stars.

Who doesn’t like fried fish? I appreciate a place that specializes in such a simple pleasure. It’s a simple food but it requires some finesse.
One of the aspects that I really enjoy is that the fish inside the fried shell is dense and flaky. Because it’s halibut you’re getting a nice, meaty fish that’s packed with flavor. Other places fry cod which is much cheaper. While I’ll still enjoy fried cod, this is a higher quality offering. I chose to upgrade my fries to a fried mashed potato. It cost $ 2 more. Coleslaw is a house specialty. It’s not marinated, it’s served more like a salad. The dressing is very nice, it cuts the heaviness of all of the fried items pleasantly.
Looks like a glowing review up to this point, why only three stars? The price. For two people to eat well it costs $ 35. Plastic baskets and paper cups burn your hands when you’ve spent that much. You need real plates if you drop that much cash. I was looking around for my cloth napkins and waiter but found it to still be a counter-​service strip mall restaurant.

I was rather looking forward to this place, as I’d recently been looking for a place slinging up fish & chips in a more manageable setting than MacCool’s. Given that it’s been around a while, I had sort of high hopes and drove down to the shambles of town that this place resides in. Inside, it took me a minute to decide if the prices were an elaborate joke and then I got to wondering if the person putting them up had a hard time keeping a straight face. Nevertheless, I hoped for the best and got the namesake dish and a side of calamari.
The calamari tasted suspiciously fresh-​from-​frozen, though the cocktail sauce was decent. The halibut itself was very good, though the breading was quite bland and the chips were nothing more than inconsistently cooked steak fries. There is very little to say, other than that. All of it, save the fries, was cooked decently, though. They also have my beloved Coke Zero.
Décor here is very cool, though I hate the metal tables with the sharp corners. Couldn’t think up a more annoying place to put styrofoam drink cups, I guess. The layout is also sort of odd, but kind of quaint. Staff was also very friendly and definitely the highlight of the visit.
Basically, this is a «tried that, now it’s over» kind of place and if you’re going here, pack a strong wallet and forget about anything even remotely healthy once you get past the front doors.

They were out of chicken strips (a big group of kids wiped them out) so I tried a sandwich. It was just ok – the bread was dry and the cheese was processed American. The turkey, avocado and bacon were fresh and generous. The thousand island or Louie dressing for their tossed salad was flavorful. Same with tartar sauce.
The root beer was flat and watery.
My husband said the batter for his haddock was thick and doughy, not light and crispy like before. The fries were good. Their coleslaw has a tangy vinegar dressing which is healthier than creamy dressing.
The cashier was friendly. The booths and tables were clean. Fun décor and music.

I am, probably to a fault, a clam chowder snob. I’ve had Filipino clam chowder in Manila, clam chowder from every vendor on Fisherman’s Wharf in Frisco, and the same on the waterfront in Seattle. Boston. Scottish. English. Italian. To say I love clam chowder is an understatement. I adore it. If it were the only food left in the world, I’d die a happy camper. Summerhays’ clam chowder, while not the best I’ve had, is in my top five favorites. It was quite a surprise to find that here in Utah there is a place to satisfy my chowder craving. Every other place I’ve tried here in the The Great Wasteland has been mediocre at best… hardly worthy of the name «clam chowder».
Then there’s the halibut. Every time, the quote from Monty Python’s «The Life of Brian» jumps to mind: «All l said was that this halibut was good enough for Jehovah!» And Summerhays’s halibut is that. They serve haddock as well, but I’ve never tried it. I prefer my fish to be light and flaky, not oily and heavy which haddock and cod tend to be. Halibut is pricey, yes, but well worth the extra moola.
I’ve read the other reviews on here, and all I can say is that the haters are amateur fish and chip folks. They must be used to mass produced stuff like you find at Red Lobster. Well, folks, Summerhays isn’t Red Lobster. It’s a little slice of authentic Heaven. Take my word for it… if I had all the money I’ve ever spent in fish and chips shops around the world I’d be a much, much wealthier man.

Talk about «mixed reviews???» I don’t doubt anyone’s related stories, and resulting opinions. I do wonder if there’s been a change in service and/​or food? We were missing our «regular fix» at Ivar’s in the Seattle area; our favorite chain fish and chips shoppe. We’re «Ivar’s Fans!» So we tend to compare anyone’s fish and chips to Ivar’s «cod based» faire. We enjoyed our visit to Summerhay’s.
PLEASE NOTE THAT SUMMERHAY’S SERVES HALIBUT… NOT COD.
Cod is «fish-​ier», and more moist… because it’s an oilier fish. Halibut is dryer, and has a different texture. But many like that lighter flavor and cleaner mouth-​feel. I wouldn’t compare the two directly.
I’m going with 4-​stars; good service and good food that satisfied our expectations. The GM was at the counter, (has been there 10 years!), and greeted us with a smile, walked us through the menu, and followed it up by bringing us some extra condiments at the table. I should add there were only two other tables when we arrived in the mid afternoon.
We ordered the 2-​piece and 3-​piece «fish n chips.» My wife modified her order with «British chips»… (lightly battered and fried potato bits)… in place of the traditional French fries, and «mashed sweet potato with sweet butter on the side» in place of their cole slaw. I took the cole slaw, which as others have said, is basically cabbage with a vinegar-​citrus dressing; no dairy. (My wife liked it, and I enjoyed the unique slaw prep.)
Overall, we were very satisfied. I barely finished the 3-​piece order, as each fish serving was «ample.» And yes… if back in SLC, and in the area, we’d «do it again!»