One of Victoria’s oldest restaurants, known for serving UK-style fish and chips, is closing its doors at the end of the month.
Old Vic Fish & Chips, located in the 1300-block of Broad Street, has been a staple of Victoria’s food scene for over 90 years, with the latest owners having run the restaurant for the past two years.
Cindy Qin and Gary Grroth took over the restaurant that was popular with downtown locals and tourists alike in a difficult time. The pandemic showed little signs of slowing and it was known that the building was going to be developed at some point, they just didn’t know how soon that would be.
“We knew something was going to happen but we didn’t know it would be that fast,” said Qin.
“When we took over they said there would be another public hearing about the building and last year the plans were approved and they’re going to make it into a hotel.”
The Ducks Building that Old Vic resides in is owned by UVic by way of UVic Properties who manage real estate to financially support the costs of running the university.
The City of Victoria made a stipulation in the decision to turn the building into a hotel. It was decided that the Ducks Building’s facade must be kept intact.
Qin said the property manager of the building has now issued all tenants a notice that they must be gone by the end of May at the latest.
This means that Saint Franks, VibeStreet Dance Studio and El Patron Barber Shop will also have to be gone by the end of May.
“I don’t want to just wait around for three months, so I made the decision to close at the end of this month,” Qin told Victoria Buzz.
“It was a hard decision to make,” she exclaimed.
The last day of service at Old Vic Fish & Chips will be January 28th which will give her a few days to clean up and move out.
Qin said she and Grroth looked for a new place within Victoria but couldn’t find anything suitable for their business.
“I don’t want to give up,” Qin said. “I tried searching in the downtown area but I either didn’t like anywhere or it was too much and I can’t afford it.”
She also put in the work to search for a new place in other areas of Victoria but nothing was the right fit for Old Vic Fish & Chips.
Qin said that if she does find a place, she will let her customers know, but wasn’t sure if it would happen or not.
