News / fish and chips
Popular fish and chip shop returns to Filton
Nick Lomvardos is no stranger to the fish and chip shop business, working in his father Stamatis’ shop, the Jolly Fryer from age 18 alongside his two brothers, Andreas and Spiros.
The family have owned the shop since 1986, serving the people of north Bristol for more than 30 years.
Following the retirement of Stamatis in 2005, the brothers took over the Jolly Fryer, before Nick opened his own shop, the award-winning Bishopston Fish Bar on Gloucester Road, while Andreas and Spiros continued to maintain the original Jolly Fryer until 2018.
is needed now More than ever
“We’ve been here for 36 years,” Nick said.
“After dad passed away about four years ago, my brothers basically didn’t want to do fish and chips anymore, and I’d already left by then to run my own shop on Gloucester Road.
The outside of the Jolly Fryer on Filton Avenue – photo: Nick Lomvardos
“I came back and decided to rename it and opened up. That was in October, then the next year was when Covid hit, so I went over to Greece to see my fiancée, and after a couple of weeks, we found out that she had cancer.
“So, I decided I had a choice, to either come back, or close the shops and stay with her, so I thought, well, I had to stay with her.”
“But the staff wouldn’t let me close, they said they’d rather stay open and keep a shop going.”
Nick, 51, ended up staying in Greece for 14 months. When his fiancée recovered, they returned to the UK and Nick took up his post at the family business once again.
“While I was away, people didn’t realise that our family still owned the business, they thought somebody else had it. Fourteen months is a hell of a long time. People were coming in, didn’t see me or any of my family, just everything else was the same.
“So that’s the thing. So what I’m trying to say now to people is the Jolly Fryer that is part of our family is still in our family even though none of my family are involved, it’s just me, that’s it.
“So I decided. Thursday is the big night, free chips with every order, so hopefully it’s going to be, you know, we’ll be back to the good old days. It’s always going to be the Jolly Fryer.”
The ‘new’ Jolly Fryer will be “traditional but with a twist”, with the shop set to be offering the likes of halloumi, steamed and grilled fish, and gluten-free dishes alongside the traditional favourites, with Nick aiming to replicate his prize-winning fish and chips from his shop on Gloucester Road.
Thursday, November 24 marks the official relaunch of the Jolly Fryer, and to mark the occasion, Nick will be giving all of his customers a free portion of chips with every order.
Main photo: George Townsend
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