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It’s been a good time and a long time for the Gibsons on the Saskatoon restaurant scene.

Gibson’s Fish and Chips celebrates 60 years of service to the city. Four generations of Gibsons have cut potatoes and made dough at the restaurant, now located near the intersection of Eighth Street East and Louise Avenue.

This week, the family settlement reached its latest milestone.

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“It seems like it’s been a long time,” Jonathan Gibson said.

But life goes by in a hurry, he added.

Gibson said his father started the business, and now the grandchildren help out at the restaurant.

Those 60 years in business didn’t come without hard times, but they worked hard and had to stay when times got toughhe said.

“Restaurants have changed a lot in Saskatoon.”

Gibson said there is now a greater variety of restaurants in the city, but the cost of running a restaurant has gone up, so smaller ones are becoming more common.

He has been working at Gibson’s Fish and Chips since he was 13 and will be celebrating his 70th birthday soon.

“Don’t give up on what you want to do and what you believe in,” he said. “Know that if you do your best, there are rewards along the way.

“Running your own business is a challenge and the hours you put in and you hope you’re doing the right thing.”

He noted that the batter made for the fish and chips has been passed down through the family for 60 years.

“We’ve been blessed,” he said.

“We are very thankful and very grateful for the customers who have supported us.”

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Gibson said anyone starting a business right now is on the path to action, and Gibson’s is very fortunate to have a fan base built over six decades.

“We have this broad customer base that spans Saskatoon and across the province,” he said, adding that people have come from the United Kingdom and the United States to try their fish and chips.

Until about 25 years ago, the restaurant was open seven days a week.

“Many times when we took vacations, I would send my wife on vacation with the kids, but I was working here,” he recalled.

He said they eventually decided to take some time off each year to spend with family, hoping customers would return when they returned. The business now takes Sundays off, which Gibson calls a luxury.

“I look at other small restaurants and the hours they put in, the amazing amount of hours they put in,” he said. “I feel very fortunate to know that I put in those hours in my first 30 years.”

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