A UK dad took his four children on a long drive to have lunch at the viral fish & chips shop but, after reaching there after almost five and a half hours, found it closed.
Simon Harris from Hockley Essex told The Mirror that he saw on TikTok that the food outlet had gone viral and everybody was going there. He said he wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Moreover, his kids, who love watching TikTok, were also excited to try out the popular eatery.
“The kids were more excited than I was to go to the chippy. Luke and Emma love watching TikTok videos.
“I save a lot of videos for them to watch. Said Simon.
“There was one point where you couldn’t move for Binley Mega Chippy videos with that catchy tune. They were all singing the song.
“I was quite weary about the cars and car meets there, I’ve seen videos on TikTok of people doing burnouts and I wanted to get there early in the day before it closed.”
So, the dad and his four kids, Luke, Emma, James, and Thomas, headed out to have lunch at Binley in Coventry. Before leaving, he checked on Google, which said the shop would be open on Sunday.
“There were four or five other groups of people there, too, who had obviously done the same thing.”
“There’s a sign saying closed on Sundays, but on Google, it says open.
He told The Mirror that although they enjoyed their time as it was an experience for all of them, it was a little embarrassing too.
“It was a little bit disappointing. We walked around there and had giant pizzas, so it wasn’t a wasted journey.”
“To be fair, I was just glad we were there.” Simon continued. “I was glad the kids took it so well, it was great to be there and get a couple of pics of it.”
“The owner came out and thanked us for the support and was in disbelief over the popularity the place has got.”
The 38-year-old Harris, who runs a blog called Man Behaving Badly, said he loved trying out new places, and despite having this whole experience of going all the way to Coventry and not getting any food at Binley, he would do it again.
“People were saying ‘why are you wasting petrol,’ ‘why are you dragging kids halfway over the country,’ and that ‘we’re going through a cost-of-living crisis.’”
“The kids wanted to be there. You can’t do anything these days, on the internet or in general. I don’t know what it is, it’s just a day out with the kids. It’s not like I went out for afternoon tea with the Taliban, we just went out.”
Meanwhile, Binley Mega Chippy Owner Kamal Gandhi, who’s nearly 70 years old, said that he started Binley almost seven months ago but made thirty percent more profit than usual in the last month, and that’s because of TikTok.
“The whole thing has gone crazy. Everyone who comes here is very excited, and we love giving them what they want, which is great food. I hope this is no flash in the pan, and they keep coming back.”
He said that ever since the eatery became viral, people are coming from far away places like Australia and Texas to try its food.
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Images & Featured Images Credits: Simon Harris / SWNS via The Mirror
