| The Magpie Café | |
| City: | Whitby |
| County: | North Yorkshire |
| Country: | England |
| Street-Address: | 14 Pier Road |
| Postcode-Type: | Postcode |
| Postcode: | YO21 3PU |
| Food-Type: | Seafood (fish and chips) |
| Website: | http://www.magpiecafe.co.uk |
| Coordinates: | 54.4892°N -0.6149°W |
| Mapframe: | yes |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 15 |
The Magpie Café is a seafood restaurant in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1937,[1] but its building dates back to the 18th century, when it was a merchant's house.[2] [3]
The Magpie Café was founded in 1937. Ian Robson, the current owner, began working there as a fish fryer in 1979.[4]
The restaurant is known for its fish and chips,[5] and has been described as a "bloody good fish and chip shop".[6] The restaurant won a Coast Award for being best fish and chip shop of 2007. The restaurant has faced complaints from local businesses for its long queues.[7] It sources its fish from the local Fishery Lockers Fish.[8]
In 2023, the Magpie was rated 10/10 by British YouTuber Danny Malin host of Rate My Takeaway.
Two fires in the space of 24 hours caused the Magpie Café to close for repairs in May 2017,[9] reopening in December 2017.[10] The first fire started at 10 pm on 30 April 2017, seven fire engines attended. It was likely caused by a grease build up in an electrical extraction flue in the roof, it damaged the top floor customer toilets. The second fire started at 2:30 pm, this time completely gutted the restaurant roof and lower floors except the kitchen and take away shop.[11] The cause was likely pointed to burning embers not extinguished the day before. In July 2017, a major repair began to rebuild the restaurant before it reopened in December that same year.[12]