English seaside town is home to world’s largest fish and chips shop – it’s on the beach with 60-year-old ‘secret recipe’
CLEETHORPES is home to the world’s largest fish and chips shop.
The chippy, called Papa’s Cleethorpes, sits on the pier with views over the North Sea, and can seat over 500 people at a time.
The chippy sits on Cleethorpes Pier and is known for its family-recipe crispy batter, which they list on the menu as “secret recipe batter.”
Papa’s Fish and Chips has been serving customers for four generations, starting in 1966.
The fish and chips shop took over the Cleethorpes Pier in 2017.
It’s rated as the top chippy in Cleethorpes and was shortlisted in the top 10 for the 2019 Seafish National Fish & Chip Awards.
At Papa’s Cleethorpes, you can get a small haddock with chips for £8.99.
They also serve a traditional Hull pattie, a variation of pies, seafood platter, salmon skewers, salads and burgers.
For seniors, they offer a two-course meal which is either fish, patties, or sausages with chips followed by ice cream or sponge pudding and custard for dessert, all for £8.99.
For vegans, they also have “tofish” and chips – which is fried tofu.
Drinks-wise, they offer soft and hot drinks, wine, beer, cocktails and Prosecco.
For anyone who has a particularly fond time at the chippy, you can even buy yourself a souvenir from t-shirts to caps and a teddy bear.
Visitors rate the chippy highly too, one wrote on Tripadvisor “Best fish and chips I’ve ever had, I will definitely be back when I’m next in Cleethorpes. Reasonably priced as well so what else is there to say?”
Another wrote: “Amazing fish and chips, best I have ever tasted. And wow the tartar sauce is unbelievable.”
Cleethorpes is home to one of the smallest pubs in the UK.
The Signal Box Inn measures just 8ft by 8ft (2.4m x 2.4m), but luckily, it does have a beer garden that can fit up to 200 punters.
The pub can only seat four people inside along with two bar staff who serve a range of real ales, lagers and ciders.
The former train station Signal Box was originally at Scunthorpe Steelworks but was moved to Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway in 1995.
It was transformed into a pub in 2006.
Jordan Blake who is the Assistant Commercial Manager of Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway previously told Sun Online Travel: “The Signal Box opened in 2006, in an attempt to draw more tourists in to visit the railway.
“Inside the pub, there are just four small bar stools and once they are all in use it becomes quite a squeeze.
“But our outdoor beer garden has a capacity for a couple of hundred people.”
Inside is a range of drinks from local breweries like Docks Beer and Horncastle Ales.
Over 100 different ales were featured in 2024.
Plus, this pretty ‘seaside’ town is one hour from London has a popular fish and chips shop and an 800-year-old pub.
And here’s another fish and chip shop that is so good, Americans have it on their bucket list.
50 Best Takeaway Fish and Chips
Here is where you can find the best takeaway fish and chip shops in the UK…
- Ainsworth’s Fish & Chips, Caernarfon
- Angel Lane Chippie, Penrith, Cumbria
- Angell’s Fisheries, Newark, Nottinghamshire
- Batterfly Fish & Chips, Surbiton, Surrey
- Bredon Village Fish and Chip Shop, Bredon, Worcestershire
- Callaway’s Fish & Chips, Dorchester, Dorset
- Churchill’s Fish & Chips Langney, Eastbourne, East Sussex
- Farnham’s at Fontygary, Rhoose, Vale Of Glamorgan
- Fiddlers Elbow, Leintwardine, Herefordshire
- Fintans Fish & Chip Co. Llanishen, Cardiff
- Fishnchickn, Hutton, Brentwood, Essex
- French’s Fish Shop, Wells next the Sea, Norfolk
- Garioch Fish Bar, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire
- Greg & Lou’s, Redruth, Cornwall
- Henley’s of Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex
- Hiks, Brynhyfryd, Swansea
- Hirds Family Fisheries, Halifax, West Yorkshire
- Howe & Co 55, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
- Joe’s Traditional Fish and Chips, Strabane , County Tyrone
- Kellaway’s Fish and Chips, Truro, Cornwall
- Kirbys of Horsforth, Horsforth , Leeds
- Kirbys of Meanwood, Meanwood, Leeds
- Lighthouse Fisheries Of Flamborough, Flamborough, East Yorkshire
- Malt and Anchor, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
- Moore’s Fish & Chips, Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway
- Oysters Fish & Chips, Lightwater, Surrey
- Oysters Fish & Chips, Marlow Bottom, Buckinghamshire
- Pennington Plaice, Leigh, Greater Manchester
- Pier Point, Torquay, Devon
- Pisces, Fleetwood, Lancashire
- Portside Fish & Chips, South Elmsall, Leeds
- Portside Fish & Chips, Kirkstall Road, Leeds
- Quintiliani’s Fast Food, Hamilton, Larkhall, South Lanarkshire
- Redcloak Fish Bar , Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire
- Sea Blue Fisheries, Clowne, Derbyshire
- Sea Salt + Sole, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire
- Seafront Chippy, Hornsea, East Yorkshire
- Shappy Wheels, Shap, Cumbria
- Shaws Fish And Chips, Dodworth, Barnsley, South Yorkshire
- Squires, Braunton, Devon
- Sykes Fish and Chips, Manchester
- The Anchor, Bexley, South East London
- The Bearded Sailor, Pudsey, Leeds, West Yorkshire
- The Cafe Royal, Annan, Dumfries and Galloway
- The Chippie Van, Penrith, Cumbria
- The Codfather, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
- The Fish at Goose Green, Wigan, Greater Manchester
- The Fish Bank, Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire
- The Friary, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim
- The Hook of Clacton, Clacton on Sea, Essex
- The Oyster Shell, Bath, Somerset
- The Village Fish & Chips, Petts Wood, Orpington, Kent
- Town Street Fryer, Marple Bridge, Stockport, Cheshire
- Two Gates Fisheries, Shafton, Barnsley, South Yorkshire