Family-run fish and chip restaurant opens in former Hemsworth YMCA after planning battle

Huby’s, owned by Dee and Mark Huby, has welcomed its first customers to the former YMCA building on Grove Lane following a soft opening.

The restaurant – with a full title of Huby’s Fish and Chips at the YMCA – was approved at the second attempt after a long planning prcoess.

Dee and Mark said they invested all their savings into transforming the building. It was a long and emotional journey to get the restaurant up and running.

Dee said: “The building was exactly what we were looking for. We invested all our cash.

“The problem was an impact assessment with a question about what it will have on people eating healthily. It went on and on and on.

“Now we’ve got there we’re quite emotional. It’s been a lot of hard graft. I think the community need it from what people say on Facebook. Somewhere they can go.

“If it was an occassion like your mum’s 50th birthday, you could fit everyone in.”

The business has been in the Huby family for four generations, with its roots dating back to the early 1930s when Great Grandma Huby opened her first fish and chip shop in Barnsley.

What began as a small takeaway grew into a family tradition, with shops across the Barnsley area all run with the same recipes and commitment to quality.

Today, Huby’s continues that legacy with its first sit-down restaurant in the Wakefield district.

The menu includes freshly prepared fish and chips, pies, fishcakes and desserts.

The business says its batter recipe has been passed down through generations and is nearly 100 years old.

Dee said the long-held ambition of husband Mark had finally been realised.

She said: “Mark’s dream has always been to serve his fish and chips on plates and at last that dream has come true.”

The restaurant is open Monday to Thursday from 11.30am to 8pm, Friday and Saturday from 11.30am to 9pm, and Sunday from 12pm to 7pm.