The owners said that they feel that “the time is right” for them to close after 30 years in business
The Lea family have announced that they will be closing their Bold Street café after 30 years(Image: Liverpool Echo)
If you’ve ever asked for recommendations on where to get the best bowl of Scouse, the chances are that you’ve quickly been pointed in the direction of Maggie May’s café on Bold Street.
Opening their doors for the first time on a cold Monday morning in 1995, the Lea family could hardly believe what they were witnessing afterwaves of customers made their way into the café for the first time. Carly Lea, 52, who runs the business alongside her parents, told the ECHO: “We opened on VE day (8 May 1995), which is a bank holiday, and I’ll never forget that first day. We got absolutely battered because it was a bank holiday, everyone was out in town, it was really really busy, we thought we were on to a winner.”
Carly said it was “back to reality” a day later but that the warm embrace from customers was a sign of things to come for the Lea family.
They first opened on 8 May 1995(Image: Liverpool Echo)
It had been months beforehand that Carly’s mum and dad, Susan Lea, now 69, and her husband, John Lea, 70, had taken a risk and decided to embark on opening their first business together.
However, John and Susan didn’t come into the business totally blind, Susan had previously plied her trade as a cook across a number of kitchens throughout the city, including concessions at the now closed Flanagan’s, Rosie O’Grady’s and Kitty O’Shea’s.
When it came to looking for a place of their own, Susan had carefully cast her eyes over a number of potential premises across the city.
But, it was upon stepping foot inside 90 Bold Street that she got a “special feeling”, a feeling that she still struggles to truly put her finger on to this day.
Since Susan got that “special feeling” all those decades ago, Maggie May’s has hardly changed, whether that is the pale yellow and dark green hues that flock the walls or the friendly hum of chatter between Carly and the regular customers who have made coming to the café a daily ritual.
Another thing that has stood perfectly still over the last three decades is their traditional menu, and the family’s youngest son, Andy, 48, thinks it has been one of the reasons why the café has had such enduring success.
He said: “The format was a traditional English menu, you know your steak pies, chilli con carne, curry, sausage, egg and chips, just your simple, traditional hearty food.”
The humble city centre cafe has attracted a number of stars over the last three decades(Image: Liverpool Echo)
While regulars will all have their own favourites from the menu, there is one dish that has continued to bring customers from around the world, the Maggie May’s Scouse.
Andy said: “It’s brought tourists from all around the globe. In Liverpool we’re all known as scousers and that’s because of Scouse, that’s what we eat and that’s who we are.”
The dish has become so synonymous with Maggie May’s that everyone from Michael Portillo to American-rapper Action Bronson have come in to sample the dish for themselves.
While many might know them for their famous bowls of Scouse, Andy believes that their biggest strength has always been their ability to welcome people from all walks of life.
He said: “My mum and dad were all about community, trying to keep the place as a hub for people. It’s strange, you could have a group of scallies, but then next to them there’s a group of old ladies eating scones while these lads are having breakfast. It just had that homely feeling.”
The menu at the Bold Street cafe has hardly changed since the Lea’s opened in 1995(Image: Liverpool Echo)
However, in what has undoubtedly been one of the most difficult decisions the Leas have had to make in the last three decades, they have decided that December will be the last month of Maggie May’s. Carly and Andy have said that it’s with “mixed emotions” and a sense that “the time is right” that they bid a fond farewell to Bold Street.
After careful consideration from all four members of the family, Carly said that the decision to close the café is the right one. She said: “It was a hard decision to come to, because it was a decision that had to be made by the four of us altogether. It couldn’t be made by one or two of us, we had to wait until all of us were in agreement.”
As she reflects on their time running the business and the memories and people that have come been a part of the Maggie May’s success story, she feels assured that now is the “right time”.
Carly added: “It’s really sad in lots of ways that we’re going, but it just feels like the time is right. What we say is if we were 20 years younger, and still had the energy and the enthusiasm (we’d keep on going), but unfortunately we’re all getting older.
“We’ve enjoyed the 30 years, the only reason we’re stopping is because something had to give, unfortunately it’s the business. We’ve enjoyed every single minute of it, we’ve loved meeting everyone who’s come in from Liverpool and from afar as well, because we’ve got loads of regular customers.”
December is set to be their last month in business(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Andy added: “It’s those mixed emotions. It’s sort of relief, you’re sort of thinking, okay, we’ve got a goal to go at, we can continue giving everything we’ve got until such a time. So it’s that bit of relief, but then, it’s so much sadness as well, because of what my mum, dad and Carly have created, they’ve been the linchpins of this place. I’ve worked here on and off, but my mum and dad have been here since day one.”
“It’s been a pleasure to serve Liverpool and to be custodians of this place. We hope we’ve left a bit of a legacy.”