It's from memory ,a long time ( something like 18 years ago) , and the site has disappeared with the improvements to the Maxstoke /A45 junction. But ,there used to be something like this on the Coventry bound side of the old junction .
Another long departed Little Thief is on the A444, between the Griff House Island and the unused bridge from Bermuda village. It was renamed to "Amid Palace" and now trades as "Tracey's Cafe". The site also used to house a BP petrol station .

Could this not be a wiki list?

I have no idea how to set up a Wikilist but if somebody could teach me I'd happily do it. It'd be good if all this info could be shared rather than just sitting on my pc on an excel spreadsheet doing nothing.

Oh and cheers for the Info about Handcross. It's an old Happy Eater site originally so i checked one of their old maps and I thought this was probably where it would have been. Good to have confirmation though.

I used to visit the old long-established south-country contractors Dunnings of Weyhill (near Andover) in the late 1980s. They had just got a significant job then to build a whole series of Happy Eaters west along the A303. This was either just before or just after Little Chef's owners at the time, Trust House Forte, took them over. I believe they ran the brand on for some years before merging the two. One architect had done this whole series of restaurants, using standardised parts as much as the site constraints and local planning regulations allowed. It was a big job (one overall contract) for Dunnings, who themselves went out of business not long afterwards due to a single large contract in Southampton which went very wrong financially.

It was a lot of investment for the financial backers of Happy Eater, and I often wondered if they got their money back. I wonder how many are left trading.

Both sides of Weyhill Service Area on the A303 opened in 1986 as Happy Eaters and Ilminster opened just prior to this. I wonder if they were all designed and built by the company you mention.

If so, both Weyhills became Little Chefs in 1996/7, are now closed and have been since about 2004/5. Ilminster soldiers on as a Little Chef, again becoming one in 1996/7 and is one of the branches to have had the recent "Wonderfully British" makeover.

Sparkford opened as an HE in 1985, becoming an LC and later closing, I think to boost Podimore, which came after it in the westbound direction.

I've just remembered there was originally an HE at Camel Cross on the A303, at the turn for Yeovilton, the old A303. This closed when the new one at Sparkford opened.

I've never been along the A303 yet but, from what I can make out, it's a bit like the A1 was with an abundance of Happy Eaters and Little Chefs.

Steve A30, your post has reminded me of something and correct me if i'm wrong here. From what I can work out from old maps, books etc.

- Sparkford (now closed) was a Little Chef, which was previously a Happy Eater. Prior to that it was the Frying Pan cafe which burned down.

- The Happy Eater at Camel Cross started life as a Welcome Break in the 70s and became a Happy Eater when the owners of both chains joined forces (the Welcome Break brand was then dropped only to make a re-appearance on the roadside again when Imperial Tobacco got Happy Eater)

- Between 1984 and 1990 there is also a different Little Chef listed in the maps at Sparkford (presumably when the more recent one was still Happy Eater/ Frying Pan), claiming to be 1 mile west of Sparkford. Do you know where this one was? Was it where the Esso and McDonalds are now at the roundabout to the west of Sparkford?

The last Little Chef I was in was the one on the A1(T) northbound approaching Sctotch Corner - extremely poor food indeed. I won't be going there again. Prior to that it was the one just north of Oxford on the A43 (or 34?), again, not a nice experience.

The OK Diner chain is far better than LC, but there are only 8 locations nationwide. Happily there's one on the A19 southbound below Newcastle and a few on the A1 (well) to the south of Bawtry. They tend to be only accesible from one direction though. Yankee-type food at not too excessive prices. In fact, IMHO, they are better than LC ever was.

I've never had the privilege of eating at an OK Diner, probably down to the lack of sites - the nearest one to me is in north Wales. There are none in the north west of England, which is odd for a company that is apparently based in Middlewich!

This is a company that has the potential to benefit from Little Chef's reduction in size, somewhere like Markham Moor for example would be a potentially good spot for them.

There was one in Stockport for a while - in a rather unlikely location, to be honest, which subsequently became a carwash. However, aren't they aiming to be American-themed destination restaurants rather than just roadside diners as such? Looking at the menus, £6.95 for a basic burger isn't exactly cheap.

TBH, that seems to be the norm for a lot of sit-in restaurants - and the £6.95 for a basic burger with fries is the same as Little Chef, although it is £1 dearer than the fabulous Ed's Diner (damn you Chris Marshall! I cannot resist that place!), although they're generally found in central locations... and soon at Cheshire Oaks.

On the topic of American-themed diners, whatever happened to Fatty Arbuckles?

Ok Diners haven't expanded for ages. I emailed them about 3 years ago with locations of various empty cafes, not just LC's but, no new ones have opened. Pity, the A49 Leominster one was very good. We need more.

Apparently there is now only one, on the A10 near Downham Market! As usual, our friends over at [citation needed] are very unhelpful about why it closed.

A pity really because I used to like the place. We used to go to the one just south of Stafford next to M6 J13. I forget what it is now but I think the building is still there.

Every time I head from Brighton to Newcastle, its an OK diner where I always stop. And while their prices may look a bit high, their burgers leave the little chef standing. (or did last time I was in a LC 2 years ago). And as for their onion ring stacks

http://www.okdiners.com/menus/OK-Diner-main.pdf

SJ

I used to go to the REAL original of this place. It was a diner called "Ed Debevic's", and was in the unfashionable south side of Beverly Hills, California. They later opened in Chicago, which is still going, but in LA "Ed's" only meant one place, which closed a couple of years ago when Ed went home to Chicago. It was a good place after the lunchtime rush to see movie stars come in for burgers. Holly Hunter (preceded by two separate waves of minders to ensure there was a quiet space at the back, and in the earlier days Juhn Denver, Mr Ecology, who pulled up out front in his Rolls-Royce .......

http://www.eddebevics.com/

http://hiddenlosangeles.com/flashback-% ... -debevics/

Look it up on the web for all the Los Angeles eulogies.

As much as I love Little Chef - to me they are synonymous with roadtrip in my mind - I have to agree that the OK Diner is good. The milkshakes are absolutely awesome!

They were apparently set up by two ex Forte guys and were part of the City Centre Restaurants Group.
http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/3 ... market.htm

After mixed successes they were later sold in 2001 to, I presume the current owners as a much more scaled down affair. Today two of them are in former Little Chef sites on the A38 near derby and the A1 at New Fox southbound.

Anytime I visit I am always impressed with how well they seem to have nailed their concept. Yes, what you pay is probably a bit more than high street and on a par with Little Chef but it feels like decent value because the decor and building add to the package so well. I remember stopping at the carlton one near Newark on the A1 northbound at lunchtime in 2008 and being told there was a 30 minute wait on tables. Clearly they are doing well! Little Chef seem to have realised this about the surroundings too - I think the York branch looks great after its makeover and its a great place to sit in now as well as eating in. A bit of investment in the sites to reassure the public that they do care about them - maybe not all to the same extent as York but at least to make them look loved - and they'd do so much better. Markham Moor south for example looked so sad even when it was open!

I agree that there's so many redundant roadside sites that OK Diners could make work too. I'd love it if they came to Scotland and took over Musselburgh services (former Granada/ AJ's Diner/ Little Chef site that is now largely derelict.)

That actually looks very yummy...

Serena

I've stopped twice in OK Diners on the A1, once southbound with Chris M, one northbound with Serena. Both times I thought the food was yum.

You can register on the OK Diner site and receive an email you can print out for a perpetual 15% discount.

The Pocklington little chef was off the A1079 directly where the new roundabout is. I vaguely remember that from being very young so I asked my folks too who confirmed that. Google maps linky