Where are the Little Chefs going?

[Ruperts Trooper]

There is a new service area next to the A595 at Lillyhall which has a drive through Burger King, a Starbucks, Greggs and a Sainsbury Local, all aimed at people with cars, and it would be possible to have a burger, a coffee, a cake to take home and some shopping in one go.

That's just a shopping centre then!

It has fuel pumps and charging points and is classed as a service area. Also with West Lakes College, a village of 3000 people and the A595, the potential for the site is huge.

I wonder what the difference in official definition is between a service area and a shopping centre - parking for HGVs maybe?

[the cheesecake man]

I wonder what the difference in official definition is between a service area and a shopping centre - parking for HGVs maybe?

Or in the other direction between a service area and a petrol station? Based on my observations a toilet?

[doebag]

And now back to where it started on the A1

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-c ... e-56086534

[roadtester]

And now back to where it started on the A1

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-c ... e-56086534

Interesting - the new service area at Sawtry has come up for discussion on here before. Not sure what thread.

More info here:

https://www.moto-sawtryservices.com/

[Pendlemac]

And now back to where it started on the A1

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-c ... e-56086534

Interesting - the new service area at Sawtry has come up for discussion on here before. Not sure what thread.

More info here:

https://www.moto-sawtryservices.com/

Found it - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40287&p=1052613&hil ... y#p1052589
( A1M Moto service area near Peterborough )

[roadtester]

And now back to where it started on the A1

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-c ... e-56086534

Interesting - the new service area at Sawtry has come up for discussion on here before. Not sure what thread.

More info here:

https://www.moto-sawtryservices.com/

Found it - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40287&p=1052613&hil ... y#p1052589
( A1M Moto service area near Peterborough )

Thanks - I knew it had come up somewhere.

[B1040]

One of my former teaching colleagues gets remembered every time we pass there. A year 11 group were sniggering about sex shops and he told them (in perhaps too much personal detail) how useful they were.

[RJDG14]

I seem to vaugley remember having a meal at what seemed to me like a standalone Little Chef at the time near a cliff (or more likely steep drop) by the sea, uphill from the road, in (I think) North Wales (or maybe Cornwall) back in about 2005/6, but as far as I could find, Little Chef never had any locations matching this description, even though this place definitely seemed very like a Little Chef and I could have sworn it was. I seem to vaugley remember this being on the edge of a town with a castle and I think a tramway. Does anybody know where this could have been? The most probable location in North Wales would probably have been the Great Orme but I haven't been able to find anywhere on it matching what I remember, though I'd have only been about 6 at the time.

This is what I vaugley remember (very poorly drawn not to scale):

[James Heaton]

Bangor Services is about the closest I can think of. No trams and not a self contained one - part of a small complex - but castle, sea and town all in view, and up on a hill.

You've got Irish relatives haven't you, remember you mentioning it - would fit with a trip over there from Holyhead. When we used to go, I tended to stop at Bangor if in plenty of time, if time tighter, press on and resign myself to paying shipboard price for lunch!

James

[SteveA30]

There was one at Penmaenmawr on the A55 before and after dualling. It overlooked the sea and there is a big castle at Conway but, out of sight. Gt. Orme Head is visible though. Perhaps your 6 year old mind mixed them together.Other LC's at Menai Bridge near Beaumaris Castle. An HE at Llandullas on the old A55 up the hill but, that would have gone by 2005. Penmaenmawr was probably gone by 2005 as well but continued as a cafe with LC fixtures and fittings.

[A39 Chris]

It’s not North Wales or Cornwall, but perhaps you were near the Seaton tramway in East Devon? Was there a Little Chef on the A35 or A3052 nearby?

[RJDG14]

It’s not North Wales or Cornwall, but perhaps you were near the Seaton tramway in East Devon? Was there a Little Chef on the A35 or A3052 nearby?

It was definitely nowhere near Seaton. I've been to the Great Orme, which appears to have a tramway, but there has never been a Little Chef there, and neither of the two cafes on it (the one at the visitor centre, which I'm pretty sure I've also visited, and a coffee shop) match the description of what I vaugley seem to remember. I'm probably wrong on this, but I seem to recall we had to catch a ferry from Holyhead and were scrambling to find somewhere to have lunch, although if that was the case then I don't see why we wouldn't have stopped somewhere along the A5 or A55.

The Little Chef in Penmaenmawr was directly off of the A55. My memory is that this place was up a treeless hill, set back from the road, the road was a single carriageway in a suburban area, and the restaurant was on the sea-side of the road (Penmaenmawr was westbound only and thus was on the land/south-side of the A55). This could have been on any one of several trips with my family - our holiday to North Wales in August 2005, our trip to Northern Ireland in March/April 2006 (I remember we caught the Jonathan Swift in both directions), our holiday to Cornwall in August 2006 or our trip to Northern Ireland in March/April 2007 (in which case I recall us catching the HSS Stena Explorer from Holyhead on the way and the P&O Express from Larne on the way back). On the latter trip to Northern Ireland that I've mentioned, I also remember that we travelled along the A5 much of the way, and the same was probably also true in 2006 (I remember quite well because I'd been at a birthday party and also lost a milk tooth the previous day). My dad will often drive towards Holyhead via the A5 as far as Bangor and drive back via the A55, though we've travelled towards Holyhead along the whole of the A55 in the past as well.

I've been to the Little Chef in Bangor before and this location definitely isn't it.

May I ask, other than wherever I'm trying to think of, why the majority of Little Chefs had received little to no refurbishment since the late 80s/early 90s, or alternatively whenever they were opened for newer branches? Their restaurants looked almost identical to how I remember them during the 2000s in late 80s photos that I've found, while most other places had received major refurbishments between the 80s and 2000s. Motorway services during the 80s were probably worse than what Little Chefs were (Little Chef were by no means horrible, but they were moderately dull), but looked very different then to how most were in the 2000s, because many of them had been given major facelifts during the 1990s, while Little Chefs didn't really change much.

[KeithW]

May I ask, other than wherever I'm trying to think of, why the majority of Little Chefs had received little to no refurbishment since the late 80s/early 90s, or alternatively whenever they were opened for newer branches? Their restaurants looked almost identical to how I remember them during the 2000s in late 80s photos that I've found, while most other places had received major refurbishments between the 80s and 2000s. Motorway services during the 80s were probably worse than what Little Chefs were (Little Chef were by no means horrible, but they were moderately dull), but looked very different then to how most were in the 2000s, because many of them had been given major facelifts during the 1990s, while Little Chefs didn't really change much.

The chain was sold to a private equity firm called Permira in 2002 it owned it until 2005. From that point on it was owned by a series of companies and its value declined from £712 million in 2002 to just £10 million in 2006 and large scale closures began. The remaining outlets were neglected, staff was cut, food quality declined as staples were pre cooked and left to dry out under a hot plate. Many of the buildings remained but were sold on to other chains such as Burger King, Greggs etc.

Essentially it was used as a cash cow until takings declined to the point where outlets were unprofitable and then the sites would be sold on. This old LC at Caxton Gibbet was briefly a Pizza Parlour before becoming a convenience store.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.22865 ... authuser=0

After working late I would occasionally stop in it for dinner but the last time I used it the food was inedible, the gammon steak was like shoe leather, the eggs dried out and if sharpened the chips would have passed for nails, it had all obviously been cooked hours ago.

[RJDG14]

May I ask, other than wherever I'm trying to think of, why the majority of Little Chefs had received little to no refurbishment since the late 80s/early 90s, or alternatively whenever they were opened for newer branches? Their restaurants looked almost identical to how I remember them during the 2000s in late 80s photos that I've found, while most other places had received major refurbishments between the 80s and 2000s. Motorway services during the 80s were probably worse than what Little Chefs were (Little Chef were by no means horrible, but they were moderately dull), but looked very different then to how most were in the 2000s, because many of them had been given major facelifts during the 1990s, while Little Chefs didn't really change much.

The chain was sold to a private equity firm called Permira in 2002 it owned it until 2005. From that point on it was owned by a series of companies and its value declined from £712 million in 2002 to just £10 million in 2006 and large scale closures began. The remaining outlets were neglected, staff was cut, food quality declined as staples were pre cooked and left to dry out under a hot plate. Many of the buildings remained but were sold on to other chains such as Burger King, Greggs etc.

Essentially it was used as a cash cow until takings declined to the point where outlets were unprofitable and then the sites would be sold on. This old LC at Caxton Gibbet was briefly a Pizza Parlour before becoming a convenience store.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.22865 ... authuser=0

After working late I would occasionally stop in it for dinner but the last time I used it the food was inedible, the gammon steak was like shoe leather, the eggs dried out and if sharpened the chips would have passed for nails, it had all obviously been cooked hours ago.

I know that at least a couple of former Little Chef buildings have been repurposed as adult stores.

One particularly interesting now defunct restaurant was the Newcott Chef on the A303. To the best of my knowledge it was never a Little Chef but it would have certainly passed for one, from its logo even down to the lighting in the car park. I think Little Chef tried to make the owner change its logo and offered to buy the site from them but the owner rejected their offer. It would have probably been among the original set of mid 2000s closures had it been a Little Chef, given its location.

I doubt Little Chef were ever as awful as the Rod and Reel pub in Crianlarich, Scotland. The food there would be the worst I've had in my entire life. I'd very rarely give places a 1/5 review score as I usually prefer to give a 2 when I dislike a place, but might have done for it.

[trickstat]

I think that by around 2005 or so, the Little Chef brand had reached a position where it was pretty much impossible to successfully relaunch or revamp it.

[RJDG14]

I think that by around 2005 or so, the Little Chef brand had reached a position where it was pretty much impossible to successfully relaunch or revamp it.

I think they attempted to revamp it a couple of times but only a minority of stores were refurbished - the ones I've been to in the past 10 years all still had their 90s style decor. My dad said that the quality of the food and service varied somewhat between different Little Chef branches - for instance, he said that in his opinion, the Cirencester and Dumfries branches were pretty decent (the Cirencester branch was also the last new branch to be opened, in 2002, I believe) while there were a handful that he'd found to be horrible. The Cirencester and Dumfries ones would be among the Little Chef branches that I've had the most experience with.

This Little Chef meal has one of the weirdest shaped battered fish fillets that I've ever seen in a restaurant:

https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto ... i32w/o.jpg

A battered piece of fish is very rarely this symmetrical looking and it looks quite unappetising.

[trickstat]

I think that by around 2005 or so, the Little Chef brand had reached a position where it was pretty much impossible to successfully relaunch or revamp it.

I think they attempted to revamp it a couple of times but only a minority of stores were refurbished - the ones I've been to in the past 10 years all still had their 90s style decor. My dad said that the quality of the food and service varied somewhat between different Little Chef branches - for instance, he said that in his opinion, the Cirencester and Dumfries branches were pretty decent (the Cirencester branch was also the last new branch to be opened, in 2002, I believe) while there were a handful that he'd found to be horrible. The Cirencester and Dumfries ones would be among the Little Chef branches that I've had the most experience with.

This Little Chef meal has one of the weirdest shaped battered fish fillets that I've ever seen in a restaurant:

https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto ... i32w/o.jpg

A battered piece of fish is very rarely this symmetrical looking and it looks quite unappetising.

I suspect the fillet has been cut to that shape for easy packing.

I do think that there were certainly fairly significant variations between branches in the 90s and 2000s in particular as some were still not too bad while others were paticularly poor.

[RJDG14]

I think that by around 2005 or so, the Little Chef brand had reached a position where it was pretty much impossible to successfully relaunch or revamp it.

I think they attempted to revamp it a couple of times but only a minority of stores were refurbished - the ones I've been to in the past 10 years all still had their 90s style decor. My dad said that the quality of the food and service varied somewhat between different Little Chef branches - for instance, he said that in his opinion, the Cirencester and Dumfries branches were pretty decent (the Cirencester branch was also the last new branch to be opened, in 2002, I believe) while there were a handful that he'd found to be horrible. The Cirencester and Dumfries ones would be among the Little Chef branches that I've had the most experience with.

This Little Chef meal has one of the weirdest shaped battered fish fillets that I've ever seen in a restaurant:

https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto ... i32w/o.jpg

A battered piece of fish is very rarely this symmetrical looking and it looks quite unappetising.

I suspect the fillet has been cut to that shape for easy packing.

I do think that there were certainly fairly significant variations between branches in the 90s and 2000s in particular as some were still not too bad while others were paticularly poor.

Can you name one which was particularly bad?

[KeithW]

Can you name one which was particularly bad?

There was one on the A303 at Podimore near Yeovilton that served particularly bad food the day I used it even though from the outside it looked well kept, that would have been in July 2014. Its now a Burger King but still had a stylised Little Chef sign in 2016. Its now labelled permanently closed.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.02287 ... authuser=0

The last one that I saw open as a LC was on the A1 at Skellow north of Doncaster in 2015. By 2017 it had become a Euro Garages outlet with a Greggs and Burger King.

[Dan Lockton]

Can you name one which was particularly bad?

Before departing the UK to move to the US, in summer 2016 my now ex-wife and I decided to stop at the "TV star" Little Chef at Popham on the A303, that had been on Heston Blumenthal's programme a few years before, to "say goodbye" to the UK. We both had fond memories of Little Chef from our childhoods.

The "blue sky" ceiling was still in place, but other than that, the whole experience was appalling, primarily because of the lack of cleanliness—the toilets smelled vile and the smell was noticeable in the restaurant itself, but worse than that, when the food arrived my plate was visibly dirty, caked with remnants of whatever some previous customer's meal had been. It was particularly noticeable because it had been some kind of red sauce (ketchup? maybe pie filling from a pancake?). It just felt like they had given up—someone must have noticed the plate wasn't clean when plating up, but just didn't care.

It was pretty sad, really. Some of the diner chains I experienced in the US, from national ones like Denny's to regional ones like Sheetz in Pennsylvania, were revelatory in comparison.