Where are the Little Chefs going?

[SteveA30]

A69 Bardon Mill closed Sunday Aug 6, according to staff at Seaton Burn, so I missed it by 6 days. Got Seaton though.

[JonH]

The Popham LC has a planning application in place to convert to Starbucks.

This was the famous LC where Heston Blumenthal tried (and failed) to reinvent the brand and its offerings.

[rhyds]

I stopped at the Eurogarages site at the A5/A49 roundabout in Shrewsbury on sunday and spotted a bit of a problem. The LC had all the latest branding and was IIRC open, but there's already a starbucks next to it...

[Big Nick]

Been past the A1 South Witham/New Fox LC today, finally boarded up, "conservatory" removed, and after a quick glimpse through the open central "door" in the boarding, work ongoing inside. And passing Alwalton LC this evening, it seemed to be closed, but if so, it's yet to be cleared and boarded.


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I remember sitting in there with Mum, watching Harriers and Jaguars fly over while we ate. They must have been flying from Cottesmore or Wittering.

[SarahJ]

Seems such a long time ago that I started this thread and now we are heading to the end. Sad in a way. The Bardon mill one on the A69 going is the sign. I've said it before, as a single female, I don't relish sitting alone in a pub where I don't know anyone, so they are not an option. Supermarket cafes are ok, if they have them, my local Asda, it's a counter and some chairs in the entrance hall. Again, will they be open? Yes, they failed to move with the times, but now we are heading to a world of Starbucks and Mcdonalds. But there is still a place. When I stop off at the OK diners on my trips to Newcastle, they do get busy, and the prices are not that cheap. Yes, the quality is high, but. but..When I drive abroad roadside eating is just so different, yes there are chains, but so many others, cooking fresh food. Oh well.

BTW, Sad to note about Quick. I used to like stopping at them as they were no McD's or BK. My recent BK's have been almost inedible, the only thing keeping them is the machine which gives me a Raspberry Coke Zero. There is a one just a few mins from the ferry port at Dunkirk so handy before a sailing. I will miss them.

[exiled]

BTW, Sad to note about Quick. I used to like stopping at them as they were no McD's or BK. My recent BK's have been almost inedible, the only thing keeping them is the machine which gives me a Raspberry Coke Zero. There is a one just a few mins from the ferry port at Dunkirk so handy before a sailing. I will miss them.

Those machines are almost worth, almost, visiting the store for. I like an orange coke zero with a hint of lemon.

French wiki says Quick in France is expected to be gone by 2020. It will survive as the brand in Belgium and Luxembourg.

[Johnathan404]

I stopped at the Eurogarages site at the A5/A49 roundabout in Shrewsbury on sunday and spotted a bit of a problem. The LC had all the latest branding and was IIRC open, but there's already a starbucks next to it...

The Starbucks you refer to is provided by Euro Garages. Buying a competing establishment is a pretty shrewd business move: they can shut bits down, expand, move around or re-build however it suits them. For the staff, hopefully their jobs will be safer as they can now transfer to another building if theirs closes, whereas before the takeover they could only transfer to another Little Chef.

Seems such a long time ago that I started this thread and now we are heading to the end. Sad in a way. The Bardon mill one on the A69 going is the sign.

To be fair, the nationwide closure plan was a bigger sign, discussed over a significant portion of this thread while you've been away.

Although the latest is it has hit a hiccup which means it may not be able to be completed as expected.

[Mettie]

It seems I was wrong about Alwalton being closed, passed 7:30 this morning to see a grand total of 3 customers in there! At this rate they will soon be turning a profit...


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[Berk]

Although the latest is it has hit a hiccup which means it may not be able to be completed as expected.

Is that the lack of building materials that was mentioned??

[Alan]

Passed by Balhaldie South at the weekend and, having declared it would become a Starbucks in May after it closed on March 10th, it is now set to become a Greggs. Now that I've got over the sadness that I'll not get an Olympic in Scotland anymore I'm at least glad the building is going to be used, a British brand is taking it and I'll still be able to get a bacon roll.

I know it's not the last word in fine dining and the years and passing from owner to owner haven't been kind, but i will miss Little Chef. Having grown up with them being a holiday treat, where you got to eat the sort of food you weren't usually allowed at home and generally en route to see a friend or visit somewhere exciting, they still make my journeys feel a little bit special. The frustrating thing is, when done well, it can still be really good too. I visited Sourton Cross in November and got really friendly service, a beautifully cooked Olympic and, thanks to a bit of modest tarting up and somesunshine, sat in some pretty decent surroundings. Plus it was busy and with the usual mix of people that you saw in Little Chefs growing up.

In a world where McDonalds experiment with table service, OK Diners continue to lure people with their retro decor and Welcome Break have brought Harry Ramsdens in as their sit-down restaurant brand in motorway sites, I still think Little Chef done well, championing its heritage, Britishness, shouting about the fact it is a true roadside brand and doing something a bit quirky could and should still work (arguably better than Harry Ramsdens!). Trouble is, it's now at the stage where the amount of investment needed to bring it back from the brink is huge and any company that upgrades the sites is going to look to recoup their expense quickly and reliably. For Eurogarages, they know if they invest a lot in a Starbucks conversion, they'll get it back quickly and with a lot less risk.

I'm heading south next week and crossing my fingers that I'll get an Olympic at Penrith.

P.S Johnny, I love the new updated info timeline!

[James Heaton]

Stopped off at Barton Mills A11 on Friday.

Very much open, although the toilets could have done with some cleaning and work.

The staff seemed to think it wasn't going to be converted, and they were actually advertising for staff on the door. Although I suppose they'd move across to a new format if it did convert.

James

[NICK 647063]

The A64 little chef at bilbrough is still very much open, it's one that got revamped along with popham, the staff are not aware of a closure or rebranding either.

[Brett_Cook]

Surely they can't be unaware of all the closings going on around them?

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[roadtester]

When I passed it on Sunday, the LC at Kettering services on the A14 westbound appeared to be in mid-conversion to Starbucks, with the brick walls being painted black and a sort of pergola thing being erected at the front in a very similar style to the Ely conversion.

This afternoon, the LC at Black Cat on the A1 still appeared to be open.

[Berk]

Surely they can't be unaware of all the closings going on around them?

Well, yeah, you'd think talk to Head Office occasionally...

[Fenlander]

Circumstances leans me to the BK/LC at Sutterton at half 4 this afternoon, there were 3 staff visible and no customers in the LC side. I almost took the kids in there just for the novelty of it but I wasn't entirely sure wether there'd be something on the menu they'd eat in preference for the known happy meal the other side in BK.

[Jonathan24]

A69 Bardon Mill closed Sunday Aug 6, according to staff at Seaton Burn, so I missed it by 6 days. Got Seaton though.

Yep, was past it last weekend and it was boarded up, although it did seem like some work was ongoing, so perhaps another Starbucks?

[Patrick Harper]

If the Wisley South LC is converted to a Starbucks, it will mirror the services on the northbound side of the A3. The LC surviving will depend on whether Euro Garages reckons a pair of Starbucks at a single site would make sound business sense. My father regularly drives through there, so it is being kept an eye on, but it appears to remain open atm.

[avtur]

There are three former LC's near me, South Manchester, all trading successfully two as Indian Restaurants and one as Chinese Restaurant.

[Piatkow]

Driving up the A40 yesterday Burford was still showing Little Chef branding and appeared to be open. I might have been better off risking a meal there rather than the overpriced pub/restaurant that I ate at in Northleach.