Where are the Little Chefs going?

[frediculous_biggs]

Cracking story on the BBC this morning about the rise and fall of Little Chef.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68796980

Must have been a slow news day, LC went bust and sold all the sites to Euro Garages in 2018 but by then there was only a handful still open.

It's a promotion for the podcast linked at the end of the article. I have to say I'm not keen on news outlets including promotions for their other programmes as news stories, but the BBC aren't the only ones that do it. At least it is a fairly detailed and informative article rather than just "download our podcast".

The Toast podcast, incidentally, is fantastic and a really interesting listen. More of a 30min documentary than a podcast.

[frediculous_biggs]

The Little Chef on the A2 between Newington and Rainham here closed about 25 years ago (I suspect its card was marked when the M2 opened several decades earlier). It then became a car dealership, and it's now a wedding and events venue. The building has clearly retained the stereotypical LC architecture.

I went out road tripping on the A303 in summer 2013, and made a point of stopping at several Little Chefs en route, as I had a feeling it would be the last time I ever visited one.

Double posting alert, but the Little Chef was here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.35845 ... ?entry=ttu

I can remember that Little Chef as a child as we lived nearby, but your link was always a Vauxhall dealer (we had a family friend that worked there). It can be seen here: https://littlechef.fandom.com/wiki/Rainham

[Glenn A]

They were dated, overpriced and poor quality and there were so many better options by the start of the last decade. Also many Little Chefs developed a reputation for being dirty, rundown and staffed by disinterested teenagers. While not the only cause of Little Chef's downfall, many were given one star reviews continually on Trip Advisor.

[RichardA626]

They were dated, overpriced and poor quality and there were so many better options by the start of the last decade. Also many Little Chefs developed a reputation for being dirty, rundown and staffed by disinterested teenagers. While not the only cause of Little Chef's downfall, many were given one star reviews continually on Trip Advisor.

I think this was a symptom of them over expanding then the market contracting. The last time I used one was in 2000 when the service was slow but the food quality was decent. After that I started to use the cafes in supermarkets or a certain pub chain if I needed a cooked breakfast when away from home.

[swissferry]

Was never a fan. I agree they were overpriced and poor quality. My last visit to one was in the previous millennium - the evening of 31 Dec 1999 after a day's hillwalking. Ironically it was probably my best experience of one. It's now The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum which is excellent - only issue is it's so busy you may not get a table.

[SteveA30]

I went to 3 on the last day, Jan 31 2018. The ham egg and chips was fine but with that rubbery egg white that seemed to be unique to Little Chefs, possibly due to their grilling method.

They were only too happy to give away stuff from the storeroom, as seen. The leaflets had been collected over many years.

3. Little Chef A30 Lewdown. Closed March 1993, when the D2 opened. I was their last customer, about an hour after the loss of through traffic. Earlier customers arrived from a busy road and departed onto a deserted road. Converted to a house now.

[Glenn A]

Was never a fan. I agree they were overpriced and poor quality. My last visit to one was in the previous millennium - the evening of 31 Dec 1999 after a day's hillwalking. Ironically it was probably my best experience of one. It's now The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum which is excellent - only issue is it's so busy you may not get a table.

My view was probably tainted by the one on the A69, which was always poor and seemed expensive even in the nineties. It's not any better as a Starbucks, apart from the shiny new building, where it's still overpriced, the toilets are dirty and the staff sullen. I fell really ill for a couple of days after using Haltwhistle Starbucks two years ago, so won't be going back.

[Big Nick]

Was never a fan. I agree they were overpriced and poor quality. My last visit to one was in the previous millennium - the evening of 31 Dec 1999 after a day's hillwalking. Ironically it was probably my best experience of one. It's now The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum which is excellent - only issue is it's so busy you may not get a table.

My view was probably tainted by the one on the A69, which was always poor and seemed expensive even in the nineties. It's not any better as a Starbucks, apart from the shiny new building, where it's still overpriced, the toilets are dirty and the staff sullen. I fell really ill for a couple of days after using Haltwhistle Starbucks two years ago, so won't be going back.

Oddly enough I had much the same experience at Markham Moor last year. The former Little Chef building is now a KFC and had a Subway next door which is now closed. The KFC toilets were locked, there was a long line of customers waiting for their order, the bins outside were overflowing and the staff showed no interest.

[Hdeng16]

Was never a fan. I agree they were overpriced and poor quality. My last visit to one was in the previous millennium - the evening of 31 Dec 1999 after a day's hillwalking. Ironically it was probably my best experience of one. It's now The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum which is excellent - only issue is it's so busy you may not get a table.

My view was probably tainted by the one on the A69, which was always poor and seemed expensive even in the nineties. It's not any better as a Starbucks, apart from the shiny new building, where it's still overpriced, the toilets are dirty and the staff sullen. I fell really ill for a couple of days after using Haltwhistle Starbucks two years ago, so won't be going back.

Oddly enough I had much the same experience at Markham Moor last year. The former Little Chef building is now a KFC and had a Subway next door which is now closed. The KFC toilets were locked, there was a long line of customers waiting for their order, the bins outside were overflowing and the staff showed no interest.

Welcome to a Eurogarages backwater. The reviews of EG Markham Moor say it all.

[roadtester]

Not Little Chef, but still in the category of traditional British A road refreshment stops - a place called the Red Lion Truck Stop on the A4500 in Northants, just off J16 of the M1, has been chosen as the best truck stop in Europe.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-n ... e-68766096

They made quite a fuss of it on BBC Look East last week - but then again it is quite big news by East of England standards.

Must admit, I'd never heard of it before, although it seems to be very popular. Has anyone been there? I think cars are welcome.

https://www.redliontruckstop.com/

[Cian]

I recently visited the former Swords Little Chef - now a Smokin Bones BBQ restaurant - and while the inside dining area is unrecognisable (including having a full public bar), the toilets are a direct trip back to 1993 when it was new. Including six digit phone numbers on the dryers, probably a sign of new-old stock even then.

Outside still looks like a Little Chef, hard to escape that.

[Richardf]

They were good once. Back in the 1980s (when I was a kid) we used them all the time and had our regular ones on journeys we did frequently. I have fond memories of the pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream, plus the lollipops were a bit of a treat too. Stopped going when I got a bit older and food tastes changed and we went elsewhere ( probably around the time LC started to decline too).

I do feel there would be a place for an updated and well run version of LC today. I'd prefer them to some of the takeaway and fast food outlets that are around today, a lot of which is overpriced rubbish imo.

[SteveA30]

https://www.brightside.co.uk/

This is the closest you will get to the LC/HE/KK/AJ's feel now, at least in the SW. Only 3 so far but, they are looking at other sites. The website has the feel of an LC one and they acknowledge the influence of LC and Happy Eater.

I've done the A303 Newcott branch 4 or 5 times and it has a very pleasant vibe (man).

[Glenn A]

Was never a fan. I agree they were overpriced and poor quality. My last visit to one was in the previous millennium - the evening of 31 Dec 1999 after a day's hillwalking. Ironically it was probably my best experience of one. It's now The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum which is excellent - only issue is it's so busy you may not get a table.

My view was probably tainted by the one on the A69, which was always poor and seemed expensive even in the nineties. It's not any better as a Starbucks, apart from the shiny new building, where it's still overpriced, the toilets are dirty and the staff sullen. I fell really ill for a couple of days after using Haltwhistle Starbucks two years ago, so won't be going back.

Oddly enough I had much the same experience at Markham Moor last year. The former Little Chef building is now a KFC and had a Subway next door which is now closed. The KFC toilets were locked, there was a long line of customers waiting for their order, the bins outside were overflowing and the staff showed no interest.

KFC is the anti Christ, another vile chain of American fast food " restaurants" that infest roadsides and city centres. Little Chef at least was a decent British institution for three decades and quite traditional until later on with its old style customer service.

[Richardf]

https://www.brightside.co.uk/

This is the closest you will get to the LC/HE/KK/AJ's feel now, at least in the SW. Only 3 so far but, they are looking at other sites. The website has the feel of an LC one and they acknowledge the influence of LC and Happy Eater.

I've done the A303 Newcott branch 4 or 5 times and it has a very pleasant vibe (man).

Yes I've seen something about that and looked at the website. Looks good.

[wallmeerkat]

KFC is the anti Christ, another vile chain of American fast food " restaurants" that infest roadsides and city centres. Little Chef at least was a decent British institution for three decades and quite traditional until later on with its old style customer service.

There was a time in the 80s I remember KFC being a treat, it tasted quite nice. The last few times I've went to one over the past few years it's been disappointing with chicken that is both greasy and dry, tasteless coating, awful chips, watery gravy, filthy tables, understaffed, broken drive through microphones and always a wait for what used to be "fast" food.

The only Little Chef I got to visit was Kilmarnock on the way to Glasgow in the late 90s, I remember it being an alright feed. Sadly now (seems post 2011 from GSV history) a McDonalds with a 90 minute parking fine.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.5975794 ... ?entry=ttu

[FleetlinePhil]

I never used them in their supposed heyday - anything more than a Tupperware box of home-made sandwiches was beyond my parents' budget on long car trips, and the very idea of a full English would have horrified my mother at the time.

Since then, I think we ate at one next to the Travelodge at Halkyn on the A55 in 2009 - obviously completely unmemorable. The year after, we had an evening meal at the one next to the Travelodge next to the A61 on the northern outskirts of Chesterfield, memorable for all the wrong reasons. I can't recall what I had but it must have at least edible, while my wife was eventually brought a gammon steak which reminded me of the cooked shoe from Chaplin's The Gold Rush. Later, she was ill for the only time in over a decade of our visiting pubs around Britain in earnest. Dreadful - give me Wetherspoons any time.

KFC is the anti Christ, another vile chain of American fast food " restaurants" that infest roadsides and city centres. Little Chef at least was a decent British institution for three decades and quite traditional until later on with its old style customer service.

No problem with KFC here, although most of our visits have been in town centres or occasionally on trading estates. Reading other posts about issues with KFC on MSAs, I couldn't comment as the only MSA I've bought any food at since returning to having a car is the farm shop at Tebay.

And if you want to condemn anything as 'vile' and 'American' I would suggest several brands of 'American' 'lager' are far more worthy of criticism.

[Paul237]

I see I contributed to this thread some years ago about the one time we went to a Little Chef on a long car journey and my grandmother being horrified at the lack of cleaniness when it came to the cutlery! I think it put us off ever going again.

I think Wimpy is similar in style to Little Chef and they're still going.

[Brenley Corner]

Little Chef at least was a decent British institution for three decades and quite traditional until later on with its old style customer service.

Rose-tinted spectacles there. For three decades they served up unimaginative greasy food and lukewarm drinks with surly reluctant "old style" customer service - even in the 1960s there was better. Thanks goodness for the advent of pubs serving food, supermarket cafes, and coffee shops in recent years.

[trickstat]

I see I contributed to this thread some years ago about the one time we went to a Little Chef on a long car journey and my grandmother being horrified at the lack of cleaniness when it came to the cutlery! I think it put us off ever going again.

I think Wimpy is similar in style to Little Chef and they're still going.

To be fair, they probably have about a tenth of the outlets they had at their peak.