Little Chef. The End.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

Such a shame... I will really miss the reassuring sight of this once great British brands restaurants by the roadside...

[James.uk]

Nah, no cause for alarm, they inherited some sites that were hugely expensive to rent, or that have been bypassed by road alterations and so didn't pay. All they are doing is getting rid of those.

Give it a few months and I think they will be opening more cafés on better/busier sites...
...

[demoncase]

I recall in the 90s they acquired the Happy Eater (Unhappy Repeater) chain, which got mostly rebadged as Little Chefs.

Frankly, from experiences with Little Thiefs around the country when I was doing 30k business miles per annum, I won't miss them if they do fold....

For a 'British' restaurant, I'd expect the fried breakfast and Fish'n'chips to be their stand-out dishes....The several times I ate at several locations weren't as good even a mediocre pub meal but were priced at the top end of that 'scale', the places were unkept, dirty and the staff I met were about as disinterested as it's possible to be and remain awake.

It comes to something I wouldn't spend the company's money (food was on business expenses) in one, let alone my own

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by leopard680

Such a shame... I will really miss the reassuring sight of this once great British brands restaurants by the roadside...

I didn't know they had gone - I cannot agree it is such a shame, because their standards have been declining for many years and their prices increasing relative to similar offerings. They used to be a mid-price place, where you could be sure what you were getting was the same quality no matter which of their restaurants you called in, so you knew what you were getting and likely to have to pay. Over the years, quality has declined and prices have risen. Whilst their competitors prices have gone down. I've put up with their stewed coffee for years, but a meal we had at one of them last September was the last straw for us - it included mashed potato obviously made from Smash. We decided - never again.

The September visit was to the LC which featured in a TV program where a TV chef worked over their menu, the site and its general presentation - hopefully to improve it, it was dire.

[The_Monk]

Little Thief? I won't miss them!

[Banjo]

Lust listened to the news on Radio 4 - apparently there will still be about ninety odd of the existing 160 left. I have found the quite variable in the quality of the food - and this is always dependant on the attitude of the staff. There is a good one on the A483 just before Welshpool in mid Wales - so I suppose that will be closed !

[Lost Soul]

Faded to dust up this way a long time ago.

[suffolk boy]

having had this missfortune of eating in several of this companys cattle feeding stations.often wondering if after the last mouthfull if i was about to spend the rest of my days on a life support machine.i say good riddance rubbish badly cooked food served with a hint of malice.by staff with the same amount of brain cells of the brown limp lettuce on the greasy plate what goes around comes around.

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by Banjo

There is a good one on the A483 just before Welshpool in mid Wales - so I suppose that will be closed !

As it happens, we have called in at that pasrticular site once per year for the past few years - on route to south Wales, with the dog and caravan. They were always very obliging, we never like to leave the dog alone, so they would put the meals on a tray and we would dine in the caravan and they always remembered us, despite it only being once a year. That was until last year - new manager and he decided it was against their rules, so we didn't bother eating there and I doubt we will ever go back.

[Banjo]

There we go Harry - just shows how one clown can ruin anything - call at Dinky's diner on the same road, just the Welshpool side of the village of Ford. Its in a large lay by so plenty of room for the caravan - looks a bit 'greasy spoon' but the food is good.