Dine out before they die out: Little Chef Rhostyllen/ Bangor

It seemed like a simple enough plan, book-end a trip to Wrexham with two Little Chef locations. One would provide breakfast and the other would serve us afternoon tea. But instead I was served a reminder of how important detailed research is when embarking on these excursions!

Little Chef, Wrexham Rd, Rhostyllen, Wrexham, LL144EJ
Address provided by Google we drove along the A55 express way looking for the familiar sign but I my heart sank when I noticed a Starbucks that seemed to be trading from a familiar style of building... I went in to ask if I had the right address and my theory was correct I was now standing in a former Little Chef! Sure enough when it was announced in 2013 that three of North Wales' Little Chef restaurants were to close due to “trading unprofitably for a number of years due to a variety of economic and locational factors” Rhostyllen was one of the three that was axed. A great shame, we stopped there all the same and I took a photo of what is now a Starbucks/ Subway.

Little Chef, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 4BG

Having brushed the Rhostyllen disappointment aside we later visited the Bangor site for afternoon tea, boasting an “experienced team with over 30 year’s service between them” this Little Chef is located next door to a Burger King and a Travelodge and is a perfect stop after a visit to Beaumaris Castle. The Little Chef website states that the restaurant is open Saturdays 08:00 – 20:00 so imagine my disappointment on arriving at 5:00pm and discovering a sign (inside the restaurant) informing us that they are now open from 7am to 3pm Monday to Sunday... So there you go, two misses on my mission to visit the last remaining Little Chefs and Wimpy Bars in the UK! I fully intend to go back to the Bangor site though, now that I have the actual opening times I can correctly tick it off my list!

© Arfon Jones 2017. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.