The Norwich branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located just off the infamous Thickthorn roundabout in the village of Cringleford near Norwich, Norfolk.
Address and Onsite Facilities[]
ADDRESS: Thickthorn Interchange, Cringleford, Norwich, Norfolk, NR9 3AU
ONSITE FACILITIES: Shell, Deli2Go (forecourt), Costa Express (forecourt), Burger King, Greggs, Subway, Travelodge (Book Room)
History[]
The Little Chef is actually located on the B1172. However, its positioning means it is easily accessible from the A11 and A47 and is visible from the Thickthorn interchange. The A11 and A47 are two of the busiest roads in Norfolk, allowing the Little Chef to benefit from a constant flow of traffic.
In the early 1990s, the southern Norwich bypass of the A47 was announced. Immediately Little Chef sensed an opportunity. Within months of the bypass opening, Little Chef built a new restaurant accomponied by a lodge and filling station. Little Chef already had presence in the area with another branch in Norwich on the old A47 which later closed in 1993/94. In the Granada era, a Burger King was added to the offering which is still operating today, despite many closures in the early to mid 2000s. Unusually, back to when the filling station was operating as a Total, Little Chef & Burger King were advertised on the cash sign.
The Little Chef then received the "New Choices Makeover in 2002, giving it some smart new furniture and access to exciting menus from Harry Ramsdens, Upper Crust, Wiseguys Pizza and Caffe Ritazza. Nowadays it trades again as a standard Little Chef but quite a smart one.
In 2017, Euro Garages took over the Little Chef chain and throughout the year, a majority of the restaurants were converted into brands such as Starbucks and Subway. By January 2018, only half of the Little Chef restaurants remaining were converted, leaving around 35 to 40 Little Chefs still trading. Due to Euro Garages being unable to use the Little Chef name after 31st January 2018, they had to think of an option to quickly convert the remaining restaurants. This was when EG Diner was born and Norwich was one of the first of these to open. However, the EG Diner at Norwich ceased trading by October 2018 and was later replaced by Greggs and Subway in 2019, alongside a newly refurbished Burger King.
In 2020, EG Group closed the Greggs store.