Penmaenmawr

Penmaenmawr
Name	Penmaenmawr
Number	016
Year Opened	1965-68
Year Closed	2007
Road	A55
Location	Dwygyfylchi, Conwy
County	Clwyd
Postcode	LL34 6UN

The Penmaenmawr branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located on the A55, and was the second restaurant to close on the A55 after the closure of Lloc in the late 1980s (now 'The Dragon's Rest'), and before Kinmel Park East/West in 2012 (now Starbucks on both sites), then Halkyn in 2015 (now Burger King & Greggs) and Northop Hall in 2017 (now Starbucks) - and then finally Bangor in 2018 (also a Burger King & Greggs). Since the closure of Bangor, the A55 became a Little Chef-free zone.

The Little Chef first opened at a service station between 1965 & 1968 near the coast of North Wales just outside of Colwyn Bay & Llandudno, and it was the sixteenth restaurant out of the first twenty-five. The building it was housed in was prefabricated like Little Chefs were in the 1960s.

The Little Chef lasted at Penmaenmawr for more than 35 years until it finally closed in early 2007 as a part of the sale to RCapital. The original building has since been derelict and was rebuilt as a new farm shop and cafe known as the 'Puffin', which opened in August/September 2014. Since then, the original Little Chef car park has remained, with no bins and only two of the four 'minimilk' lampposts remaining.

The farm shop and cafe closed at the end of 2015, blaming roadworks for the drop in trade. Then, the farm shop later re-opened in 2017.

By 2019 the filling station was demolished, leaving the Puffin to soldier on alone.

The remains of Penmaenmawr's totem sign in 2009.

As the 'Puffin' in 2015

One unique feature was a signpost near the exit telling drivers that the next Little Chef was approximately 10 miles away. It still remained at Penmaenmawr from closure until around 2012.

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