The Peterborough Eye branch was a Little Chef restaurant located on the A47 near Eye Green, Cambridgeshire.
Address and Onsite Facilities[]
ADDRESS: A47 Crowland Road, Eye Green, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE6 7SZ
ONSITE FACILITIES: Esso, Spar (forecourt), Greggs (forecourt), Subway (forecourt), Starbucks on the Go (forecourt), McDonald's, Starbucks, Travelodge (Book Room)
For more information, visit Motorway Services Online
History[]
Although planning for Eye Green Services dates back to 1989, the services opened in 1996, originally comprising of a filling station and McDonald's restaurant. The services opened later than planned due to initial planning permission being refused.
Having had plans for the construction of a motel on site for quite a while, a Travelodge was constructed in 2001 by then owners, Compass Catering, who were also in charge of Little Chef. Given the close relationship between Travelodge and Little Chef at the time, a Little Chef had also opened up alongside the Travelodge. However, the Peterborough Eye restaurant was one of a kind as rather than the hotel and restaurant being situated in separate buildings, the Little Chef was placed in the bottom corner of the Travelodge hotel. This was a revelation for Compass as it allowed them to incorporate a greater range of their brands into a standard sized site. Furthermore, customers who were staying overnight at the Travelodge wouldn't have to leave the building in order to walk across to the Little Chef as the entrance to the restaurant was situated within the hotel reception area. This design was further incorporated at some of the other Little Chef/Travelodge sites which opened in this era, including Ashford and Old Stratford.
When the Little Chef opened, it automatically received the Choices makeover, giving the restaurant some smart new furniture and access to exciting menus from Harry Ramsdens, Upper Crust, Wiseguys Pizza and Caffe Ritazza. However, the menus were later removed and it continued to trade on as a standard Little Chef.
Despite obvious competition from the McDonald's next door, the Little Chef continued to do a good trade. Its accessibility to all traffic on the A47 and popularity with Travelodge guests were all surely contributing factors into keeping it afloat. However in 2017, Euro Garages purchased the Little Chef chain and set about closing down all restaurants in order to expand their portfolio. The Peterborough Eye branch closed in 2017 and was later replaced with a Starbucks.
A real miss for the newest Little Chef!
