The Rugeley branch was a former Little Chef located on A51 in Rugeley, Staffordshire.
Address and Onsite Information[]
ADDRESS: Weston Springs Road, Rugeley, Staffordshire, WS15 2AS
ONSITE FACILITIES: Burger King, Subway, Esso, Travelodge
History[]
Little Chef Rugeley opened on the A51 in 1988. The site was built by Forte (the owners of Little Chef at the time) and was placed in a very good spot: for one thing it was located next to a roundabout on an important A-route linking the M6 and M42. It was also right in the middle of a very urbanised area, meaning the site could gain local traffic as well as long distance travellers. The restaurant was also built right next to a petrol station and a Little Chef Lodge (later rebranded Travelodge) - meaning that people staying on-site or filling up their car could go into the Little Chef to grab a quick bite! All in all, this meant Rugeley was a very well chosen location for a Little Chef.
A big change occurred to the site when new owners, Granada, added a Burger King extension onto the Little Chef. Rugeley's Burger King was one of a few which had a drive thru.
In 2007, a new bypass was added around the town of Rugeley, bypassing the roundabout the site was on. This took away a large amount of traffic from the Little Chef. In 2011, the Little Chef was permanently closed down by its owners and the building remained just as a Burger King. In 2014, a Subway was added in the former Little Chef space to sit alongside the Burger King.
Sometime between 2018 and 2020, the building was refurbished by EG Group, who painted the exterior black and removed the Drive Thru in favour of more car parking. The Drive Thru later returned in 2022 following a refurbishment of the Burger King.
The petrol station accompanying the site has also changed hands over the years too! It was branded as a Texaco petrol station up until 2010 when it rebranded as Jet. In 2015, it became a Esso petrol station.
