Fond memories of Wimpy as burger chain turns 70

This week Wimpy - the original fast food chain - turned 70. The UK’s first Wimpy bar opened in 1954 at Lyon’s Corner House in London. By 1970 it was a global brand, and by the mid-70s there were around 600 branches in the UK.

Wimpy was where millions of Brits tasted their first hamburger. It brought a touch of glamour to gloomy post-war Britain - the American diner experience, with leatherette booths. You could have a burger, a Shanty Brunch or Egg Bender, served with ‘French fried potatoes’, followed by Knickerbocker Glory for pud.

Shanty Brunch and Knickerbocker Glory were among menu choices (Image: Newsquest)

While it came from America, there was something quite British about Wimpy. It had a quirky appeal - innocent really, compared to the streetwise, impersonal vibe of today’s fast food places. It served burgers and fries, but with cutlery and crockery. During the power cuts of the Seventies, there was a bit of Blitz spirit at Wimpy, when managers brought in gas griddles to cook the food, and served it by candlelight.

Wimpy was a hangout for teens, a first dates haunt, a place for families and shoppers to enjoy a bite to eat.

Over the years it became over-shadowed by the burger chain big guns, and by the millennium there were less than 300 Wimpy branches in the UK. Today there are 63, and according to Absolute Radio DJ Andy Bush, who set himself the challenge of eating at a different Wimpy for every meal for a week, it still has a nostalgic appeal. Andy has treasured memories of going there as a child for a burger and milkshake with his mum and dad, and says many people have contacted him recalling their own family trips there.

The first Wimpy bar I went to was the one on Broadway in Bradford, which opened in 1980. I had to wait until I was a teenager to go there because I wouldn’t have had a cat in hell’s chance of going to Wimpy as a child.

I had a friend, Sarah, who was always going to Wimpy and she even had a Mr Wimpy badge. I used to look at it in envy and wonder what otherworldly delights lay in store inside a burger bar. Wimpy might as well have been the Moon.

When I was growing up, in the 70s and early 80s, we never went to burger bars - or any kind of restaurant. Pubs certainly weren’t places for children back then, even when pub grub began to emerge, in the shape of chicken-in-a-basket.

The only beefburgers we had came from the supermarket and were served with peas and potatoes. Occasionally, for a Saturday tea, we had steak Canadians in floury teacakes.

Whenever we went to a service station, we only used the toilets. We’d have sandwiches and a flask of tea in the car park, and I fantasised about the service station cafe. Even now, whenever I use one it feels quite decadent.

When I finally went to Wimpy, with my mates, it felt cool. But by the age of 17 I’d given up meat, so burgers lost their appeal. Then Wimpy introduced the bean burger in 1985 - the first vegetarian choice at a burger chain. A decade later, it was the first major fast food name to introduce Quorn to the menu, and today it has a vegan burger. In terms of catering for non-meat eaters, Wimpy was streets ahead of other burger chains.

But for me the burger bar novelty was short-lived. I’ve never eaten a KFC in my life, and I can probably count on one hand the McDonald’s meals I’ve had. I sometimes took my nephews there for a treat when they were little, but once they’d got over the thrill of watching the burger-flippers in action they lost interest in their chicken nuggets and plastic toy.

These days I don’t tend to use fast food outlets. The meat makes me feel a bit queasy, and I find them garish, soulless places for the under-35s. But Wimpy still has a quaint nostalgic appeal. As Andy Bush says, it retains a sense of pride - “fighting back against the big guys”.

* What are your memories of Wimpy? Email emma.clayton@nqyne.co.uk