Claverhouse was a Little Chef on the A92 Arbroath Road just beside the Claypotts junction on the north east side of Dundee.
The restaurant opened in December 1974 on the A92. At the time this was the main route from Dundee to Aberdeen so, for longer distance traffic, this was a great position for a restaurant, providing either a natural stopping place once clearing Dundee or a place to stop before traversing it. It was also well placed to attract local diners too. A neighbouring filling station also helped to encourage more customers.
According to a report in the BBC Domesday project of 1986, this Little Chef was used by 350 every day on average with the busiest days being Saturday and Sunday. In terms of demograph most of the customers were families and business people. The report also added that no changes were planned for the Little Chef in the future.
However, in the early 1990s three large things happened which impacted upon the Little Chef. Firstly, the decision was taken to upgrade the other route between Dundee and Aberdeen via Forfar, making the whole route dual carriageway. This was then redesignated as the main route and took with it a lot of the Little Chef's historical passing trade. To add to this, the decision was taken to upgrade the Claypotts junction from a standard roundabout to a staggered traffic lit junction with a small road re-route. This meant that the Little Chef would now be much more difficult to access for passing traffic as well.
To top it all off Little Chef's then owners Forte opened a new restaurant further west in 1990/91. Like Claverhouse the same formula of siting a restaurant beside a filling station and ensuring direct access from a major strategic route was followed. However, unlike Claverhouse, the new Dundee site was better placed to hit the longer distance traffic on the new main route north. Thus, the need for Claverhouse had diminshed and Forte closed the site in 1992/3.
Soon afterwards the restaurant was demolished and houses have now been built in its place