Mirfield was a former Little Chef located at the A62/ A644 junction in the settlement of Mirfield.
One of Little Chef's earliest sites, opening in 1965, the Mirfield restaurant opened beside the "Three Nuns Filling Station" and was located between the A62 and A644, giving easy access to both routes. Mirfield Little Chef also has the accolade of being the first Little Chef to have accommodation offered alongside the restaurant in the form of the "Mirfield Motel". It is unclear when this opened, but it was certainly in operation by 1972 trading under this name for the rest of its existence. Gretna followed by the mid 70s with the first branded Little Chef Lodge.
In 1985/6, the Mirfield Motel disappeared from the Little Chef brochures and never returned. This was around the time that Little Chef started building new style purpose built "Little Chef lodges" and it is thought that the Mirfield Motel, being a much older design, didn't fit with this image. However, it is believed that it still continued to trade, latterly under the Travelodge brand which Forte used as part of a deal with Travelodge's owners and would later acquire! It is unclear if the original intention was to demolish and rebuild the lodge in the new style as redevelopment certainly occured at the site in the mid 80s with the Little Chef restaurant rebuilt. This was done in the house style of the era with pitched roof and red brick walls. The original restaurant was then demolished but the new restaurant kept the same number. It wasn't until 1999 that brochures started advertising accommodation alongside Mirfield Little Chef again when then owners Granada decided to build a new-style Travelodge at the site. It is unclear how much time passed between the closure of the old lodge and the opening of the new one though.
Mirfield Little Chef continued to trade well for years, surviving some of the major Little Chef culls in 2001/2, 2004/5 and 2007. However, in January 2012, then owners R Capital announced that they would be closing 67 underperfoming branches, of which Mirfield was one. The restaurant closed in 2012. Later in 2013, the Travelodge on-site closed and has since been operating as a Metro Inns Hotel. Prior to today, there are a few objects remaining in the car park from the time when the restaurant was operating as a Little Chef - including a 1990s Little Chef Car Park Security Notice on the outside wall of the Metro Inns Hotel, which has the following heading: 'Please Safeguard Your Property'.
This was not the end though and, in 2013, Mirfield became one of several former Little Chef sites which were purchased by forecourt operator Eurogarages as a part of a deal with Starbucks. The former Little Chef now houses a Starbucks.
