The Milton Keynes branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located at the junction between the A5 and A4146 in the small town of Fenny Stratford near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
Address and Onsite Information[]
ADDRESS: A5/A4146 Kelly's Kitchen Roundabout, Fenny Stratford, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK17 9RB
ONSITE FACILITIES: Shell, Deli2Go (forecourt), Costa Express (forecourt), McDonald's
History[]
The site was first built during the 1980s by Little Chef's rival chain, Kelly's Kitchen and was a joint venture between a Brewery Company, who ran the restaurant and Petrofina, who ran the filling station. This was one of 18 Kelly's Kitchens/ Petrofina sites operating across the UK. Other examples include Black Cat, Seaton Burn and Crewe. Kelly's Kitchen restaurants were very distinctive, housed inside a building with an overhanging roof, cottage styled windows and a large funnel-like chimney built into the wall and the roof.
In 1989/90, then owners Forte were looking to expand the Little Chef chain rapidly across Britain's road network. As Kelly's Kitchen only had 18 restaurants operating, Forte didn't see the need to expand the chain further. Instead, they converted all existing Kelly's Kitchen sites (including Milton Keynes) into Little Chefs, meaning that Little Chef saw further growth. The Little Chef at Milton Keynes opened in 1989/90 alongside the existing Petrofina petrol station, which was later converted into a Total garage. Instead of rebuilding the restaurant from scratch, the Little Chef was housed inside of the existing Kelly's Kitchen building, thus saving time and money.
Despite the demise of Kelly's Kitchen, the legacy of the chain lives on as the roundabout adjacent to the restaurant was named Kelly's Kitchen roundabout.
In 2002, the Little Chef received the Choices makeover, giving diners access to a range of new menus from a number of well estalished restaurant chains, including Harry Ramsdens, Wiseguys Pizza and Upper Crust. Furthermore, the restaurant was given a refurbishment, comprising of new furniture and a fresh new look. Although the Choices menu was later removed, it continued to trade as a smart Little Chef.
Milton Keynes successfully operated for over 20 years due to its great location which satisfied travellers along both the A5 and the A4146. However, at the start of 2012, Milton Keynes was listed as one of 67 branches under review. The branch closed shortly afterwards. This was also the time when the Total garage was replaced with Shell.
The Little Chef has since been demolished and replaced with a McDonald's.
