Happy Eater was a

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

of restaurants in England and Wales. Founded by Sir Michael Pickard in 1973, the chain wanted to compete against the British roadside restaurant

category killer A category killer is a retailer, often a big-box store, that specializes in and carries a large product assortment of a given category. Their wide merchandise selections, deep supply, large buying power, and a comparative advantage to other retailer ...

at the time, Little Chef, who would end up absorbing it in 1997.

History

Happy Eater restaurant (mid 1980s) (cropped further)

Closed Happy Eater restaurant near Warminster in Wiltshire (cropped)

In 1973, a former managing director of the hotel group Trust House Forte, Michael Pickard, founded a family-orientated roadside restaurant, aimed at competing with the established pre-eminent chain in the industry, Little Chef. The company's first major move was converting Welcome Break restaurants into Happy Eater locations in the 1970s. The restaurants offered similar fare to Little Chef, such as offering

English breakfast A full breakfast is a substantial cooked breakfast meal, often served in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that typically includes back bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, some form of potato, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, and a ...

s and

fish and chips Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...

. A distinctive difference to customers between the two chains was that Happy Eater provided outdoor animal-themed playground equipment for children. Outlets were mostly located in the Midlands and the South East of England, with many locations situated along the

A1 road A list of roads designated A1, sorted by alphabetical order of country. * A01 highway (Afghanistan), a long ring road or beltway connecting Kabul, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar * A1 motorway (Albania), connecting Durrës and Kukës * A001 highwa ...

corridor. In 1980, the brand further expanded when its 21 locations were sold to the Imperial Group. Not long after this, a partnership with Esso garages was formed, which saw a rapid increase of new roadside locations throughout the 1980s. Imperial Group would expand the chain to 75 restaurants, before selling the chain in 1986 to Trust House Forte, who owned the Little Chef chain. Trust House Forte continued to expand the Happy Eater chain alongside Little Chef. The chain notably received media attention in 1991 when Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

stopped at a Happy Eater outlet for a fried breakfast on his way to a Young Conservatives conference.

Decline

In 1996,

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

purchased Forte, as it had become known, and began to streamline their business by converting the Happy Eater locations to the Little Chef brand. By the end of 1997, all Happy Eater restaurants were either converted or closed, helping Little Chef reach its peak of 439 restaurants. This would prove challenging for Little Chef, as some Happy Eater locations were originally built to compete with Little Chef, meaning now the restaurants were competing with themselves; this ultimately meant Little Chef would close locations throughout the 2000s as a result of falling profits. Little Chef's financial difficulties caused it to eventually cease in January 2018. The defunct Happy Eater brand is currently owned by Kuwaiti firm Kout Food Group, who were the last organisation to operate Little Chef. The group left the United Kingdom in 2020, meaning the Happy Eater trademark is now registered in Kuwait.

Legacy

The 1986 film, ''Mona Lisa'', features a scene filmed in a Happy Eater. The 1989 video game ''Fast Food'', was originally intended as a promotional tool for Happy Eater. The 2007 film '' Rise of the Footsoldier'' uses a location depicting the former Basildon branch of Happy Eater, set in the late 1980s. The 2020 Amazon series '' Truth Seekers'' features an abandoned Happy Eater restaurant in its fifth episode. '' The Curse'' (2022) recreates a Happy Eater for a scene in its last episode. In November 2022, Loungers announced they were launching

Brightside Roadside Brightside may refer to: Places *Brightside, Sheffield, district of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England **Shiregreen and Brightside, ward in Sheffield **Sheffield Brightside (UK Parliament constituency) * Brightside, California, in Alameda County, ...

to fill the gap in the market created by the demise of Little Chef and Happy Eater.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Defunct restaurants in the United Kingdom Defunct restaurant chains Restaurants established in 1973 British companies established in 1973 British companies disestablished in 1997 1997 disestablishments in England 1973 establishments in England Restaurants disestablished in 1997

History

Decline

Legacy

See also

References

External links