Arlo's
| Locations: | 2 |
| Introduced: | 2015 |
| Removed: | most in 2019 |
| Predecessors: | EDC, Upper Crust |
| Successors: | KFC |
Arlo's is perhaps Moto's last effort at a self-branded, sit-down restaurant. It was first introduced to Chieveley in 2015 and was rolled out to Moto's neighbouring services during the first half of 2016.
Arlo's is themed around a patisserie, and its introduction is usually accompanied by a thorough redesign of the serving area, using more lavish furnishings that one would expect to find in a motorway café. Unusually for Moto, the coffee served is not Costa but Extract Coffee Roasters.
Arlo's was one of a number of catering experiments Moto were looking at around the same time. Others included a franchised branch of Harvester, and a pub brand called Bar & Grill. Although Arlo's is functionally the same as the EDC it replaced, the revised menu and layout created a fresher appeal which Moto hoped would see a higher turnover.
Out of these brands Arlo's appeared to be the most successful, and became one of Moto's preferred catering brands. Arlo's was included in plans for new services, but it still wasn't introduced to many existing sites as fitting it out can be expensive.
Downfall
In early 2019, the Reading and Wetherby branches were made smaller. Under the new title Breakfast @ Arlo's, these branches were only open in the mornings to serve breakfast. In the afternoon, the same unit would be re-branded Chow. By combining the two Moto were able to save more space for more fast food units.
Further changes came later in the year. Moto stopped promoting Arlo's in November 2019, and a few weeks later the majority of Arlo's restaurants were closed. This leaves more space for popular fast food names, but is further evidence that the sit-down restaurant trade is being removed from the motorway network almost entirely.
Locations
We understand that the following Arlo's restaurants are still open:
- Chieveley (M4/A34)
- Toddington (M1)
Former Locations
Arlo's used to be found at the following services:
- Cherwell Valley (M40/A43)
- Exeter (M5)
- Lancaster (M6)
- Leigh Delamere (M4)
- Reading westbound (M4)
- Wetherby (A1(M))
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