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{{subpage|Little Chef|title=Little Chef Express|
The name '''Little Chef Express''' has had three incarnations during its run. Each was aiming to take on the fast food market, ditching the image of a formal restaurant, albeit in slightly different ways.

==Forte Version==
[[File:Little Chef Express 1996 logo.png|One of the 1996 Little Chef Express logos.|100px|alt=Little Chef Express.|thumb|right]]
It was first created in 1995 by [[Forte]], who had been providing more takeaway outlets in their motorway service areas and began to feel people might expect the same of the larger Little Chefs.

Little Chef Express allowed some popular dishes to be quickly picked up and taken away, in a manner that was compared to [[McDonald's]], who were in the process of rolling out drive thrus. It was introduced to [[Markham Moor]] and believed to be an option for Forte to use with its Happy Eaters, but this didn't happen.

After [[Forte]] was taken over by [[Granada]], the trial initially continued, with new takeaways at [[Camel Hill|Sparkford]], Egginton and [[Colchester#Trivia and History|Colchester]]. These had a blue colour scheme, neon lighting, promoted the word "diner" and used a logo showing Charlie moving quickly. They had serving hatch and high stools for seating. A cheeseburger meal cost £3.99. These express units were removed after several months.

==Granada Version==
[[File:Little Chef Express Granada.jpg|A Little Chef Express within a Granada motorway restaurant.|100px|alt=A buffet counter with Little Chef Express signs.|thumb|right]]
With all the brands newly acquired by [[Granada]] during the takeover, they began to re-think their restaurant options. Many of their larger [[Fresh Express]] restaurants at motorway service areas had a counter taking the name Little Chef Express. This was again designed as a takeaway brand which would take on the fast food names, paying particular attention to younger customers, and forming part of food courts to suit the time-conscious customers that these locations had. These food courts would usually be joined by the likes of [[La Brioche Doree]] and [[Upper Crust]].

This version of Little Chef Express used the same Charlie emblem as the previous incarnation, but this time he was positioned on a red background, with "express" written in purple.

This version of Little Chef Express was quickly introduced to many unusual locations, including airports, railway stations, bus stations, ferry terminals and even on board a ferry. Most of these did not last long as they were dependent on being part of Granada's foodservice empire.

[https://motorwayservices.uk/download/Little-Chef-Express-1995-menu.pdf Granada Little Chef Express menu (November 1995)]

===Little Chef Classics===
[[File:Little Chef Classics logo.jpg|thumb|right|100px|The Little Chef Classics logo.|alt=Little Chef Classics.]]
After Granada were broken up, the motorway sites continued as Moto-operated, full-service Little Chef restaurants, even if they had previously been part of an Express food court. Two unusual branches at Belfast and [[Dover Port|Dover]] briefly used the name 'Little Chef Classics', apparently because they were too small to operate as a full Little Chef.

==RCapital Version==
{{Gallery|setmainimage=yes|name=Little Chef Express|image=Bangor Littlechefexpress.jpg|size=250|caption=A Little Chef Express stand in 2013.}}
RCapital decided to remove the 11 remaining [[Coffee Tempo!]] outlets in 2012, replacing them with a new-look 'Little Chef Express'.

More restaurants had Little Chef Express added, including [[Popham]], [[Bilbrough|York East]], [[Willoughby Hedge|West Knoyle]], and the former [[Wonderfully British|Good to Go]] outlets at [[Podimore]] and [[Amesbury]].

The Little Chef Express at [[Warminster]] was removed in favour of [[Subway]].

By February 2018 all Little Chef Expresses had closed.

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[[Category:Little Chef]][[Category:UK only]][[Category:Trusthouse Forte]][[Category:Granada]]
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