britishers -- tell me about WIMPY BARS and their shitty burgers

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There's still one on Union St in Glasgow, there used to be loads of them but I think they mostly became Burger Kings. I really like their burger sauce but there's something just not right about the consistency of the meat. The standard of waitress service kind of kills any attempt at pretending to be fast food.

I once went to Wimpy with a stoned mate who was munchied enough to eat 2 half pounders with chips and still claimed to be hungry afterwards.

― onimo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:53 (nineteen years ago)

There's still one on Union St in Glasgow
wtf? How have I not noticed this?

― jim, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:54 (nineteen years ago)

DOCTOR BEAK'S! BRILLIANT!

I went to Wimpy once and guess what? I had a BURGER!

― the next grozart, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:55 (nineteen years ago)

Anyway, for filth, I see your Wimpy and raise you one STARBURGER. Or worse, STAR EXPRESS BURGER.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:56 (nineteen years ago)

I seem to recall there was one opposite Broad St Mall in Reading, at least there was 6 years ago. It was always completely empty, I lived up Oxford Rd for a while and used to catch the bus from the stop opposite coming home from work.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:56 (nineteen years ago)

There's still a Wimpey in Lewisham High Street and I think another one in Greenwich. SE London be flying the Wimpy flag high.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:56 (nineteen years ago)

I miss their Spicy Beanburger.

Wimpy was alright, really. They used to have concessions that were basically like Hot Dog stands, we used to get post pub sustenance from one in Stafford on Saturday nights, it wuz great.

― Noodle Vague, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:57 (nineteen years ago)

'Brown Derby' was another dessert type. A doughnut with whipped ice cream on top, chopped nuts and chocolate sauce.

In addition to Wimpy's diner model there was also Wendy's and Starburger in the UK tho I never went in either of those as they just seemed worse somehow.

― blueski, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:57 (nineteen years ago)

"Doctor Beak's", good grief.

"Spicy Beanburger" wasn't too bad IIRC.

― Pashmina, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:58 (nineteen years ago)

There was one at my local bowling alley as recentely as last year.

I had a burger there last year as one of their "eat food and go bowling and drink beer for not much money" promotions. It was OK. I'm kind of saddened to see it go (the bowling alley, not the Wimpy).

Their website's a bit out of date, so I'm not sure if any of the restaurants mentioned on it still exist (it still claims to have one in Paisley, which it definitely doesn't - see above - so who knows. Or cares, probably xpost, oh, Onimo does, obviously). I used to like the one in Inverness, my aunt used to take me there after school sometimes if my mum was working, and it was better than McDonalds or Burger King.

― ailsa, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:58 (nineteen years ago)

there are a few in Ireland

― Ronan, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:58 (nineteen years ago)

Wimpy milkshakes are extremely good!

Wimpy Milkshake however are another kettle of "cumberland rings". (Am I making them up??? OH SO INDIE ARGH)

Matt OTM re STARBURGER HORROR. Has anyone else been to the "W Bar" in Harringerry?

xpost a plenty - this thread has clearly hit 1x nerve!

― Sarah, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

In addition to Wimpy's diner model there was also Wendy's and Starburger in the UK tho I never went in either of those as they just seemed worse somehow.

I've tried both*. Your assumptions were correct.

*both in SE London, funnily enough - the place is a hot bed of shite burger bars

― onimo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

There was a random plan for a Wimpy FAP once.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:00 (nineteen years ago)

Wendy's was terrific :(

― Groke, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:00 (nineteen years ago)

There was a random plan for a Wimpy FAP once.

Mandee was fascinated by them iirc.

― blueski, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:01 (nineteen years ago)

they do egg and chips with a cup of tea, makes me feel strangely patriotic.

what about the happy eater and little chef are they the same thing?

― acrobat, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:01 (nineteen years ago)

Wimpy also has lots of 60s nostalgia vibes, they should definitely re-launch as retro dining excitement - cf Eleanor Bron in Bedazzled.

Fuck a fast food hater, basically.

― Noodle Vague, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:01 (nineteen years ago)

this wendy's?

http://imagescs.careersite.com/imageservlet/getimage?docId=9E215-EC2A&fileName=wendyscolor.jpg

I'm not a huge fan of their burger's but their other stuff's good.

I like the name of Wimpy's.

― Ms Misery, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:03 (nineteen years ago)

can't think of the one on union st. the last one I can think of was on...ingram st? just down from the gallery of modern art. between an o'brien's and a cruise

wimpy is a good name doctor beak's which I've never heard of before is an even better name

the served-on-a-plate thing, yeah. don't ever remember ever eating in a wimpy's though

― RJG, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:03 (nineteen years ago)

I am going to have to walk up Union Street tonight to make sure it's still there.

― onimo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:04 (nineteen years ago)

xxpost

wow, that post is apostrophe crazy. I hate people who use apostrophes incorrectly.

― Ms Misery, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:04 (nineteen years ago)

Little Thief are the exception to my fast food fandom. Evil beyond belief.

― Noodle Vague, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:05 (nineteen years ago)

Fuck a fast food hater, basically.

oh, i don't hate fast food. i just didn't like wimpy's burgers when i ate one ages ago. didn't quite get why they were necessary w/ mcdonalds and burger kings being franchised all over the place in the U.K., anyway.

― Eisbaer, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:06 (nineteen years ago)

Sorry dude, that wasn't aimed at you.

― Noodle Vague, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:07 (nineteen years ago)

I think Wimpy was around in the UK well before MacDo and BK, is why they were necessary.

― Noodle Vague, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:09 (nineteen years ago)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a6/HappyEater.jpg

― admrl, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:09 (nineteen years ago)

Wimpy isn't really a fast food place as such any more. It's waitress/waiter service and cook on demand.

― onimo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:09 (nineteen years ago)

Wimpys predate their expansion Eisbaer, so it's been a decline ever since. When I was growing up in the 70s Wimpys were probably the #1 brand, McDonalds the glamorous challenger. BK not even on my radar until a while later.

Doctor Beak's had a very limited run.

― Groke, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:10 (nineteen years ago)

RJG, it was up near where Underworld is. I'm almost convinced it is now Subway, but I await Onimo's reporting back with bated breath.

― ailsa, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:10 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah Eisbaer, you should be supporting your homegrown businesses and shit!

― Ms Misery, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:11 (nineteen years ago)

There's a Subway around there and I can't picture in my head whether they're the same place or not. I think Wimpy is next door to Jessops, maybe.

― onimo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:11 (nineteen years ago)

Wendys was great. There's a wimpy on the high st at West Norwood. Haven't been in one for years though.

― Vicky, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

When I was a child, going to Wimpys was a cultural novelty, it was the first fast food place I'd ever been to. It really stuck in ~~the craw~~ the mind.

I can remember the first time I ever went to MacDonalds - this was on the first visit to the States. When was the first MacDonalds opened in the UK? Because I can remember it being a big deal. But I'm not sure if it was the First One, or just the first one in our area.

― Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

Doctor Beak's had a very limited run.

a TV ad campaign featuring the Miami Sound Machine would've helped.

― blueski, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

1973 - McDonald's Golden Arches Restaurants Limited founded in UK as a joint venture partnership between the McDonald's Corporation and two businessmen; one British, one American.

I *do* remember it, then!

― Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:14 (nineteen years ago)

When was the first MacDonalds opened in the UK?

It was in Woolwich (SE London again!) in 1973 or thereabouts iirc. There's a plaque on the wall outside it as I think it was also the 1000th or 10000th McD's in the world or something.

― onimo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:14 (nineteen years ago)

xpost

― onimo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:14 (nineteen years ago)

Oh wait, the shop wasn't opened until 1974, though. Woolwich, apparently. 3000th.

― Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:15 (nineteen years ago)

1974!! (First McDs in Britain)

It's weird when you realise that these absolutely monolithic inescapable brands arrived in your lifetime.

― Groke, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:15 (nineteen years ago)

there was a lovely romantic and charming article in a late 90's SELECT mag by steve lowe all about WIMPY bars. i must dig that out. i couldn't believe it when he wrote those 'isn't everything shit...' books. they were the total opposite of this particular piece.

― pisces, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

We had a Wimpy's in Edgware. I think it was replaced by a KFC. And the supermarket was replaced by a Blockbuster's. And the Loppylug's video outlet was replaced by a Haagen Dazs concern. And the betting shop closed down. Thus even Edgware is not immune to creeping globalisation. Even Poundstretcher is gone.

=''(

― admrl, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

...which is strange because I can remember going into the centre of town (London) to go to McDonalds, and it was strange and exciting. By that point, Wimpys must have been a bit old hat.

Now I remember - first trip to the US (1977) was when McD's breakfast was launched. It was truly revolting.

― Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

Oh where was I? I had one...

Oh yeah, Teddington.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

think the subway on union st (there is one on almost every other st, these days) is next to the jessops and has been for a while. I do remember a wimpy on union st, though... but think there was a burger king, too, because I remember there was one inside central station and one outside and the prices were different. maybe the wimpy turned into a burger king and closed down. when the burger king on sauchiehall st (near the CCA and eh ABC ish) closed down and they took the signs down there was a kind of scorched impression of an earlier wimpy sign!

― RJG, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

In 1989, the Burger King brand acquired many locations of its major UK rival Wimpy when its parent company bought the brand from its previous owner United Biscuits and re-branded them as "Burger King", giving it an even greater presence in that country. While other "Wimpy" locations are still trading today (now independent from BK) they no longer have the presence they once did (the market is now dominated by Burger King and the larger McDonald's).

― Groke, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

Burker King on Union St is opposite the station. The Wimpy that I'm almost sure is still there is on the same side as Subway/Jessops and possibly in the same place as the former.

― onimo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:20 (nineteen years ago)

No mention of Mr Wimpy yet? Surely the creepiest creation ever to turn up at a children's party?

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:23 (nineteen years ago)

I can't remember if there was actually a Wimpys in Cheshunt or if we had to go down to Waltham Cross for it. Though for REALLY exciting shopping expeditions, we went to the one in Wood Green.

― Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:24 (nineteen years ago)

I am off to find a Wimpy Bar!

― onimo, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 16:24 (nineteen years ago)

Skipping 457 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

My mate Paul worked in Stevenage Wimpy and used have to put on the Mr Wimpy costume for kids parties and have the shit kicked out of him by sugar-crazed nippers.

― Piedie Gimbel, Friday, 13 January 2023 17:22 (three years ago)

yes, the onions were still like boiled sellotape, no idea how / why you do that to a poor onion.

― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Friday, 13 January 2023 17:37 (three years ago)

wonderful revive. still laughing at adam faith. still laughing at boiled sellotape

aesthetic charming, bun looks heinous, menu doing too much. recalls french outlet flunch somehow

had a small fight with an ex once because he went on a longed-for nostalgia visit to the nearest wimpy without me while I was on a very prohibitive diet. thought it was brazen at the time, but in retrospect it was the low blood sugar / yearning for a bendy colouring my thinking.

― verhexen, Saturday, 14 January 2023 07:21 (three years ago)

i think the spicy beanburger is the only thing i miss and would cautiously revisit

― Wyverns and gulls rule my world (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 January 2023 07:28 (three years ago)

I don't think I've posted this before - UK competitive eater Beard Meats Food tackles pretty much the full Wimpy menu at the Milford, Stafford branch a couple of years ago. It's a curious wee shack rather than a sit in restaurant, for added novelty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QG3LIX4gQY

― brain (krakow), Saturday, 14 January 2023 16:57 (three years ago)

THAT'S MY CHILDHOOD WIMPY!!

― Wyverns and gulls rule my world (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 January 2023 17:06 (three years ago)

and yes, it's a shack. but then Milford is basically a pub and a row of houses

― Wyverns and gulls rule my world (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 January 2023 17:07 (three years ago)

one year passes...

Wimpy in Woolwich, London 1987

https://i.imgur.com/u5gqwBM.jpg

― Ward Fowler, Sunday, 11 February 2024 17:48 (two years ago)

two months pass...

These photos are grim as hell

This one was my local for many years

https://i2-prod.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/article22387826.ece/ALTERNATES/s1227b/1_JS183910396.jpg

― nate woolls, Friday, 19 April 2024 02:58 (two years ago)

https://i.imgur.com/u5gqwBM.jpg

so brown so grim so true to london in the 80s

― Big Bong Theory (stevie), Friday, 19 April 2024 08:09 (two years ago)

bugger
https://i.imgur.com/u5gqwBM.jpg

― Big Bong Theory (stevie), Friday, 19 April 2024 08:09 (two years ago)

nate woolls, is that the one in ogmor, wales?

― your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Friday, 19 April 2024 15:04 (two years ago)

Lol that's Woolwich. I know the 96 bus well

― xyzzzz__, Friday, 19 April 2024 18:29 (two years ago)

Lol that's Woolwich. I know the 96 bus well

― xyzzzz__, Friday, 19 April 2024 18:29 (two years ago)

are you talking about the photo in the post labelled "Wimpy in Woolwich, London 1987" or the other one?

― kinder, Friday, 19 April 2024 21:00 (two years ago)

Lol don't see the label.

Anyway, feeling local pride though there was another wimpy nearby that I went to regularly

― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 20 April 2024 11:11 (two years ago)

It's in Porthcawl in Wales xp

― nate woolls, Saturday, 20 April 2024 11:41 (two years ago)

Ah Porthcawl, yes sorry. Its very prominent iirc

― your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Saturday, 20 April 2024 14:07 (two years ago)

I wonder if anyone ever goes into one of Britain's surviving Wimpys, sits down, starts eating their meal and then suddenly realises they're the only person there not recording themselves for a youtube video

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/myMaYrEKA3M/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLDvTYMGj-jHB9NxtAJ4EaEbSoSUcg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1i6pNkmNlFk/maxresdefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9vfpLIE_nDo/sddefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pqRNd2eMk0o/maxresdefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DLmFjxyMDIc/hqdefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mZnxWL17x7s/maxresdefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oSSWEOQPaxg/maxresdefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9Q8GEH7fUgA/maxresdefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pCtc2jtlubU/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLC97u5Keu8o8n8RDCRRA5F4ClY4cg

― Platinum Penguin Pavilion (soref), Saturday, 20 April 2024 14:56 (two years ago)

Apart from SweatpantsjoeatstheUK, the dudes making their YouTubes of their trips to Wimpy seem to be a very specific kind of older white dude and I would not like to glimpse at their Facebook feeds

― Big Bong Theory (stevie), Monday, 22 April 2024 09:16 (two years ago)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oSSWEOQPaxg/maxresdefault.jpg
There is no dignity in pulling a face like this multiple times once you're in your late 40s, mate

― Big Bong Theory (stevie), Monday, 22 April 2024 09:17 (two years ago)

Also all that food looks repulsive. wholemeal buns = puke, and why are those buns such an unusually flaccid beige?

― Big Bong Theory (stevie), Monday, 22 April 2024 09:17 (two years ago)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/myMaYrEKA3M/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLDvTYMGj-jHB9NxtAJ4EaEbSoSUcg
this guy has such perfect "manager of the WH Smith's where you worked on Saturdays when you were in 6th form" vibes

― Big Bong Theory (stevie), Monday, 22 April 2024 09:20 (two years ago)

I have absolute no nostalgia for Wimpy but if we're talking about the burgers served up on the charcoal grill at the kebab shop round the corner from where I grew up, that's a Proustian rush right there (RIP Merton Kebab & Burger House on Haydon's Rd, we salute you)

― Big Bong Theory (stevie), Monday, 22 April 2024 09:21 (two years ago)

nine months pass...

https://www.change.org/p/urge-wirral-borough-council-to-facilitate-wimpy-birkenhead-s-relocation

― brain (krakow), Sunday, 2 February 2025 17:27 (one year ago)

Thumbs up on that one!

― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 2 February 2025 18:06 (one year ago)

I can only find a Liverpool Echo link for context, not sure if they're bad bad not good?

Apparently the area is set for regeneration, having been bought by the council, and that details of how they will handle existing tenants as this happens are sketchy.

― brain (krakow), Sunday, 2 February 2025 20:42 (one year ago)

six months pass...

Staff with Mr Wimpy outside the Wimpy restaurant on Byres Road, Glasgow in December 1988.

https://scontent-lhr6-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/532132992_1178081174354931_5598829236503013238_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=bxuNtP8ZfTwQ7kNvwE2YE1h&_nc_oc=Admf59Jb52Rmwy0-hoDQfyl7nMveh_BN-r5j4lxD30KRgXpuoxs94urINdpI3vFtSOgESH92ymwRKRNoCYOoi1BZ&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr6-2.xx&_nc_gid=CLc3u9wSUd5eO2KTIC40Pg&oh=00_AfUszsYtmO9iEPkw4qEefXDw2sPrIlYC9rJ9awzOCnNaMg&oe=68A3937E

― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 14 August 2025 10:20 (ten months ago)

I was in one in Johannesburg airport last year (where it's still a well loved and profitable chain) and it looked exactly like a seaside treat from the 70s.

Hopefully this link works, never tried one direct to my photo stream before:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5Gp83BAZBo5f9jf5A

― Overtoun House windows (aldo), Thursday, 14 August 2025 10:56 (ten months ago)

Chips look OK but the burger is a bit grim.

― you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Thursday, 14 August 2025 17:28 (ten months ago)

xxp for some reason reminds me of this photo I saw yesterday

https://i.imgur.com/ak09Pq5.png

― Proust Ian Rush (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 14 August 2025 18:02 (ten months ago)

The one in Portcawl still has a trace on Google Street View, where the footage dates back to 2011:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/HnCyWscVmxhqYxNb8

My first thought was "that's a lot of surveillance cameras". And my second thought is that from Street View's angle the place actually looks quite nice, or at least the location is nice. Except that as per the photos up the page the seaward side doesn't have windows. It would have made more sense to put the kitchen on the landward side of the restaurant, but perhaps they didn't have any choice.

If you rotate the camera 180 degrees there's an advert for Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2, which is spooky.

Because it has Wimpy in the name.

― Ashley Pomeroy, Thursday, 14 August 2025 19:18 (ten months ago)

two months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXoQkbyaoxY

― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, 15 October 2025 14:00 (eight months ago)

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