Brightside Roadside Dining, owned by Loungers, to open at Ram Jam services in Stretton this month

A roadside diner which harks back to the glory days of car travel will open later this month.

Brightside Roadside Dining will open in the biggest unit at the Ram Jam services off the A1 near Stretton on Friday, November 22.

From booths which look like they have been taken straight out of a 1980s caravan to avocado-coloured toilet suites, the restaurant takes inspiration from memories of roadside dining and holidays from a bygone era.

Evoking nostalgia is the mission of Alex Reilley, chairperson and co-founder of Loungers which owns Brightside, who was inspired by affectionate memories of visiting the likes of Little Chef and Happy Eater as a child.

He said: “We used to travel a lot from Leicester, where I’m originally from, to Suffolk to see my great-grandmother and the highlight of the weekend was stopping at Little Chef on Friday night for tea on the way there and again on the way back on Sunday evening.

“So I’ve always had this fascination with this idea of a roadside restaurant where people stop either as lone diners, as families, or to meet with others.

“When Little Chef sadly closed it left a real void, as there was no one else really doing roadside restaurants.

“From that point on, I had a bit of an itch – I thought there was room for a reimagined roadside restaurant concept that is fit-for-purpose for the 21st Century.

“I felt it an opportunity to effectively apply our expertise to a roadside location.”

The new Rutland restaurant will have a dining area furnished with creamy Formica-topped tables, with mid-century inspired dining chairs, and booths upholstered with orange and brown striped train seat fabric.

Giving a nod to retro TV shows, caravan awnings hang over the windows and crazy paving flooring leads to the restaurant.

The Stretton branch is the fourth Brightside restaurant in the country, with the others located in Devon and Cornwall.

The menu is described as offering elevated comfort food with a twist and includes breakfasts with Jolly Hog’s Proper Porker sausage, Marco Pierre White hash browns and a buttery pile of sourdough toast, burgers, fish and chips, sourdough pizzas and an upgraded ham, egg and chips.

Also on offer are a number of sweet treats including ice cream sundays and brownies.

Charlie Jones, operations manager at Brightside, said: “Ram Jam Services has, historically, always been a thriving and popular roadside destination for motorists so this is a great opportunity for us to be part of something new and really exciting.”

Work has been ongoing to create the Ram Jam services for a couple of years and involved the demolition of the former pub on the site.

Costa Coffee and restaurant brand Wendy’s are also set to open at the services, which will be accessed off the A1 northbound.

Loungers operates café-bars and restaurants across the country including the Cosy Club chain, which has an eatery in Stamford and Lincoln.

Will you be visiting? Let us know in the comments.