Inside Wimpy, the UK's forgotten fast food chain
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- Опубликовано: 14 янв 2018
- We went to one of the few remaining Wimpy restaurants in London.
Wimpy was first introduced to the UK in 1954 and became one of the most popular fast food chains in the country. That was until McDonald's entered the market in 1974.
In the 70's there were over 500 Wimpy restaurants across the UK, now that's down to just 80. The chain was famous for some of its menu items such as the Wimpy Burger and the Bender in a Bun.
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To the Americans saying this is overpriced:
You're right.
Erika Karisawa yeah lol
everything is too overpriced aswell..
Erika Karisawa if you think this is overpriced you've never been to 5 Guys
Youve got to remember that this is in London. Everything is overpriced in London.
The dollar is underpriced
Looks like it costs about 50p to make
SBM nah, I’d say it looks like it costs 1p to make if that.
Lift channel 256 Haha yeah it's such low quality, I think 50p is definitely too generous lol
Have any of you actually ate there?
Nah, does it taste better than it looks/costs?
It actually does especially the mega.Don’t let the look deceive you
"The price is quite similar as well"
Me: Throws 5 cheeseburgers and 2 large fries from mcdonalds on the table*
Love Wimpy's very nostalgic for me. But they're no longer British, they were bought out by a South African company a few years ago.
Larry Bundy Jr Ya, they're everywhere in SA.
Sod off larry you being a fan tells everyone all they need to know bout how bad it is lol
yeah my friend came from Kenya and a wimpy’s near him was in the news for selling Dalmatian meat in the burgers
ScumBag
>implying
North American RUclipsr no its not britisch
Loved Wimpy as a kid, many happy memories going here with my
Grandparents as a special treat! It’s a shame that the company couldn’t adapt to the shifting fast food market, hence why it dated so badly. It genuinely was a pretty decent place!
1.I have never heard of this place 2. Expensive
Thanks for all the likes
Ridah A 1. Because your probably 12 2. Its overpriced if you get £5 a month pocket money, yes.
Josh Wood Na mate it’s overpriced because mc Donald’s in significantly cheaper
Same,I have never heard of this place
Looking at it, it's a ripoff
Try five guys xD
10 quid for a cafe style burger with a hot dog and chips... if it was better quality it would warrant the price tbh
There's one literally 2 mins away from my house. I've always wanted to go but never got around it. But after watching this I think I'll keep it that way.
Give it a try. Might surprise you.
I tried the mega burger, way too expensive but it was really good so was the milkshake.
Cheapskates
Y'all acting like Wimpy is forgotten for no reason, everyone forget they food because it's nasty
Everything looked disgusting
Yep the burger bun looked dry
The food was ok but it was super bland. Even as a kid I knew it wasn't anything special.
They could have stayed alive if they changed their menu
"everyone forget they food"
South African Wimpy is the total opposite: Always full of people, food quality is amazing, is an actual restaurant not a fast food joint, etc. I was shocked when I learnt it isn't popular in the UK given that it it one of the most popular restaurants in SA
Lol this is so popular in South Africa it's one of the biggest chains
Bart Simpson - the quality of the food in Wimpy South Africa is way better.
Nick James I agree with you, Nick. The food from Wimpy UK looks gross. Wimpy South Africa offers premium meals at a reasonable price. The restaurants look fancier too.
I wouldn’t say Wimpy is particularly good but it’s definitely not bad
@Rosti Pazarella opinion has changed from a couple years ago you’re right it is awful now
wimpy was also the first fast food chain in Egypt but closed all stores in the 80s and made a comeback this year my grandma and parents were soo happy lol
I used to love Wimpy! Would get one now and then if there was one nearby these days.
As an American looks horrid
That literally looks like someyhing i could cook at home for much cheaper
Yeah, that is fast food.
kof ola fast food should be looking way better than this
@@sanurumi4188 yeah, you are right, it does look worse then Burger king promo.
A bit late, but yeah tbh I agree it looks very 1970's. As a 30+ brit I can definitely say wimpy has its charms and distinct flavour profile which is hard to repeat at home. burgers were good but the milkshakes were a winner every time
Yeah that's pretty much the case with most restaurant/pub food so I don't get what you're whining about. Cooking at home has always been cheaper. Restaurants are businesses after all and need to make profit.
Thank you for this mini history lesson! I had never heard of Wimpy, and I always appreciate learning something new.
My parents when they were younger both worked in wimpy and that’s how they met lol
2 Losers working minimum wage job, I don't get out of bed for less than £15 per hour
@laser325 congratulations for using auto correct
@@rioeiokha9653 is that why you are still unemployed?
The food looks dilapidated. That's the word I'd use.
TARDISgirl 11 : Fossilized is a word I would use too.
hahahahahahb im dead😂😂😂🙌🙌🙌
S why? They’re on what, the 13th season? 14th?
man I loved Wimpy as a kid, it was next to my high school and the local Woolworths up in Finchley. They had that typical cafe quality burger taste but it was addicting and nostalgic!
It’s too expensive, looks like it’s from the 70’s and has chip that are from the freezer.
BRADLEY BREAD where else do you think chips should be stored then you bread faced reprobate
5 guys makes them on site from raw potatoes. But then again it's £4.50 for a small portion.
Rhydian Shields lmao
Rhydian Shields ffs they look like they are from Asda’s freezer section not from a place you go out to eat.
BRADLEY BREAD you've got a point. The chips and burger buns at my dad's old takeout shop were the cheap ones you'd get at a freezer section or generic store brand.
£10 for a burger meal I go to some relatively high up pubs and get meals for less than that.
Bullshit
Love the way everyone's acting shocked over a 💷10 burger meal but the same people will happily pay up to 18 pounds at shity 5 guys,
@@boxergirl84 you don't go to 5 guys every week, you go once a year at the most, the prices are well worth it
@@rioeiokha9653. If I thought it was worth it I wouldn't have left that comment. Can't stand 5 Guy's.
gourmet burger kitchen does better ones for less if you wanted to go to a chain
It was too Wimpy to compete.
Get out. I SAID GET OUT GOD-DAMNIT
Great joke man
can't help it. It's Auto-crit.
The one on the High Street in Grantham closed when I was little. I never ate in there but did buy a fizzy drink in a paper cup with my pocket money once. I was fascinated by the large plastic tomatoes used for ketchup that were on every table. I remember going to the Wimpy in Broadmarsh Centre Nottingham years ago, one of the largest and most popular Wimpy’s that survived right up until they knocked the place down. Went to the one in Teddington a couple of times. Used to get lunch at the Greenwich restaurant one or twice a month twenty odd years ago. Now these have all gone. Not sure where my nearest Wimpy is. I might have to search online and make a special journey to one for old times sake.
Overpriced!!!
Exacrly and the burgers taste like chicken shop bugers
that's why
Agree overpriced
Probs because they are loosing money and we see the last few chains die out
Absolute shite haha
McDonalds: I'm gonna conquer the world!!!!
Jollibee: Hold my rice....
Not any more! A lot had been closing down because of corona
I remember Wimpy from when I was living in England from 1984 - 1995. I thought Wimpy went out of business and all the Wimpy restaurants in the UK closed down. I'm surprised to see some Wimpy restaurants still exists.
This is one of the biggest food chains in South Africa. The prices are obviously much lower and the food is good.
1:41 - What, NINE pound for THAT? A tiny half-burger half-hotdog mutant and a few chips? Think I'll stick with Burger King thank you!
In the US that could get you a meal (an actual one) at like Five Guys or In-N-Out
I like me my British nostalgia more than anyone, but this is nothing to be nostalgic about from what I'm seeing. I've always hated the name 'Wimpy', and I'm not liking the look of their food neither. It has failed to nourish the child within me.
And what a Chicken Royale 7 pound that’s without chips
Tbf a burger kind meal is like 8 quid
True, but for that you get Burger King, which is the nicest junk food money can buy.
The wimpy chains in South Africa are absolutely amazing. Some of the best restaurants around at a reasonable price usually. It's not considered a fast food restaurant but rather just a restaurant
South African food chains are honestly underrated gems. Steers, Spur, Wimpy, Debonair, Nandos etc. all brilliant and I’d argue they’re all better quality than American fast food & restaurant chains.
@@dod6031 In my honest opinion, Debonairs Pizza is terrible. I enjoyed Domino's more, even though they left SA a few years ago. My favorite chain is Col'Cacchio, though, despite being more expensive.
I remember going to Wimpy just for their Milk Shakes, they were the best!
Still have one in Dartford, when this virus pisses off I'll try it again.
wimpy is still a big franchise in south africa, and personally i prefer them above macdonalds
Wimpy is trash. It has a budget school dinners feel to it. They should position themselves more like a chain of nostalgic greasy spoons rather than directly against McDonalds and Burger King.... add more british classics to the menu.
Brexiters are the people who hate immigrants but keep going to International food chain for their meals. Stupid cunts they are.
I'm not sure what this has to do with Wimpy but I disagree. The Brexit debate is not a left / right thing - that would be over simplifying it.
Matt DaKav you are right
Wow. The Remoaners are *still* throwing their tantrum.
Don't worry; we're not leaving Europe. Give it 5 years and I can guarantee you our taxes will be paying for Swedish roads once again, and our peaceful friends from the middle east will have their own political party.
NNT Flow Brexiters don't Hate immigrants, they just hate illegal immigrants which is like 95% of the people coming in
I remember wimpy, their food was so delicious
I used to love Wimpy 40 years ago. Their International Grill was a real treat.
£6 meal
Medium portion
5 minute wait
Same quality as McDonalds
Now I know why Wimpy died.
There's definitely more chips than you'd get with a McD's large meal and most of their meals are in the £5-6 range anyway. Don't know about taste - last Wimpy's I had must've been about 7-8 years ago at a motorway services, so cost even more, and was bang average taste-wise.
True, there's more chips, and I'm not sure about the price, but if Wimpy wanted to compete with McD's the five minute wait's got to go!
Trust me the 5 minute wait is worth it to eat your meal in peace,
every time I eat at McDonald's there's some freak staring , the speakers are blasting annoying music and the place is cramped,not to mention it smells like shit
you don't get any of that at wimpys
London prices?
To the people saying this is overpriced, think about the fact that in Norway a McDonald's meal similar to the first burger costs 12£
Americans have it so easy with food.I live in Canada and the burger alone would cost 5-6 dollars depending on the place
since I don't live in Norway this fact is completely irrelevant. I'm judging it against what I can get for the same money in the country I actually live in...Norway is of no relevance whatsoever
because it's fuckn norway, come on
Had a McDonalds in Oslo after going to the pub, best one I ever had. Probably not worth £12 but in the moment it was 😂
anyone who knows anything about norway knows its expensive but ur wages make up for it i supose its like me talking about food and drink prices in spain (i know its very low even for there wages ) but u can go super market and get dunk on a euro if ur lucky 50cent for a leater of wine lol
We also have Wimpy in South Africa and people love it..not me personally though but i know its a South African family favourite especially for kids
wimpy rocks we need more of them bring back wimpy to the masses.
We have Wimpy in South Africa. They're still pretty big and they're not bad at all.
Lassi Kinnunen Completely different menu. And it's actually pretty good. Prices are different as well.
I'm actually sad that my local Wimpy has closed
I haven't had Wimpy in a long time, but I can tell it's still the efficiency and quality of a chain with the charm of your local cafe.
| miss Wimpy. Their bean burgers were a part of my teens, never can get mine to taste the same. But it's the Wimpy of the past I miss.
They taste like trash and its expensive
A Drunken Pug don’t say trash if you’re English you knob
A Drunken Pug rubbish*
Sean McDonagh bro my name is Shaun McDonagh wtaf
Sean McDonagh Does it matter?
A Drunken Pug, please apologise for your inappropriate use of floccinaucinihilipilification.
Wimpy has started to make a come back in the UK
A 100-seater restaurant has opened in Shrewsbury
When I was a kid in India in the late 80s and early 90's, Wimpy's New Delhi was absolutely my favorite burger place to go to. The bun had a different texture soft yet crispy with sesame seeds, don't know how they achieved that soft-crispy combination, and the burger patty was of course lamb or chicken or potato, but it was heavenly with the sharp radishy mustard and the ketchup, all on the wimpy wax paper. Wish I could get that taste back one more time.
Wimpy is the home of the hamburgers.
I love this chain always will. please reopen with a few stores UK wide.
Wimpy in South Africa looks and taste way better than the one in the UK that looks like street food.
Paulie420 lol okay sorry for hurting your pride. Man who hurt you? I never said it didn't originate in The UK but since we're being petty. Nandos didnt originate in the UK it started in S.A
Paulie....Started in America in 1934, Opened in the UK 1954. Moved their HEADQUARTERS to SA because they have over 540 locations out there so their biggest business base. But you wanna call someone else an idiot when you're the fucktard here......
The few remaining Wimpy's are very hit-and-miss. While some have embraced the nostalgia and the quality people loved (they used to be better quality than McDonald's) others have kept the tried signage and interior and, in this case, gone with cheaper suppliers. For a good example of a modern Wimpy, try the one in Loughton - just outside London.
The one in my town is so good and it's always good!
How much I love wimpy part of my childhood
Wimpys equivalent burger to the quater pounder ( can't remember what they called it), was one of the best burgers in the fast food market, Imho.
Haven't had one in years, wonder what it's like now.
Apprently its pretty crap
They need to change something in order to keep on growing. They need to seperate themselves as a McDonalds and more of a "gourmet" English classic fast food menu. Looks to me like a overpriced school dinner in 2008. No wonder there dead.
they're*
@laser325 Fish and chips, steak and chips, gammon , pineapple and egg, steak pie, chicken pie, fish pie. I could go on?
The price tag seems to be more above the average.
I love wimpy they taste so good
Had a wimpy with my uncle in plymouth in probably 86 and it was brilliant. we then watched temple of doom at cinema and he bought me running man for my amiga. What a day.
Wimpy was like literally the least favorite fast food place growing up... it just feels like a school's dinner hall and the food was basic. Have not been to one in a very very long time, it sounds like it hasn't really changed at all on the decor side. That alone is enough to put me off ever going back to one.
It is no wonder they mostly disappeared out, considering I don't remember them being that common in the first place.
By comparison, it looks like McDonald’s puts more effort into their food.
My parents used to take us to a Wimpy restaurant in Twickenham every weekend when we were kids - we always had a nice time and got to know the staff very well. It was always quite an empty place though and around the time I started college it had been closed temporarily. When it reopened it was only half the size, while another establishment bought the other half of the restaurant and a wall put up. Now it's gone completely. I miss eating at Wimpy but I can't really be bothered to take a bus all the way into Teddington to get one.
Wimpey Kingsize and the Chicken burgers were my top 2. They went down hill when they stopped Knickerblocker Glory's
Wimpy is still huge in South Africa. Almost every shopping mall and airport has one but ours are a bit more colourful with lots of vibrant red and dark blue furniture. Menus are identical though in look and the food is slightly closer to that of a McDonalds.
Menus are worlds apart!! The UK Wimpy tastes like warm vomit and is nothing compared to the SA ones which have awesome food.
That's because of apartheid. KFC did operate in South Africa, but the big players didn't touch the place, so Wimpy had a captive market. So much so Burger King never bothered with South Africa after apartheid.
@@chriswale Jesus, I thought you were going to throw your hand across your heart and sing the national anthem over this cruddy old food outlet
I remember driving to Luxembourg in the 80's , just to eat there. It was great.
We had it in Egypt when I was a Kid !
I liked it, just brings so nostalgic moments in my childhood
McDonald's didn't kill Wimpy. Wimpy was huge. For every 2 McDonald's there are today there were 3 Wimpy restaurants, they even had a game on a Sega console and their children's parties and mascot Mr Wimpy were popular with Families. They even had a restaurant under the Picadilly Lights building. In the 1980s it was bought by Burger King who wanted to expand their brand however Wimpy was a huge brand in the UK. Fortunately some towns had 3 Wimpy restaurants in their town centre so they would turn one of those stores in to a Burger King.
The problem Wimpy had was the best performing stores and self service stores became Burger King restaurants which lost them franchisees because they were no longer as big as they used to be and the budget for promoting the restaurants went to Burger King at a time when rivals such as McDonalds were putting a lot of money in to advertising and sponsoring events. When Wimpy was bought again the new owners didn't manage it well losing more franchisees. The South African owners even stopped using Mr Wimpy and the other characters losing a good merchandising opertunity as Mr Wimpy was used on many of the company's toys and other merchandise.
As a person who lives in the US I have one word
S A D
@@kaistzar2831 yep now owned by Africans
@@bmc9504 and it's much better now
Inside Wimpy, the UK overpriced fast food chain
It's not even British, created by the Americans taken over by Africans. Probably London prices too.
wimpys great, more of a cafe than a fast food joint these days. They've got fry ups, grilled chicked meals and all sorts.
I used to go to one of these in my area when I was 9, sometime in 2011 or so. It remained open until last year.
Wimpy is nasty. Terrible, rude customer service, overpriced, cheaply made ingredients and drinks and also home to the worst cheeseburger I've ever had in my life (and that's not an exaggeration). My friend felt ill after having it, not surprised. Amazed they're still hanging on in some places, because they're a total load of rubbish.
But want say taste is good or not
I loved Wimpy as a kid and thought their chips were amazing (I always asked my mum to order me an extra plate of chips). It was nice to have a fast food restaurant with waiters and proper plates and cutlery. My local Wimpy (although expensive compared to McDonalds) was always really nice, clean & good quality and the staff were extremely friendly. I thought all Wimpy restaurants would be as good as my local restaurant however we once visited a Wimpy in Cardiff, the quality was dreadful and the staff were rude/couldn't be bothered. IMO Wimpy failed due to massive inconsistency across their restaurants andAWFUL management that was stuck in the past. If you lived in a town/city that had a decent Wimpy then you always had really good food/milkshakes that was a little overpriced.
I will say that the burgers I had at Wimpy as a kid were MILES better then the dry, paper-thin garbage burgers McDonalds serve today.
The wimpy here in South Africa is delicious and when we once when to a restaurant near Sun City, the waiters were very fun and kind so that's just old wimpy, the new wimpy is good
I remember them in the 70s when I a kid, my mum would take us into one in Tottenham, we loved them. Wimpy outlets seemed to be everywhere.
Only know of one in Newton Abbot (I think that's where it was) on the high street. I confess I have not been inside one since the 70s and from the outside the shop looked like it hadn't changed. Having said that, I don't use macdonalds or BK either anymore, prefer home cooked food.
As a British person, I can tell why this was forgotten and why I’ve never heard of it.
1: It’s overpriced af
2: The chips look like chips that have been in the freezer.
3: The meal looks like your average school dinner from a public school and is probably made in a budget under £3.
It's an American chain taken over by Africans not long ago. No surprise you've not heard of it.
0:54 Just a bunch of overcooked Vienna Sausages on a bun with cheese tf
American-African chain, not surprised.
@@bmc9504 here we go again lol
Bring back Wimpy please!!
That young burger expert convinced me that was very tasty, hurrah for Wimpy
Wimpys gave me food poisoning as a kid
10/10
I used to have a wimpy burger near but now it’s just an empty shell with the wimpy logo out side
imalima where u live I wanna see that wimpy 😂😂
We had wimpy in Kenya a few years back before they closed down here.
So much nostalgia watching this :(
I miss this place might even go to London just for one
Way too expensive to be able to compete with any other fast food chain.
That's the price of buying all the crockery and cutlery.
Lmao we have a wimpy here in south africa and its still very popular. (and looks better than the old uk one tbh)
Wimpy here in the UK is NOTHING like SA. Was served a burger and chips that looked like came from a chip van. Waste of time the UK Wimpy. They going to die out unless they bring in same menu as in SA.
I didn't know wimpy was still around, I used to love going there in the 80's that's the last time I been to one lol
You suddenly made me nostalgic
I can see all the homosexuals in London ordering the bender burger 😂😂😂😂
@Proud Unionist lolol
The shittest place I’ve walked passed it and no ones ever in there feel ashamed as a Brit to have this here 😂 we should just get rid of it
Wimpy isn't British, it's American. Taken over by Africans years ago.
@@bmc9504 it's a fast food chain from Earth. You happy now?
I went to school at St Christopher's in Wembley Park, and each Monday the teachers would take us to Wimpy, just opposite Wembley Stadium. There is a Wimpy in Amersham which I very occasionally use. The ketchup is alway fantastic.
Glad to see Wimpy again.
This is in Whitechapel
Shadwell
Watney market
Where are the Bengali midgets?
I miss wimpy it’s my childhood
Rob The threeA pyro
Garbage expensive food.
@@Great_WesternTVFan Ever heard of an opinion fucktard?
I recall one up devon way a few years back when we went on holiday my sister threw hers in the river. Sums it up really
I didn’t know these still existed. My mum used to go to Wimpy after nights out with her friends when she was a teenager. That was in the 70s and she said it was pretty much like McDonalds in terms of quality but smaller portions, as everything was back then! I don’t know why everyone is commenting on the prices, haven’t they gone up for all fast food recently anyway. It is in London as well.
There is a Wimpy in my local SE London high street. It's been there years. Along with all the other burger bars, kebabs and KFC's etc. I have no idea how this Wimpy still makes money cos it always seems to be empty! Someone loves it :)
Y'all Brits need to try Chik-fil-a in the US.
Pay for my plane ticket :)
xFinessed If I had a small loan of a million, I would. But if you come to the states, you can't miss out on Chik it beats all other fast food. Ever. Zaxby's is the only rival to Chik-fil-a.
Paulie420 Then you must've came to Chik at the wrong time. You never go to Chik at lunch time (12pm sharp), you always go at breakfast (when it is fresh) till 11am or after 2pm (when they start making more food). Trust me, I live in the south. The shit in this video looks mediocre to me.
Chick fil a is dry come to London and try Nando’s
Phillpe Loren Syndicate Nando's isn't just in London?
It's expensive lol no wonder why mcdonalds took over uk
Wimpy still exists in South Africa today and its still great!!!
I have never not gotten ill from eating at Wimpy
Wimpy is horrible. I'm glad it disappeared
to every american saying its bad: stop, get some help
i mean how can one argue it isn't?
@@n0tbran if you want bad look at america they are literally yanks
Had my first Wimpy experience in 1970. Needless to say, it was my last after finding out about "pub grub". I remember they called soft drinks "minerals" on the menu. Not sure if they still call them that in England.
My favourite burger joint by far. Loved the Wimpy breakfasts as well as the burgers. Bender in a bun!!! Nothing beats a bender in a bun. Still some in the UK but declining every year.
This looks really bad, also it looks way to expensive for basic ingredients and unremarkable school lunch taste. Also, of course the british would name a chain a stupid name like wimpy.
How does it look bad? The burgers are above average, and the chips are amazing
Wimpy was always our place to go for food. So much nicer eating off a proper plate
I've eaten it
The chips are good and the milkshakes are bomb
We had Wimpy in New Zealand when I was young. I miss it a lot.