The Social Significance of the Greasy Spoon Cafe - Go Back

In recent years the traditional British Greasy Spoon Café has been in decline, this
is in no small part due to the rise in the fast food culture with franchises such as
McDonalds, Burger King and KFC.

We should begin by looking into the essence of a traditional Greasy Spoon.
Traditionally, they serve a full English breakfast all day, have very strong
builders tea available and generally not the best hygiene reports.

Perhaps it's this in part, which has led to the downfall of such institutions.
However, it's also important to take into account the clientele of such 'Caff's'.

In days gone past, Greasy Spoons sat at the side of the major roads, providing a
quick and cheap meal for all sorts of people. Lorry Drivers, Builders and Taxi Drivers.
Since, then we've had the introduction of the Motorways and their
service station, fast food became much more important, more people served in
less time.

Greasy Spoons have been a staple of the British economy, feeding the true
working class for many, many years, in fact 5 years ago, when we had an
extension built, the builders would turn up at approximately 08:00 after having
breakfast in the nearby café.

Having spoken to another builder recently he has stated that in today's world,
builders will not make the effort to go out of their way to frequent a café. Instead
visiting them once or twice a week as a team building measure. Early Monday
morning, they eat, talk and generally learn about what they're doing this week.
Then last thing on a Friday they'll once again eat, talk and evaluate. Indeed, it's
usually healthier to bring sandwiches from home. In addition, it's usually cheaper.
Although, a lot of meal choices depend on the weather; warmer days it's
more likely to eat from a packed lunch. On colder days however you're really
looking to be warmed up with a large mug of tea and a nice hot breakfast.

Without Greasy Spoon's we'd live in a very different country. What would Britain
be without the traditional 'Caff'? Unfortunately, this isn't a question we'll need to
ponder over for too long. According to an article by the BBC in 2002, more than
one in nine traditional greasy spoons had closed since 1997. That number must
have only increased in the last 8 years. There are multiple reasons why the
greasy spoon has faded away.

The even greater emergence of fast food chains, or, more importantly, the
introduction of coffee shops such as star bucks and their increasingly aggressive
expansion. (Try it yourself: go to the starbucks.com website and check how many
locations are within 10 miles of your location).

From my home, there are a grand total of 51 locations. Even more astounding is the amount of starbucks stores
within ten miles of The UK Houses of Parliament. At present there is a grand total
of two hundred and twenty two (222) starbucks stores within ten miles of the
centre of British parliament.

Then we have the other coffee shops of Café Nero, Costa Coffee and Tchibo, the sheer numbers of these are amongst everything else
a leading cause of the dwindling numbers of greasy spoon Caff's.

Of course the modern healthy living society we live in frowns upon the greasy
spoon. In fact there was a rumour that the European Commission had outlawed
them however the report was actually just a concern of the health of long
distance truck drivers.

Vans and other portable food outlets have replaced the greasy spoon in everyday
life, with building sites being visited by catering vans. More importantly though,
these vans are open most evenings to fill the stomachs of even the most drunken
individual.

However, nowhere remains for the nursing of a hangover. In the olden days
people would nip into a Caff, enjoy a massive full English breakfast and a mug of
tea so strong that spoons dissolve within mere minutes, read the newspaper and
properly wake up. The modern age is one where even breakfast is provided for
in a fast food restaurant. McDonalds breakfasts are available from 5am at my
local.

The two greasy spoons I pass on my journey to work are both closed until
8am. Which of course is way too late for any of us who work at the major
international airport, which just happens to be nearby. The greasy spoon seems
to be best served by night shift workers on their way home.

Unfortunately in today's modern culture of health obsessed daily calorie intakes
and Guideline daily allowances, it's all to easy to see that Greasy Spoon's
originated at a time when wartime rationing had ended and people indulged in
luxury at every possible opportunity.

Now they are much less frequented and indeed the only time the majority of the British public sees inside one is on
eastenders where any major public shaming is to happen during the two/three
minutes where the Queen Vic pub is shut. Indeed, a friend of mine recently
mused that he's only ever been into a greasy spoon once in his life and he hated
it so much that he'll never go back.
It seems that the majority of the country agrees with him.