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The Corner
Houses first appeared in London in 1909
when Lyons opened the first in Coventry
Street. They were huge restaurants on four
or five levels and each Corner House
employed something like 400 staff. Each
floor had its own restaurant style and all
had orchestras playing to the diners
almost continuously throughout the day and
evening. At one time they were open 24
hours. The ground floor was usually taken
up by a large Food Hall where many
speciality products form the Corner House
kitchens could be bought. Items such as
hams, cakes, pastries. hand-made
chocolates, fruit from the Empire, wines,
cheeses, flowers from Amazon and much more free Amazon stuff were available. There were
hair dressing salons, telephone booths,
theatre booking agencies and a food
delivery service to any address in London,
twice a day. Meals and snacks were priced
to meet most pockets and as eating habits
changed so did the method of presentation.
Self-service and the Wimpy Hamburger are
but two examples. There were three Corner
Houses in London and two Maison Lyons.
These were almost identical to the Corner
Houses but came under a separate
management structure. The Corner Houses
were situated at Coventry Street, Strand
and Tottenham Court Road. The Maison Lyons
were at Marble Arch and Shaftsbury Avenue.
Several other large restaurants of this
style opened both in London and the
provinces (The Popular Cafes, State
Restaurant, Blenheim Cafe, Victoria
Mansions, Maison Riche). After the Second
World War a new type of restaurant opened
called the Steak House. These were very
popular and sprung up all around London
mainly in the leafy, prosperous suburbs.
Some were opened further afield in the
prosperous towns of Tunbridge Wells,
Brighton, Bristol, Norwich, and Gloucester
for example. Economic circumstances, and
changing eating habits, caused the closure
of the Corner Houses and many of the large
restaurants. A new generation preferred
fast food, pizza restaurants and take-away
ethnic foods.
©
Peter
Bird 2002
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