Berni Inn was a chain of British

steakhouse A steakhouse, steak house, or chophouse refers to a restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops, found mainly in North America. Modern steakhouses may also carry other cuts of meat including poultry, roast prime rib, and veal, as well as ...

s, established in 1955. It was established by brothers

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

and Aldo Berni, who modelled the chain on restaurants they had seen in America. The restaurants introduced the postwar British public to its own home-grown restaurant chain, which came with its own pre-stylised restaurants with Tudor-looking false oak beams and white walls. By 1970 the chain comprised 147 hotels and restaurants, including the New Inn at Gloucester, the Mitre at Oxford, and several in Japan. It was the largest food chain outside the USA.

History

Brothers Aldo and Frank Berni, alongside their partner Paul Rosse, opened the first Berni Inn on 27 July 1956 at ''The Rummer'', a historic pub in St Nicholas Market in central

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. More outlets were opened, and the company went public in 1962. The chain offered slick service and value for money, achieved partly by offering only a limited meat-based menu and a relatively small wine list. It had a loyal and regular following and quickly expanded through the 1960s, first throughout Bristol, and then through much of the rest of the country. Unlike other restaurants, Berni Inns did not do their own butchery but bought in quality steaks already prepared. Behind the scenes, staff training manuals showed that they expected high standards from their employees. The first female manager within the Berni Inn franchise was Gerda Thut, who took over ''The Sawyer's Arms'' in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

in the 1960s. This was noted as a progressive step in management and equality at the time. The chain was sold to

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to for ...

for £14.5 million in 1970. Berni Inn was sold to

Whitbread Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division ...

in 1995, who converted the outlets into their own Beefeater restaurants. Aldo Berni died in 1997 at the age of 88 in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

. Frank died 10 July 2000, aged 96, in Bristol. Their brother Marco managed Harvey's Restaurant in Bristol in the 1960s.

Fare

The most frequently ordered meal, even as late as the 1980s, was prawn cocktail, steak and Black Forest gateau. This is sometimes called the ''

Great British Meal Prawn cocktail, steak garni with chips, and Black Forest gâteau was the most popular dinner menu in British restaurants in the 1980s, according to contemporary surveys by trade magazine ''Caterer and Hotelkeeper''. It was associated with ...

''. As

Simon Hopkinson Simon Charles Hopkinson (born 5 June 1954) is an English food writer, critic and former chef. He published his first cookbook, ''Roast Chicken and Other Stories'', in 1994. Early life Hopkinson was born in Greenmount, Bury, in 1954, the son of ...

and

Lindsey Bareham Lindsey Bareham is a British food writer. She began her career by editing the restaurant section of ''Time Out'' magazine. For eight years, she wrote a daily recipe for the ''Evening Standard'', and she currently writes for ''The Times''. Publ ...

note in their 1997 book ''The Prawn Cocktail Years'', "cooked as it should be, this much derided and often ridiculed dinner is still something very special indeed".

References

{{Whitbread Defunct companies based in Bristol Defunct restaurants in the United Kingdom Defunct restaurant chains Whitbread former divisions and subsidiaries Restaurants established in 1955 1955 establishments in England Steakhouses Restaurants disestablished in 1995 1995 disestablishments in England 1995 mergers and acquisitions