Berni Inns
Berni Inn was the name of a range of British restaurants.
1955 Frank Berni and Aldo Berni founded the first Berni Inn: The Rummer public house, in Bristol. It introduced the post-war British public to the joys of prawn cocktail, steak, chips, and peas, and Black Forest Gateau.
The chain quickly expanded, first throughout Bristol and then the rest of the country. Unlike other restaurants, they didn’t do their own butchery but brought in steaks already chopped. It was sold to Grand Metropolitan for £14.5m in 1970
1991 Grand Metropolitan sold 115 Berni Inns and 35 managed public houses to Whitbread; Grand Met kept 58 Berni Inns which could continue to trade under that name for one year.[1][2]
1995? The business was sold to Whitbread.
Aldo Berni died in 1997 at the age of 88, Frank died 10 July 2000.
British tastes have moved on, the chain is now defunct and many former Berni Inns have since been converted to other brands owned by Whitbread such as Beefeater (restaurant) or Brewers Fayre.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia