The two shown appear to have been purpose-built. In my experience, this was unusual. The only ones I ever knew were converted from existing shops or offices.
Belmont,North West London Surprisingly they are still standing and havent been bulldozed for flats or the like
Although they were often housed in existing buildings, the prefabricated ones seem to have been built to a standard design, as the one in Leicester city centre was the same as this building.
The North Harrow site along with ARP wardens brick hut have been knocked down for a cultural centre building
Useless council for once listens to the public ‘Historic’ community hall saved following resident intervention
The ones I have posted were purpose built but other building were used "In 1941, to combat the severity of rationing in World War Two, the Government set up what were known as British Restaurants. They were to sell basic meals at reasonable prices, off-ration. These British Restaurants were sited so that they were in fairly easy reach of most families." British Restaurants in 1940s wartime Britain
My Dad used to talk about the British Restaurant in Motherwell and said it was at the YMCA building, which is the one below, there was a building to the right and it is possible it was actually located in that.
I remember being taken to a British Restaurant in the 50s. This one was in a building right opposite Peckham Railway Station in South London.It was still operating then but closed not long after. I can still recall thinking it. smelt rather strange!
The Hull Daily Mail ran a feature related to this in 2019, including some background, an associated War Artist (Leslie Cole) representation and an image of a remaining location: The remarkable untold story of how Hull was fed during World War Two
These buildings along with ARP Wardens Hut, North Harrow Middlesex. which stood on the same site were demolished to make way for a cultural centre ??? and nearly 8 years later the site it still a building site.
Interesting program, the British Restaurant Building system. No doubt it was much needed and well received. The rationing and hardships caused by the U-boat blockade had to hit the UK hard. I don’t remember ever reading of such initiative here in the states during the war. Not that we really needed it though. Rationing was imposed here as in all warring countries but since the US was largely rural and had large agricultural capacities, we didn’t have to rely on a similar system to make things work. Maybe it could’ve been implemented in the larger cities but again, I haven’t read of large scale food rationing problems before.
The driving force was to feed people who had been bombed out, worked where there was no workplace canteen,or had used all their ration coupons. Churchill chose the name. He thought communal feeding centres was too suggestive of Communism and the workhouse. "I suggest you call them “British Restaurants”. Everybody associates the word restaurant with a good meal, and they might as well have the name if they cannot get anything else." More here Whatever happened to British Restaurants? - The Oldie and The curious history of government-funded British Restaurants in World War 2 | Blog
Yes that makes total sense now. I never took into account the effects of the Blitz on everyday life for the British people. Coupled with extreme rationing and the U-boat blockade would call for direct measures to alleviate pressure.