British Restaurant

British Restaurants were communal kitchens created in 1940 during the Second World War to help people who had been bombed out of their homes, had run out of ration coupons or otherwise needed help.

There was a political dimension as well, as the Labour Party saw them as a permanent solution to equalising consumption across the class line and guaranteeing a nourishing diet to all.

[4] Originally called "Community Feeding Centres", the name British Restaurants was chosen by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.

[3] They were set up by the Ministry of Food and run by local government or voluntary agencies on a non-profit basis.

In London, mobile canteens delivered meals to air-raid shelters and on the street in the aftermath of air raids.

[10] The ministry's dietician James H. Barker authorised food based upon regional preferences and health.

The restaurants moved beyond the privations of wartime and into the new world of a Labour government making many changes to the social fabric of the country, although rationing still applied to many food items.

"[12] If a civic restaurant operated at a loss for three consecutive years the Act provided that ministerial consent would be needed for it to remain open.