They wanted to offer a more "substantial food", so they turned to selling pie, mash, and eels.

The Peckham location was burnt down during the 1985 Brixton riot, starting a legal battle that was not settled until 1995.

Lionel died in 1988 and left his three sons, Graham, Geoff, and Richard (Rick), to run the restaurants.

[3] The Islington location of the restaurant, which had been open since 1911 at Chapel Market, became a Grade II listed building under Historic England on 30 September 1994.

[9] Geoff and Graham both retired in May 2019, causing Rick's daughter Emma and her husband Tom to start working at the restaurant.

The pie and mash is then served with a variant of parsley sauce called "liquor".