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Original poster

Anyone remember a chain bakery/cafe called "Oliver's"

101 replies

Flapjacker48 · 05/03/2023 23:54

The sign had a small boy holding a basket of bread I think. Brown and yellow type colour scheme..

Stores had a bakery at the entrance and cafe tables at the back. I remember being taken there as a child in the 80s was a treat. Think it was a nationwide chain!

OP posts:
WeAreTheHeroes · 09/03/2023 05:35

Memories are strange things! This is not something I have thought about for years, but I remembered instantly where the one in Manchester was on Market Street and have found a photo online. Where I worked had a staff canteen and they used to buy baguettes from Oliver's.

Goodyetalso · 09/03/2023 05:36

i don’t remember Oliver’s but there was a Poppins in my nearest town when I was a kid (South East, about 30 minutes on the train out of London). I remember it being very brown inside and out and the orange squash machines that swished the drink around a transparent but at the top constantly. I haven’t seen one of those machines for a good 25 years at least but they used to be in all cheap cafes. Anyone remember?

PatientlyWaiting21 · 09/03/2023 05:59

I’ll never forget them, I had the worst food poisoning of my life from there!

bigdinkydoodah · 09/03/2023 06:01

Ooh yes I remember them. When ever I went into town I bought a sandwich to take home. Lush thick bread and packed with loads of filling of your choice. Goodness me that must be late 80's early 90's.

So1invictus · 09/03/2023 06:01

WeAreTheHeroes · 09/03/2023 05:35

Memories are strange things! This is not something I have thought about for years, but I remembered instantly where the one in Manchester was on Market Street and have found a photo online. Where I worked had a staff canteen and they used to buy baguettes from Oliver's.

Was going to say (and had completely forgotten the name "Oliver's") we went to one opposite the HMV entrance to the Arndale.

So1invictus · 09/03/2023 06:02

bigdinkydoodah · 09/03/2023 06:01

Ooh yes I remember them. When ever I went into town I bought a sandwich to take home. Lush thick bread and packed with loads of filling of your choice. Goodness me that must be late 80's early 90's.

They were basically Subway before Subway weren't they? For years I've been saying "we used to get Subway style baguettes in the 80s but it wasn't Subway".

onwardandupwards · 09/03/2023 06:09

MrsMoastyToasty · 06/03/2023 23:45

No, but in Bristol we had Mountstevens and they had about 50 shops in a 50 mile radius.

We had a huge mountstevens as well, their vanilla cream slices were amazing!!

WeAreTheHeroes · 09/03/2023 06:16

@So1invictus - the Manchester one was next door to Boots in that horrible bit of Market Street that's built over down to Cross Street so yes. Now my brain has unravelled things some more I think it was a Baker's Oven when I knew it in the late 80s. I never bought anything from there myself.

BooseysMom · 09/03/2023 06:26

ChessieFL · 09/03/2023 05:03

No idea if Poppins was a chain - I just remember the one in Taunton. Disappeared years ago.

I remember the one in Worcester where I saw the Queen on a drive-by! The food was great.

NeverApologiseNeverExplain · 09/03/2023 07:35

cantmovewont · 09/03/2023 00:44

I saw Del Amitri (as in the WHOLE band) in Olivers in Glasgow once.

Jealous- Nothing Ever Happened in my branch Wink

OneWildNightWithJBJ · 09/03/2023 07:40

Ooh, yes! I went to the Enfield one too.

ChocHotolate · 09/03/2023 08:15

Oliver's did the best doughnuts!

lorn195 · 09/03/2023 08:25

bigdinkydoodah · 09/03/2023 06:01

Ooh yes I remember them. When ever I went into town I bought a sandwich to take home. Lush thick bread and packed with loads of filling of your choice. Goodness me that must be late 80's early 90's.

It was as I remember going to the Enfield shop while at University around that time.

Those sandwiches were delicious.

chergar · 09/03/2023 08:27

I loved Oliver's, best sandwiches ever, It is one shop that I really do miss.
O'Briens took over one of the Oliver's shops near me but they were not as good.

So1invictus · 09/03/2023 13:49

WeAreTheHeroes · 09/03/2023 06:16

@So1invictus - the Manchester one was next door to Boots in that horrible bit of Market Street that's built over down to Cross Street so yes. Now my brain has unravelled things some more I think it was a Baker's Oven when I knew it in the late 80s. I never bought anything from there myself.

Yes! I had completely erased it from my head until I saw the mug and the name on this thread. We would have treated ourselves to a baguette from there every so often. 1984-1988.

PacificallyRequested · 09/03/2023 14:00

We had one in the town where I grew up (west of Scotland). My mum used to buy us chocolate chip muffins as an after school snack. They were huge so we weren't allowed a whole one, we had to share, half each!

BlueJay12 · 09/03/2023 14:23

Oh my, that takes me right back! I used to have a weekend job in the Newcastle branch during 6th form. The food was quite expensive for the time but really fresh and I hated washing those bloody horrible mugs.
The seating was all downstairs and it was quite dark down there, the stairs were so steep and a nightmare if you were carrying a loaded tray. Aside from the jacket potatoes you could have bacon sandwiches up until about 11am, you could get an Oliver Twist or a Bill Sykes... wow! I spent 2 years there, some was fun but it was really hard work. The best bit was on the later shifts when you could take the remains of the fillings home as they wouldn't keep. The prawn mayo was gorgeous.
It was a franchise I think and our boss and his wife sold up to buy another local fast food franchise, although after I moved on. It closed not long after and is now a Greggs.
It was also right opposite Fenwick's window so at Christmas the window display/music got on your nerves very quickly 😊
Happy days!

Dfg15 · 09/03/2023 14:28

Love seeing all the PPs mentioning the Enfield one! I used to go in there with my daughter. Its a Costa now. Olivers was much better.

SirChenjins · 09/03/2023 14:30

I remember them - fab shop! My boyfriend at the time used to meet me from my Saturday job with a baked potato or sandwich, bless him. This was in Aberdeen in the late 80s, early 90s.

Vinorosso74 · 09/03/2023 15:32

Yes! There was one on Northumberland Street in Newcastle

KirstenBlest · 09/03/2023 15:36

There was one in Wrecsam

LaviniasBigBloomers · 09/03/2023 15:42

Chrysanthemum5 · 06/03/2023 10:56

'Oliver's, crusty bread
Time for breakfast you sleep head
Smell the bread as it leaves the oven
That's Oli, that's Oliver's bread'

And the tune was a soundalikey for Oliver from the musical Oliver! One of those ones where you change every 8th note to avoid copywriter (or whatever). And there was a little boy irl who morphed into the cartoon Oliver.

kingofchaos · 09/03/2023 15:44

Yes. There was one in Ealing when I was a teen. We used to hang out there after school.

I still have a mug!

Anyone remember a chain bakery/cafe called "Oliver's"
fortifiedwithtea · 09/03/2023 15:50

I think there was an Olivers in Romford. I worked in an office there in 1985. As you say very brown decor. Don’t remember what I ordered, only went there when I was meeting friend for lunch.

Mydoghealsmyheart · 09/03/2023 16:29

Oliver’s was sooo much nicer than Costa or Subway. The huge sandwiches made with the freshest, crustiest bread were delicious. I wonder why they disappeared if they were so successful?