First look inside new Blackburn diner featuring 1957 Chevy Bel Air and Hollywood walk of fame

The 40-seater King’s Castle Diner on Darwen Street has been renovated to a cost of £400,000 over a two-year period. It has created 25 jobs for the town.

The Blackburn King’s Castle is the second in the franchise and comes on the on back of a smaller take out of the same name which opened in Lostock Hall in 2016.

The premises was formally the Chang’s Restaurant and has been completely reconstructed inside and out. Spokesperson Shoaib Patel said: “The pandemic slowed down renovations but we are delighted to be finally opening up in our home town.

“Presently we are only doing take outs (no deliveries) and can’t wait to welcome our first visitors to be seated indoors when restrictions lift.”

A Muhammad Ali star takes up pride of place on a wall as guests enter the establishment and there are a number of celebrity stars embedded into the floor. A Donald Trump star is in the toilet!

The menu serves up 22 types of burgers, wraps, hot dogs and pizzas. It has an extensive dessert menu offering up shakes, ice-creams and waffles.

A 1950s custom made Pepsi dispenser, one of only six in the UK has been installed and serves up unlimited refills. The distinctive 1957 Chevy Bel Air, which cost £30,000 takes up the central spot in the diner.

Mr Patel said: “It is an original Chevy which we imported from the US. It is actually a lot longer at 5 and half metres but we had to have it downsized by half a metre for the premises.”

“We had to take the windows out to get it into the building. It certainly brings a sense of Hollywood glamour to Blackburn. There are only two in the UK as we know it.”

The restaurant is a culmination of a business journey for the owners who began as a high street women’s clothing supplier in Blackburn in the late eighties.  In 2008 they employed over 200 staff working at a manufacturing factory.

Mr Patel said: “Over time as manufacturing became difficult in UK we decided to enter the food industry in 2015. Since then, we have been working on the Kings Castle brand.

“It has been a long journey in rebuilding ourselves to establish another business in a completely different sector. We are delighted with the result.”

Owners are hoping to expand the franchise in the future and say there is a real demand for novelty restaurants.

Mr Patel added: “We are hoping to open in Haslingden and Bolton in the coming year. We hope families in particular love the look and feel of the place when they visit.

“We wanted to bring something different and a wow factor to Blackburn and I think we have achieved that.”