And at Sheffield - the best that Sheffield station can offer these days is a Burger King (which has been closed all through the pandemic - not sure if it has reopened) and a Cornish pasty kiosk.
I do seem to recall that at least in the late 1970s and early '80s one of the refreshment rooms at Sheffield (I think it was the one on Platforms 2 and 5) used to do things like fish & chips, burgers & chips, or pie & chips.
Until about 2007 there was Copley's Cafe in the row of shops adjacent to a multi-storey car park on Flat Street, opposite the bus station (or Sheffield Interchange as it's been called for about the last 30 years), but those shops were then demolished to make way for a few extra parking spaces in the said car park. I signed a petition against the demolition but to no avail.
I think Copley's had been going since the 1950s or '60s. They used to do a very good full English breakfast (and vegetarian breakfast, which I had at least once or twice when I went in there). I made a point of going in there on its last day, and they were selling off a lot of their crockery. I bought four plates and a sugar bowl, and I still have them.
I'm not aware of any greasy spoon cafes still in existence in Sheffield city centre - no doubt there were several back in the day. There are a few in the suburbs, though, such as the one on the ground floor of Heeley Bank Antiques Centre on Guernsey Road in Heeley, just south of the city centre. It's a good few years since I last went in that one, and I think it has changed hands at least once since then. Last time I went past it their offering looked pretty basic, but they used to do a very good vegetable chilli. They also used to do about two or three different suet puddings, including a Mediterranean vegetable one which I sometimes used to have, but one day they told me that the manufacturers had stopped making them (they still did the meat ones, though) and they had one left in stock so I had their last ever Mediterranean veg one.
Apart from those, I think the only other greasy spoon cafe that I've been to in at least the last 15-20 years (which AFAIK is also still going strong) is the Grindleford station cafe, which also does a very good all day traditional or veggie breakfast. It's in the old station building at street level, just above the station. They have lovely log fires in the winter, and they have outside tables so that if the weather is nice you can sit outside and watch the trains go by.
Times were when there was at least one greasy spoon cafe in nearly every town centre. In fact, in a lot of small towns in the 1970s and '80s (early '80s at least) it was the only place where you could get a reasonably priced hearty meal at lunchtime - either that or a fish & ship shop with tables for eating in. But as people's eating habits and tastes have changed a lot of them have been killed off by chain eateries, more upmarket restaurants and pubs improving their food offering. The Chatterbox Cafe in the bus station in Alfreton, Derbyshire (which has been going for at least 40 years, and probably a lot longer) is AFAIK still going strong but it's probably at least 35-40 years since I last went in it. In the 1980s Alfreton also had another one called the Miami Cafe in the pedestrianised shopping precinct between the bus station and the High Street.
Changing tastes in food has meant that some, if not many, such establishments have had to become more imaginative with their offerings and/or diversify in order to survive. For example there used to be a greasy spoon cafe type place on the street where I grew up that was run by a Chinese family. As well as their usual offering they latterly also did Chinese takeaways, which no doubt helped to keep them afloat for a few more years than they would have done otherwise but they did eventually close down although they still lived in the flat above for several more years after that.
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