"You like Wimpy? Is that still going?"

I've heard the question so many times, my answer is automatic: yes, there are plenty of Wimpy restaurants still available across the UK, but after their more glamorous locations were converted into Burger Kings in the early nineties they're mainly found in suburban towns, tired seaside resorts, and Essex. From a peak of over 500 restaurants, now only 93 remain.

So it's with a frisson of pleasure that I hear the apparently popular actor Brad Pitt has been spotted in the Billericay (yes, in Essex) High Street branch, treating himself and his entourage to a variety of tasty burgers and reasonable chips. Personally I would have gone for a Quarterpounder with Cheese rather than the Wimpy Cheeseburger. The latter doesn't come with special sauce, which I'm sure Brad would have loved.

I hope that Brad's celebrity stardust can help bring about a turnaround in Wimpy's fortunes, as being a fan of its gentle, reassuring table-service based burger cuisine has not been easy this past quarter of a century. Its gradual decline from the heart of our consciousness to dimly recalled nostalgic talking point has been hard to take, as has the repeated assumption that my appreciation for friendly burger-cafes in sit-down restaurants is somehow ironic or jokey. I'm never more serious than when I'm mulling over a Bender in a Bun.

There have been a number of times over the years when I thought Wimpy was finally doomed. The day I spotted the chef at my local branch heading back to work having purchased lunch from McDonald's was both a low point and a harbinger of what was to come. That particular Wimpy, in New Malden, tried to stave off its decline by converting into a Jenny's ("we can serve omelettes now!," the waiter excitedly explained), and is now long gone. My own personal psychogeography is occupied by ghost Wimpys: the one in Penzance, Cornwall, now a pizza restaurant. The one in Piccadilly Circus, London, once open 24 hours a day and a gay pick-up spot back in the early seventies, now a bank. The one in New Malden is now a middling Korean restaurant surrounded by much better Korean restaurants.

Some still thrive. I moved to Streatham to be near Streatham Wimpy, warmly reviewed by Vice earlier this year. The one in Nottingham's Broadmarsh Centre is an enduring favourite, and should survive while the centre itself limps on.

But I fear it'll take many more celebrity endorsements to stave its slow decline. Until then, I'll continue travelling the country, checking the remaining branches are still there, enjoying the burgers and the cross-section of clientele that only a Wimpy bar can provide.