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Wimpy is the brand name of a chain of hamburger restaurants based in the United Kingdom. The restaurants were originally called Wimpy Bars and many people still refer to them by this name, despite the fact that the name "Wimpy Bar" was dropped in favour of "Wimpy" many years ago. The current owners of the Wimpy brand operate in several countries under the name of Wimpy International.

The Wimpy brand was created by Eddie Gold of Chicago in the 1930s. The name was inspired by the character of J. Wellington Wimpy from the Popeye cartoons created by Elzie Crisler Segar. Eddie Gold was running 12 restaurants by the early 1950s, when the concept of fast food came to the attention of the directors of J. Lyons and Co. Lyons licensed the brand for use in the United Kingdom and in 1954 the first "Wimpy Bar" Lyons was established at the Lyons Corner House in Coventry Street, London. Originally the bar was a special fast-food section within the more traditional Corner House restaurants, but the success soon led to the establishment of separate Wimpy restaurants serving only hamburger based meals. By the early 1970s the business had expanded to over a thousand restaurants in 23 countries.

In 1977 the business was acquired by United Biscuits. Wimpy was beginning to lose ground to McDonalds, who had opened their first UK restaurant in 1974 and so the new management of Wimpy began to streamline the business by converting some of the traditional "table service" restaurants to the slicker "counter service" operation style of McDonalds. Another difference between Wimpy and McDonalds was that Wimpy had lacked branches that had a drive through format. In 1989 the business was sold to Grand Metropolitan (now Diageo). Grand Metropolitan had acquired Burger King the previous year and they began to convert the "counter service" restaurants to Burger King restaurants. In 1990 the remaining 220 "table service" restaurants were purchased by a management buy-out backed by 3i. A second management buy-out occurred in 2002.

Although Wimpy has decreased in numbers in the United Kingdom, it is still found in some towns and cities and at the RoadChef motorway services and at Megabowl bowling alleys. However the branches at RoadChefs and Megabowl have a counter service as opposed to a table service format.

Wimpy opened in South Africa in Durban in 1967. The business was sold to Bakers SA Ltd in the late 1970s and later to the Steers Holdings Group. In 1976, Wimpy opened their first restaurant in Bogotá, Colombia. There are also branches trading as Wimpy in Cyprus, Kenya and Beirut, Lebanon, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

• Wimpy's was slyly mentioned as just one of a string of businesses, icons, and vignettes implicated in the Americanization of England, in the 1973 Genesis album, Selling England by the Pound, most notably in the opening track "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight," in the line, "Chewing through your Wimpy dreams/they eat without a sound/digesting England by the pound."
• Wimpy's was referenced in Jethro Tull's song "Up To Me" from the album Aqualung; "Take you to the cinema/and leave you in a Wimpy Bar/tell me that we've gone too far/well that's up to me"
• A scene in the movie Gregory's Girl took place at the now closed Cumbernauld branch.
• The Song Better Off Dead, from Elton John's 1975 "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" Release, is stated to be about "A Wimpy Bar" on the live recording of the album's performance, available on the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition release.
• The X-Ray Spex, who were known for their criticism of artificial consumer culture, mention buying a rubber bun from a Wimpy Bar in their 1978 song "The Day the World Turned Dayglo".
• Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore), the lead character in Bedazzled (1967 film), along with his love interest Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron) work at a Wimpy Bar in London. Stanley is a grill cook, while Margaret is the waitress.
• In episode 6, season one of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004) after Dr. Lucien Sanchez Matt Berry gives Dr. Rick Dagless, M.D. Matthew Holness an enticing idea for dinner involving a poached egg in some soup, and a pork pie or sausage roll, to which Rick Dagless responds with "I'll get a Wimpy" followed by Dr. Sanchez saying "Suit yourself, Dag"

• Wimpy International home page
• Wimpy South Africa
• Wimpy Colombia
• Information about starting a Wimpy Franchise
• Restaurant in Chimaltenango, Guatemala