The role of Lorenzo Volante in bringing the story of the Giubarelli family and their Hilton Cafe to light is gratefully acknowledged. Without his personal knowledge and research it would not have been possible to share this part of the Italo-Scots legacy. Lorenzo also provided copies of the images.
The Hilton Chip Shop, situated at 22 Oldtown Road in the Hilton area of Inverness, was owned by the Giubarelli family. It is believed that the family originated in Tuscany.
The Hilton was opened by Giuseppe (Jojo) Giubarelli in the 1960s and later taken over by his son Michael (Mike), and then grandson Christopher.
The chippy trade passed through four generations of the family. The family ran the shop for over 40 years until it was sold in May 2022
The Giubarelli family had been in the food retail business with travelling chip vans before the Hilton shop opened in the 1960s; its founder was Jojo’s father, (name yet to be identified)
Christopher’s brother Mark Giubarelli assisted in the family business during his teenage years, he went on to become a successful yoga instructor in Los Angeles with celebrity clientele, this made the local news (Press and Journal, 24 January 2015. “Meet the Inverness man teaching yoga to the stars”)