Getta Betta Coffee + Burger business targets commuters in prime Currajong location

If you need a decent coffee on the way to work, or a burger on your way home, a soon-to-open restaurant and drive thru has you covered. See where it is.

Signwriters were spotted updating the signage and exterior of the former Taco Bell restaurant and drive through to Getta Betta. Picture: Leighton Smith.

Whether you need a decent cup of coffee for the drive to work, or want to pick up a burger on your way home, a long-vacant restaurant and drive through at the Lakes will soon reactivate to meet those needs.

Once the site of Townsville’s Sizzler restaurant before it was demolished in 2019, the building on Attlee St, Currajong, was replaced with Mexican-themed Taco Bell fast food restaurant, which folded in May 2023.

Townsville residents were buzzing with speculation after sign-writers were spotted this week undertaking a colourful transformation of the building’s exterior and signage, preparing the way for a new Getta Betta Coffee + Burger store, which was expected to open in the next three weeks.

With its offering built around exceptional coffee and mouth-watering burgers, Getta Betta has grabbed the attention of North Queenslanders’ tastebuds with their Strand store, and two restaurant/ drive-thrus at the Precinct, Idalia, and Bamford Lane, Kirwan.

Getta Betta was created by Otto’s Fresh Food Market co-owners Rob Aumend and Don Peel, who stepped in to save more than 20 local jobs by taking over Townsville’s remaining Getta Burger stores, following the burger chain’s dramatic south east Queensland collapse in 2023.

Betta Coffee & Betta Burgers owner Rob Aumend with a Brisket Burger and Nicolai Robinson with a Signature Cheese Burger. Picture: Evan Morgan

They combined Getta Burger and their Good Morning Coffee Trader brand to create a hybrid model capable of attracting customers for their breakfast caffeination right through to dinner.

Mr Peel often looked as the Taco Bell building sat empty for 18 months, wondering how such a great location hadn’t taken off in any format, until an opportunity “serendipitously” landed on their desk.

“We’ve been working on this project since the beginning of the year … we just had to make sure we had the resources to get another larger format one started within such a short amount of time, so there was a fair bit of consideration to it, but it happened pretty quickly,” Mr Peel said.

Otto's Fresh Food Market co-owner Don Peel is backing the Getta Betta.

“We’ve had to make a few changes … because Taco Bell only cooked rice fresh, everything else was a reheated product, whereas our product is cooked fresh to order, so we’ve had to change the way the cook line works which … cost many, many thousands of dollars (to upgrade).”

Situated in a prime location to capture commuter traffic, with room for 100 diners inside, the business will employ between 20 and 30 staff, with a recruitment campaign commencing shortly.

Mr Aumend said they undertook a research and development program to ensure the quality of their smashed beef patties, using fresh beef sourced from a Blair and Josie Angus’ boutique abattoir in Clermont.

“For the consumer, it’s a higher quality, less chemical-filled product that is going to taste better,” Mr Aumend said.

For more information and to apply for work, visit: www.gettabetta.com.au.

Originally published as Getta Betta Coffee + Burger business targets commuters in prime Currajong location