Frangos: Petersham chicken shop plans three new restaurants

After a tough 2020, iconic Sydney chicken chain Frangos has revealed plans for three new restaurants. SEE WHERE HERE.

Sydney icon Frangos is planning a massive expansion in the Harbour City 30 years after it set up a humble shop on Petersham’s New Canterbury Rd and introduced Sydney to the flavours of Portugal.

The legendary chicken restaurant has revealed it is eyeing up several new locations in the city and will start with opening up on Concord’s Majors Bay Rd later this year.

From there, a “flagship” drive-through is on the cards for Marsden Park, with another restaurant set for Moorebank as it looks to take over the western suburbs one charcoal-roasted chook at a time.

The Fernandes family behind the legendary restaurant have transformed their one shop in the inner west they opened in 1986 to a growing empire with a cult following across Sydney.

The family currently runs six restaurants, including its drive through in Edmonson Park, which opened to rave reviews last year.

Petersham was officially named “little Portugal” in 2019 after families like the Fernandes’ arrived in Sydney and settled in the inner west in the 70s and 80s. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Frangos enjoys a massive cult following. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

After only starting an Instagram page this year, Frangos has already amassed 26,000 followers.

To put that into perspective, Sydney fine dining institution Rockpool Bar and Grill only has 7000.

When it re-opened after three months in lockdown last year there were lines close to 1km long at its Bella Vista store.

Current owner Luis Fernandes said it was a blessing to have their 450 employees back after an uncertain 2020.

“We contributed a lot to the community,” he said.

“We did take our family, staff and customers into consideration and we went from a restaurant to take-away, delivery and drive through.

Mr Fernandes said it was “a blessing” to open up again after the first Sydney lockdown last year.

“Maintaining customers over a long life span is what keeps me going because I’ve gone from my grandparents to now sons and daughters and grandchildren, we keep evolving.

“For us to be where we are now is a blessing.”

While three Frangos restaurants were on the way, Mr Fernandes said they would not be opening up in Blacktown but confirmed they were looking at opening up even more locations in western Sydney over the next year or two.

The Frangos fairytale all started in the late 1980s when his father Luis senior and mother Ana Fernandes, who he calls the “chicken boss of Sydney”, got tired of their current jobs.

“We’ve lived the dream,” Ms Fernandes said.

Luis Fernandes and his mother Ana never imagined their humble shop would become a Sydney icon 30 years ago.

Mr Fernandes’ father was between jobs, fed up of being a mechanic and instead decided to see if the roast chicken recipe he discovered while living in Angola for 10 years when it was a Portuguese colony would be a good business venture.

“They said ‘why don’t we do that chicken we had back in Africa’ and they started selling three or four chickens a day,” he said.

The recipe to their success, and sauce, remains a tightly guarded 50-year family secret.

“I think the sauce is a big part of our success, we still make it in the blender and you can’t get it anywhere else in the world,” Mr Fernandes said.

“What’s in it? That’s the 100 million dollar question but let’s just say it’s made with a lot of love.”