Fast food Melbourne: Red Rooster’s Malvern East store shuts down on Warrigal Rd

The demise of fast food outlets in Melbourne’s east has continued, with a chicken shop shutting down after almost 20 years of appeasing tastebuds.

A landmark fast food restaurant near Chadstone is the latest to shut its doors, joining others in Melbourne’s east on the scrap heap.

And the future for staff at Red Rooster’s Chadstone store is in limbo, with the chicken chain unable to confirm if they will be redeployed.

The store, on the corner of Warrigal Rd and Waverley Rd and near the Monash Freeway, has operated on the site for more than 30 years.

Leader found the restaurant abandoned with signage taken down when it visited on February 10, and the store is ‘permanently closed’ according to its Google listing.

Red Rooster spokeswoman Stella Katsaros said the restaurant had been operating since 1992 and had closed due to the end of its lease.

Ms Katsaros said it was likely staff from the store would be given positions at other stores.

The chain has 59 stores around Melbourne, and following Chadstone’s closure regular diners will have to head to either Mt Waverley or Oakleigh South to get their Rippa roll fix.

Red Rooster Chadstone’s closure is the third in a series of recent blows for fast food fans in Melbourne’s east.

Rivals McDonalds shut down its outlet in the Westfield Knox food court in early January, while Hungry Jack’s also closed its stores in Ringwood and Croydon in recent months.

An Officeworks store is set to replace the Ringwood Hungry Jacks, while Mexican chain Guzman Y Gomez is preparing to open at the old Croydon restaurant.

The future of Glen Waverley’s Pancake Parlour at Century City Walk is also under a cloud, with the restaurant closed since Melbourne’s coronavirus lockdown last year.