Soda Rock closes its doors permanently at Jam Factory ahead of redevelopment plans

The owner of a beloved Chapel St restaurant that tragically closed said he believes redevelopment is the key to revitalise the once vibrant and thriving strip.

Soda Rock diner on Chapel St has suddenly closed after 30 years of business, leaving the street front store in Jam Factory empty. Picture: Gemma Scerri

The owner of an iconic old-school restaurant that brought the vintage American diner aesthetic to South Yarra has said he “isn’t ready to let it go”.

Soda Rock closed the doors of its Chapel St home, leaving the previously flamboyant 50s style diner empty, with the remnants of its past glory forgotten.

Owner Les Masalkovski said Melbourne had not seen the last of the diner, despite closing the doors on the Jam Factory location.

Mr Masalkovski first opened Soda Rock 30 years ago in its original location on the corner of Toorak Rd and Chapel St, before moving to Jam Factory seven years ago.

Late last year, he had to make the heartbreaking decision to shut the destination restaurant ahead of a complete redevelopment of the Jam Factory site.

“It wasn’t viable to open the doors,” he said.

“The cost of living has affected everything, and it really started with the lockdowns.”

The once bustling and vibrant diner is now a desolate shell.

Forced to close business for 10 months in the pandemic period, Mr Masalkovski said Soda Rock wasn’t the only business that suffered.

“Chapel St has dozens of empty stores and spaces,” he said.

“The spending behaviour of customers also changed – people that would come in every two or three weeks were only able to afford coming in every two or three months.”

The coloured furniture and vintage jukeboxes have been removed since the closure, leaving bright red booths looking more like gravestones against the checkerboard floors.

Soda Rock Diner when it first opened at Jam Factory

The closure comes ahead of redevelopment plans for the Jam Factory site, with the estimated $1.5b proposal to include a 5-star hotel, taller apartment buildings and more.

The redevelopment is slated to breathe life back into the Chapel St strip, with then-Stonnington mayor Jami Klisaris saying, at the time, it could be the most “significant redevelopment in the city’s recent history”.

“Our ongoing Chapel Street transformation project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform Chapel Street into one of the great streets of the world.”

The proposed Jam Factory redevelopment.

Mr Masalkovski agreed, saying he believed the Jam Factory redevelopment would bring life back onto the Chapel St strip, which has been described as a ghost town. 

“People sometimes think badly about big developments, but Chapel St needs something like this,” he said.

Despite the current closure, Mr Masalkovski said he wasn’t ready to let Soda Rock go and had been looking at new locations for the restaurant.

“I don’t think I can stay home and do nothing,” he said.

“I love Soda Rock as much as I did 30 years ago. I’m not ready to give it up.”