Forgotten Melbourne fast food chains: Ollie’s, Denny’s, Barnacle Bill, Holly’s Cafe, Dial-A-Dinos
Word is Wendy’s is relaunching here after closing shop in the 1980s. See the other forgotten fast food chains which once thrived in Melbourne.
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Media reports suggest US burger chain Goliath is making a play to launch operations in Australia.
But did you know (or remember) Wendy’s Hamburgers (as it was known) already set up shop here in the 1980s.
It pulled the pin in 1986 but it wasn’t the overseas or homegrown fast food chain which came to Melbourne, thrived, faltered, went bust and vanished for good.
See the full menu of Melbourne’s long forgotten fast food chains.
WENDY’S HAMBURGERS
Wendy’s is thinking of rejoining our shores after it pulled up stumps in 1986. The popular US burger chain was probably well before its time during its first sojourn in this country but I’m sure its second go will be well received by Melbourne customers.
Ever sat in a Hungry Jack’s restaurant? If yes, then you’ve sat in an old Wendy’s as HJ’s patched over all the old Wendy’s sites after the chain bailed.
PIZZA HUT (DINE IN)
Driving through the suburbs back in the day and Pizza Hut’s famous red hutty-type roof was as recognisable as McDonald’s golden arches.
It was pretty common for a family to sit down and share a pizza served piping hot on a round black iron skillet which would burn your fingers if you touched it.
Then came the 90s and the famous all you can eat buffet where for a tick over five bucks you could get your fill on pizza, pasta and ice cream.
You could also put the ice cream and/or pasta on your pizza if you want.
Most Pizza Hut dine in restaurants shut down in the 2000s but stores in Shepparton and Ballarat remained defiant until 2021.
BARNACLE BILL
The seafood chain restaurant was almost as popular as Macca’s in Melbourne during the eighties, but its fame was short-lived, and after a few years the chain’s Victorian restaurants closed.
Who would’ve thought a seafood chain would fail in a city renowned for its fish and chip shops?
This may or may not shock you but Barnacle Bill still thrives in South Australia of all places.
OLLIE’S RESTAURANT
The fried chicken chain was an institution around Melbourne through the 1980s before rival chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) swallowed it whole, putting it permanently out of commission in 1990.
FASTA PASTA
If you wanted pasta quick and cheap in the 90s there was only one place to go – actually there were thousands of places to go, which is probably why “Italian” slop house Fasta Pasta didn’t succeed.
Essentially it was Sizzler-grade pasta (more on Sizzler below) served a la carte, so it was always destined to fail.
Despite being dreadful it managed to survive well into the 21st century.
Inexplicably there is still one Fasta Pasta located in Mildura.
SIZZLER
All-you-can-eat restaurants were all the rage in the 90s and Sizzler was the king of a bad bunch.
The budget smorgasbord chain spread like wildfire through Melbourne suburbs in the mid-to-late nineties before imploding, rebranding to Bells, and then eventually closing down.
Its bland salad bar couldn’t fool Melbourne foodies forever.
Sizzler still grinded through in Queensland (of course Queensland) but eventually shut up shop for good in late-2020.
HOLLY’S CAFE KMART
Kmart had its own cafe chain plonked right in the middle of stores.
Back in the 80s and 90s Holly’s Cafe was the place to be for hungry shoppers who needed a coffee or some chips and gravy while nestled among bargain priced socks and undies.
It was rumoured Kmart was considering relaunching the retro eatery back in 2019 but nothing has happened yet.
On the subject, does anyone remember every Myer and most other department stores also had their own little restaurants?
DIAL-A-DINOS, PIZZA HAVEN AND EAGLE BOYS
Anyone who lived in Melbourne in the 80s would remember Dino’s fleet of delivery cars — they had a giant red telephone on the roof — zipping around suburban streets.
The chain was so successful that its main competitor, Pizza Hut, bought it out in 1987 so it could become the mother of all pizza chains.
But from the ashes of Dino’s rose Pizza Haven, which became the Hut’s main competitor until it was bought out by Eagle Boys in 2008.
The latter eventually closed its last store in May 2017, shortly after the company was acquired by, you guessed it, Pizza Hut.
DIAL-A CHICKEN
Yes, you could dial a chicken in the late-80s.
For just $15.50 you could get a microwaved chook with a handful of cold peas and some crusty old potatoes delivered for free to your door.
No wonder the chicken crossed the road.
Not much is known of how and even why this business came into being nor how it died a quiet death but an educated guess could be made.
HARTEE’S
Aussie burger chain Hartee’s launched circa 1972 with an aggressive business plan.
The franchise expanded more harder than Macca’s in the early days and was once, very briefly, king of the fast food franchises in Australia.
This was until 1975 when all Hartee’s stores closed down for good never to be heard of again.
DENNY’S AND TACO BELL
American franchises have long targeted Melbourne with varying degrees of success, Domino’s Pizza and McDonald’s are prime examples of fast food chains dominating but did you know US diner juggernaut Denny’s made a failed attempt to set up shop in the 80s and blink and you would have missed Taco Bell come in the late-90s and go by the mid-2000s.
Melbourne chef Tim McWilliam recalled working at the Doncaster Denny’s back in the 80s.
“It was pretty bad,” McWilliam said.
“Everything including the sauces and the vegies were bought in pre-packaged and pre-prepared, you didn’t need a qualification to work there.”
THE RED BARN
This will stretch memories but defunct US fast food chain The Red Barn had stores in Australia way back in the 1970s.
It’s possible the forgotten chain predated McDonald’s Australian operations with both franchises launching businesses in 1971.
It can be certain though some Macca’s stores still standing around Melbourne patched over old Red Barn sites.
SOUVLAKI HUT
Souvlaki Hut, the brainchild of Carlton premiership teammates Ang Christou and Anthony Koutoufides, launched operations in 2004.
The Greek food chain opened in several suburbs but despite being pretty good quality the business couldn’t quite survive Melbourne’s crowded souvlaki and kebab market.
SMORGY’S
If you were alive in the 90s then chances are you visited the Polynesian-themed buffet restaurant Smorgy’s.
The chain’s tiki torches lit up our roads but the food was garbage — although not as bad as Sizzler, and an awesome venue if you were a kid.
The chain vanished in the early 2000s, and its large island-hut buildings with volcano-shaped entrances remained scattered across Melbourne long after the chain went belly-up.
They were lasting monuments of Melbourne’s short-lived passion for smorgasbord restaurants.
BILLABONG FAMILY BISTRO
The Billabong was a chain of Koala-themed restaurants taking up prime space at suburban pubs.
At a Billabong it was exciting waiting for your number to come up on the screen so you could go and fetch your chicken and chips and help yourself to the free salad bar.
Kids loved it because it had a playground, and we guess adults loved it because they could drink alcohol.
The last Billabong disappeared in the 90s, about the same time pokie machines came out.
THE KEG, LONE STAR STEAK HOUSE & SALOON
Goodbye Denny’s, hello The Keg.
The casual dining chain took root all over Melbourne in the 90s, replacing Denny’s sites before its too vanished without a trace.
Lone Star Steak House & Saloon venues began opening up around Melbourne around the same time as the Keg said sayonara.
However, the Texas-style eatery was not a hit with discerning Melburnians, and it wasn’t long before Lone Star rode off into the sunset and into the plains abound with empty lands and where a blood meridian is nigh at every noon.
QUIZNOS AND CHILI’S
Subway’s poor submarine sandwich cousin Quiznos made a spectacularly atrocious launch in Melbourne before the Australian franchise of the American chain went out of business in 2006.
The collapse left many investors who believed they had bought into the next Subway, hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
In the head-to head battle with Subway, there really wasn’t a contest.
Chili’s was another chain of Tex Mex.-style saloon restaurants which seemed to pop up everywhere a Lone Star was, but it also disappeared without a trace.
WAGAMAMA
The UK-based Japanese noodle franchise opened its first store in 2002 but its entire Australian operation was kaput by 2013 when the company went into administration.
Did they really think they were going to corner the Melbourne noodle market?
Any we have missed? Comment below …
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