Grill’d to open its first-ever Melbourne drive-through

In response to demand from its Victorian diners, Grill’d will open the state’s first-ever drive-through restaurant this weekend.

In response to demand from its Victorian diners, Grill’d will open the state’s first-ever drive-through restaurant this weekend – making it only the second of its kind in Australia.

On August 3, the beloved burger giant will open its 172nd location in Melbourne’s Chadstone.

Diners will have the added convenience of ordering their favourite meal from the comfort of their car, with Grill’d giving away 754 free burgers to mark the occasion.

The new Melbourne experience – which follows the opening of Grill’d’s first drive-through restaurant in Brisbane’s Mount Ommaney last year – is part of a larger five-year growth strategy, Grill’d founder and managing director, Simon Crowe, said.

“We aim to open 30 new restaurants per year, with an ultimate goal to have 300 sites nationally by 2029. Of the next 50 restaurants we open, half will have drive-through facilities,” Mr Crowe explained.

In response to demand from its Victorian diners, Grill’d will open the state’s first-ever drive-through restaurant this weekend.

He described Chadstone, in Melbourne’s southeast, as “the perfect choice” for the chain’s second drive-through location.

“Melbourne was where we opened our first restaurant in Hawthorn 20 years ago, so the city and surrounds will always hold a special place in the heart of the brand,” Mr Crowe said.

“Chadstone is a thriving community, with locals frequently visiting Australia’s largest shopping centre nearby and looking for healthy, convenient food post-shop or on their way home from work.

“The drive-through format is something our guests have been asking for and we definitely won’t be missing a beat with over 40 incredible healthy, nutritious menu options, made with love from our local restaurant team.”

‘We definitely won’t be missing a beat with over 40 incredibly healthy, nutritious menu options, made with love from our local restaurant team.’

Grill’d’s regional general manager for Victoria, Scott Bradley, said the new venue would align with the brand’s emphasis on “playing local”.

“We are always entrenched in our local communities and Grill’d Chadstone lifestyle centre will be no different,” Mr Bradley said.

“We have numerous initiatives lined up to launch this restaurant into the local community, including local sporting and community groups via our famous Local Matters jars which are found in every restaurant.”

Grill'd founder and CEO Simon Crowe said the company’s mission is to ‘liberate burgers from badness’. Picture: Supplied.

Starting out in 2004 to reinvent fast food, Grill’d has long been considered among the “better quality” burger restaurants on offer in Australia.

Mr Crowe told NCA NewsWire earlier this year the company’s mission is to “liberate burgers from badness”.

“We genuinely see ourselves as a rebel with a cause, we want to push into the challenge that is doing things different,” he said.

While Mr Crowe had “always” been against the idea of drive-throughs, “as we’ve developed as a brand and a business we’ve seen the terminology of quick service restaurants (QSR) is not an evil term if we do what we do really well”.

“We feel really excited about being a QSR brand, but never a dirty fast food brand,” he added.

“And we think that we can deliver therefore nutritious healthy, amazing burgers and to do so in a very prompt fashion.”