Car park restaurants create a cost-effective alternative for owners and chefs
Car park and car wash eateries are trending, as restaurant owners look for cheaper property to ply their trade.
Taste of Canton in Sydney which specialises in made-to-order cheung fun, (Cantonese rice noodle rolls filled with minced prawn, egg, beef, or pork, bathed in soy sauce and a vibrant house-made chilli sauce) opened last year in a corner shared with a car wash.
The restaurant is drawing weekend crowds.
In Alexandria, Gold Car Wash serves up wagyu burgers with cheese, jalapenos, sriracha, and mustard. Not a bad way to wait for your car to be detailed or washed.
Rockdale eatery Kosta's Takeaway is a sandwich deli co-owned by Benjamin Terkalas which has set up shop at a takeaway window in front of a smash-repairs workshop.
Meanwhile, Japanese inspired Kori Ice-Cream opened its second shopfront in a compact space next to a CBD car park in Melbourne. Known for its unique flavours like Hokkaido cheesecake and vegan yuzu, Kori Ice-Cream embraces its location's quirkiness with LED signage and industrial design elements.
In southwest Sydney, a Vietnamese diner serves beef pho between a car wash and a petrol station. 2 Foodies in Mount Pritchard, owned by Peter Nguyen, thrives in an "out of sight, out of mind" location, relying on word of mouth rather than walk-in traffic. Nguyen attributes the choice of location to rising costs in popular areas and finds that being away from the city centre allows for more focus on quality without compromising on costs.
Nguyen says the number of viable spaces for new restaurants to open has shrunk and rents have skyrocketed. He notes rents in Cabramatta are between $3000 and $4000 a week, double what they were in 2020.
“It’s cheaper being away from the focus, there’s less pressure on the owner and chef, and it gives us more freedom to focus on quality. We don’t have to cut costs with the food,” Nguyen says.
Food trucks, wanderlust, multiculturalism, and migration have collectively shattered the misconception that great food only comes from upscale establishments. Entrepreneurs, recognising the limitless possibilities fuelled by determination, sidestep exorbitant rents, offering a diverse culinary landscape on main streets.
Terkalas drew inspiration from Australia's history, adapting his restaurant model to succeed in challenging times, a testament to the resilience ingrained in migrant communities.
“Honestly, the risk of spending millions [on set up] in Australia is too high,” Terkalas told delicious.
“There’s history in those areas and that’s something that we are attracted to as a business. They’re already established.
The panel beaters and mechanics where we have [two restaurants] already have a cult following. They’ve been around 20 or 30 years. There’s a loyal and committed audience of people and that’s attractive. You can’t eat the walls.”
Auburn's Kofte by Levent serves Istanbul-style Street food in a petrol station car park. With offerings like the "wet burger," featuring a perfect square slice of cheese and buttery tomato sauce-soaked bread roll, or grilled fish in a toddler-sized Turkish bread roll, Kofte by Levent delivers an authentic taste of Istanbul to its customers.
Rather than replicating existing culinary offerings, these off-grid locations introduce fresh opportunities and challenge expectations. 2 Foodies, for example, has garnered attention with a French baguette filled with on-site barbecued pork, leading the culinary conversation and emphasising the pursuit of uniqueness that aligns with the location's distinct character.
Jonathan Jackson, 30th January 2024
