So. Do you like your fast food? I was prompted to write a post on fast food in Australia because I realised that people must come here to this auspicious destination and look around for things to eat. Perhaps you like fast food, and you don’t want to spend too much and eat and fancy (also schmancy) restaurants a lot, but neither do you want to eat McDonald’s or Subway because, hey, you already know what that’s about. And so you want to try fast food that’s well, unique or mostly found in Australia.

Some people just love fast food. And some look down on those who do! Personally I like fast food but also appreciate a good meal in a good restaurant. I am not one for ‘plating’ frankly, I usually find that that involves tiny portion sizes and too often, asparagus. I have reviewed a lot of different restaurants from lower to mid-range, and even a couple of pretty fancy-schmancy ones I guess. Although I will admit I have never eaten at a restaurant, as far as I know, with even one Michelin star. And frankly I had reality cooking shows.

In Australia you will find as many McDonald’s frankly as anyone could possibly need. KFC these days is also hot hot hot – there was a time 20 years or more ago where it seemed to me that KFC may be closing down operations in Australia. Pizza Hut is hard to find at least in Melbourne. I used to love it – we used to go to the restaurants as kids and have all you can eat buffets but sadly they downsized and there aren’t many stores and I think it’s all take away these days. KFC on the other hand rebounded, sponsoring cricket and somehow boom! They are very very common and popular these days.

As for your Burger King, well, the occasional store called Burger King you will find, but what happened is someone had the name registered in Perth I believe many years ago, and so they couldn’t open up in Australia as ‘Burger King’. Instead you get ‘Hungry Jack’s’ – exactly the same franchise and menu, just a different name. Some franchises though do bear the ‘Burger King’ name. Sydney Airport for one.

Nando’s is another international franchise that is very popular here with their chicken at varying levels of spiciness. And Subway, although not as common as it once was, is still pretty prevalent. Popeyes… I think you can find but not common, at least not in Victoria, and Dominoes is the most prevalent big pizza chains around Australia.

However, you will find places you won’t of heard of if arriving in Australia, and you may wonder ‘what do they offer’? So today I wanted to break a few down for you to give you an idea.

Red Rooster

So basically, here you have a place doing roasted chicken. They also do burgers, fries, chicken rolls, gravy, it’s a bit like a Sunday Roast with plenty of options. I don’t really like the taste, although it’s not too bad and okay I guess on the very odd occasion.  But the fact is you can get a roasted chicken at one of many many charcoal chicken joints which will for sure taste better. Also a decent hack – the supermarkets pretty much all do roasted chicken. It’s not too bad and usually is around $10AUD for a chook which will do around 3 people for a meal I guess. Speaking as a big eater.

Schnitz

Is Schnitz Australian? I don’t know. (answer – yes!) But I am yet to see one overseas so maybe it is. Aussies love a good schnitzel and Schnitz is the place to get one. They do them as meals with chips and salad, or in burgers and they have a whole range of them and you might be surprised by just how good they are. So many options and sauces, honestly you have no idea how many different things you can do with a schnitzel! Also not just chicken, stores have beef and pork schnitzels too I think.

Oporto

Oporto is the sort of place you see in a complex which serves as a stop on a freeway. They do mostly chicken burgers and I haven’t had one in over ten years and I don’t remember that being memorable at all, but they must be doing something right as they’re still out there. They also do wraps and salads.

La Porchetta’s

So this place’s slogan is ‘Eat, Live, Love – Italian’. I’m not sure how far across Australia this Italian restaurant chain stretches, but they are big in Victoria and especially Melbourne. They have a huge range of pizzas, pastas and other Italian dishes including parmigianas. The quality depends greatly on which restaurant you go to. I had La Porchetta’s once last year and frankly, it wasn’t dreadful. A soggy tasteless pizza. I discovered it had not come from the La Porchettas (I ordered through Uber Eats) close by me but from a suburb at least 20 minutes away, which made little sense. But I understood better why the pizza was so soggy and disappointing. Not just the delivery time but from a different store which I used once years ago and was disappointed. They do have one of the biggest ranges of pizza you will ever see. They even have a Satay pizza at some stores. Interesting you may find it – I have had allergic reactions from them cutting a Satay Pizza and then cutting mine. One needs to be so careful. – not just from La Porchettas I had it from another place last year.

Grill’d

Finally we have a hamburger chain called ‘Grill’d’ – yes they thought they were being awfully clever in replacing the ‘e’ with an apostrophe to make it seem more hip I expect. They claim to be a ‘healthy’ burger chain and have become pretty popular these days. Personally I’ve only eaten at them a couple of times and whilst the burgers were fine, they cost more than say your typical burger joint and they didn’t knock my socks off. Otherwise I would have gone back. They are in most parts of Australia and certainly there are plenty of the chain in Melbourne.

You will also find local places that will do hamburgers the ‘Aussie’ way – with the ‘lot’ that is, and that may include an egg, pineapple, beetroot and other things you mightn’t normally choose to eat. Fish and chips is popular too as a quick take away meal, and a lot of local Fish and Chip shops also do hamburgers. You’ll also find plenty of places doing kebabs and souvlaki.

So there you have a quick guide to fast food and cheaper food in Australia. Thanks for reading today! Take care and May the Journey Never End!