The Four Chicken Frontiers of Sydney

Worlds are colliding and the apocalypse is coming.

Oct 21, 2024

G’day Sydney and beyond. We love chicken over here in its many iterations. I was gratefully raised near neighbourhoods boasting both fine charcoal chicken along the M5 corridor and juicy rotisserie quarters from local shops stuffed in foil bags emblazoned with the words “HOT CHOOK”. I may not be spoiled by excessive wealth or anything particularly advantageous in this first-world but I have been blessed by the bird for most of my life. I’ve eaten a lot of chicken.

A former version of myself has smugly scoffed at various chicken-related online reviews, takes and headlines over the years – who does the best chook? How far do I need to travel? Doesn’t this place have beef with that place? Yeah, but isn’t their tabouli way better? 1/5 stars, will not return. Why pay $20 when a bachelor’s handbag is half the price? I prefer chicken breast, actually. Nah don’t go there, go here instead. 10 Chicken Joints You’ve Never Heard Of (Trust Us), Link In Bio. Yeah nah, yeah nah. Yeah.

Each to their own is my more affable outlook these days, and besides, there are more important affairs to scrutinise. Like the lucrative expansion of particular hot chicken chains across our city.

Sydney is a city divided by chicken. The Red Rooster Line concept proposed by Twitter user Big Jez sees Red Rooster’s (one of Australia’s beloved chicken chains) northern most stores connected to form a diagonal line across the capital. From Penrith to Mascot this line neatly scores Sydney into its two halves: the South-West and the North. Consider the South-West diverse flavour country and the North a region of ‘affluence’, if we have to get socioeconomic about it.

The Red Rooster Line, a regal stripe of connecting chicken shops, stands as the buffer between South-West Sydney and the North, our friendly DMZ. This impervious limit has always separated the Two Sydneys.

I began this story foreseeing the end of the world. For the benefit of my tin foil hat argument I’ve mapped out four distinct chicken frontiers of Sydney: El Jannah (green) and Chargrill Charlie’s (yellow). Instagram demands the inclusion of Frangos (black) and Red Rooster is here too (in red, obviously). The allegorical Red Rooster Line (a thick, black line) stands as our axis of flavour.

For those outside of Sydney, here’s a rundown of each big-hitter chicken sanctums.

El Jannah
Lebanese chicken with roots in the south-west. A plate of toum, bread and left (those fluorescent pink pickles) is the order. El Jannah’s original Granville location served as the type of place ‘foodies’ would ‘travel’ to for a ‘chook mish’ (chicken mission). A classic commune for condescending Sydney food tourism… at only 25 minutes from the CBD. El Jannah is the most expansive charcoal chicken place in Sydney city (Awafi, Anar, Hawa, Oricco and friends - don’t worry, we still see you), elevating the charred bird once consigned to a pocket of Punchbowl to mainstream status.
Chargrill Charlie’s
The chaperon of the apocalypse. These orderly riffs on classic, local rotisserie chicken spots have, let’s face it, graced the city’s more moneyed areas. Plenty of sides but potato salad and coleslaw vibes. They dominate the North and beachside suburbs and their imagining of a burger with the lot has been cleanly rebranded to “Aussie Burger”. Let’s pour a little out for all the veteran Greek guys in singlets and chains sweating by the grill ready to hand you the greasy, yolky parcel of teenage afternoon weekend bike ride dreams.
Frangos
Portuguese chicken originally hailing from inner-west Petersham. Fans revel in the apparent rude service while ordering chicken burgers with chili sauce, it’s all part of the store’s impeccable ambience. Petersham pride or Stockholm syndrome? I’m unsure. But I do love their corn. Frangos is one of the few takeouts my Yiayia consistently enjoys, so there’s that.
Red Rooster
Our suburban darling and one of the country’s original and enduring rotisserie chicken chains circa 1972. Home of the Rooster Roll and pineapple fritter, for some reason. Like all big chains, Red Rooster has the budget to chase current food trends but lacks the agility to deliver what’s in when the thing is actually in: at present it’s fried wings with hot honey. Their chips are mad and I’ve always been a fan.

A long time ago in a city far, far away these soon-to-be chains stood universes apart. Just as no one actually wants to cross the Harbour Bridge, traversing beyond the Red Rooster Line for some chook was nothing more than a vexatious exercise for most. Below we see the founding El Jannah store in Granville and the original Chargrill Charlie’s in Coogee positioned around 25km away from each other, situated safely away from the Red Rooster Line. And never the twain shall meet.

But in 2017 Natassia Chrysanthos and Ann Ding cleverly mapped out the two distinct zones of El Jannah and Chargrill Charlie’s expansion against the Red Rooster Line in Food fault lines: mapping class through food chains. Their terrific visualisation is the basis for my maps in this post as I explore the augmentation of El Jannah, Chargrill Charlie’s, Red Rooster and Frangos – the four chicken frontiers.

The Red Rooster Line concept rocks, so I’m expanding its presence to a Red Rooster Zone. It looks like a little inverse Cyprus.

While presenting my initial world’s end theory on Instagram I was promptly told, my crude sketches on Honi Soit’s pioneering diagrams omitted several recent openings, notably some north-ish El Jannahs, and thus my theory was deemed not entirely valid. I’ve accounted for new and closed outlets across all four chicken chains in my maps, and for the purposes of this study I’m defining Sydney as Mona Vale (North) to Campbelltown (South-West). Stores in the Wollongong area have been excluded.

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A post shared by @alanadimou

After mapping out all current and operating outlets, geographically my theory remains sound: Chargrill Charlie’s is yet to breach the flavour equator that is the Red Rooster Line. But with the recent opening of Chargrill Charlie’s in Marrickville we are one step closer to dystopia.

Only the bold will subscribe to my speculation (not really). Are you ready? Here are some Sydney chicken observations.

1. That’s a lot of chicken!

Praise be. We are truly blessed in this town. (And yes, I am aware other chook stops exist outside of the four zones designated for this landmark study.) Winner winner chicken dinner, for now.

2. El Jannah has crossed the bounds into the North

Nice. With the north’s Crows Nest store now accounted for we see El Jannah’s stubborn green nub permeating Chargrill Charlie’s domain and flipping the bird to Mosman. Double nice. The Norwest outlet shifts the El Jannah frontier north of the Red Rooster Line too. Lucky them.

3. Frangos’ rapid expansion bleeds from the Red Rooster Zone

Playing the safe game for the long game? I don’t know, or really care, unless it’s geographically convenient to cop some chicken and corn.

4. Red Rooster Mascot remains in play

If you’re from out of town, ‘Mascot’ is synonymous with ‘Sydney Airport’. This airport outlet opens at 5am. That’s wild. “Oh, but what about tired, international travellers who want to enjoy a warm chicken meal mid-transit” I hear you say? This Red Rooster outlet is located in our domestic terminal, a mostly jetlag free space, so whoever’s smashing a quarter chicken combo with a Pepsi before most of us have even woken up, call me. Huge moves. Coincidentally the airport serves as the Red Rooster Line’s terminus. Or perhaps this is where it all begins?

5. Both Frangos and Chargrill Charlie’s are keen to capitalise on Marrickville’s overt gentrification

Smidmore Street and Wicks Place are two very new developments in Marrickville. Both chicken spots aren’t here to fuck around, they want that Bugaboo money. Only 750m separate the two. It’s a bad spot to be a local IPA.

6. And finally: the apocalypse is coming

This is what we’re here for. To reiterate: once Chargrill Charlie’s breaches the Red Rooster line, or crosses into the Red Rooster Zone, we’re more cooked than a Two Piece Feed. Uhh, I mean a Tropicana Box. Dangerous conspiracy theory? I think not. And unfortunately for us ye olde 25km buffer zone betwixt El Jannah and Chargrill Charlie’s is no more.

Let’s zoom in, the results may shock and surprise you. El Jannah and Chargrill Charlie’s original outlets are marked to illustrate the seeping expansion across the North and South-West. We see an alarming proximity between Chargrill Charlie’s and the Red Rooster Line.

Computer, enhance to Chargrill Charlie’s recent Marrickville opening.

This is the big yikes. Only 500m separates Chargrill Charlie’s from the paramount perimeter that is the Red Rooster line – only 500m separates us from total chaos. We are at the behest of this precarious balance of chicken chains, a delicate dance beside a cursed schism. To the Four Horsemen fashioning this volatile fault line: please be merciful.

The worlds are colliding and the apocalypse is coming so we best enjoy the extra chicken salt on our chippies while we can. Thankfully Red Rooster has particularly good ones and El Jannah certainly doesn’t skimp with the shaker. I think my South-West bias is showing.

Edit 25/10: my sincere apologies for omitting Red Rooster stores in the Campbelltown region. I want cast blame on location maps and their varying definitions of Sydney, but truthfully I should have known better. Please see below a gorgeous fanning of the Red Rooster Zone extending to this South-West cluster in my updated map. Gregory Hills, Mt Annan, Woodbine and Campbelltown, I’m sorry.

And, here’s an updated frontiers map. The density is a sight to behold.

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