Aussie Grill, home of the Outback group, serves fried chicken in a chocolate shell

Famous in American cuisine and a symbol of fast foods there, crispy fried chicken started to be on the rise in São Paulo — it appears on the menus of different snack bars, as portions or sandwich fillings. And now it has a new address that specializes in frying.

The novelty is the Aussie Grill, which opens its doors on Monday, the 7th, at the Eldorado mall. With a menu dedicated to crispy fried chicken, the restaurant has products that mix chicken meat with chocolate, for example. There are even snacks where chicken takes the place of bread and other deep-fried indulgences.

Known by those who have the habit of ordering food for delivery, the brand belongs to the Bloomin’ Brands group, the same people who run Outback and Abraccio in Brazil. It exists in other countries, such as the United States and China, with a different profile, as if it were a cafeteria version of Outback, says Marisa Palhares, the group’s marketing manager. Around here, only the name Aussie Grill was kept — the menu doesn’t at all resemble that of the famous meat house. The kitchen’s focus on Brazilian soil is fried chicken.

The brand landed in the country in September 2020 as a dark kitchen, those restaurants that only exist in apps. It was a way to launch a new operation and still enjoy the space of the Outback’s kitchens at a time when salons were closed due to the quarantine imposed during the pandemic.

In two years, the business spread across the country — it is now in 16 states, with 85 virtual units. Shopping Eldorado welcomes the first physical store, with a modern aesthetic with colorful walls and decor inspired by an urban and young Australia, far from the arid scenery of the Outback.

The order is made through self-service totems. According to the company, the project was designed so that the food is delivered to the consumer in up to three minutes. After choosing the snack and accompaniment, the customer can sit at one of the tables or in the small bleachers of the hall.

In addition to the options that already exist in delivery, with sandwiches and portions, the menu of physical stores features exclusive and unusual recipes. Everything has chicken, with the exception of desserts and potatoes. There is, for example, the Cone Waffle, a chocolate cone filled with cheese and chicken prepared in different methods — one part is creamy, the other is fried and spicy. The look resembles that of ice cream, but the sweetness of the cone is subtle and even matches the chicken. It costs BRL 24.90.

There is also a sandwich in which the chicken takes the place of the bread. The bread, on the other hand, becomes a filling with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato, in a difficult combination to bite without making a mess. The sandwich costs R$ 29.90.

Orders can be made by unit or in combos, as in any cafeteria. You can pair the sandwiches with potato chips—spicy or not—, as well as choose sauces such as mayonnaise with sriracha (a Thai chili sauce) and bacon-onion jelly.

To drink, the house created two more different options: there is the purple lemonade, made with violet syrup and basil leaves, and the one made with vanilla syrup, each for R$ 12.90. The menu also features soft drinks, juices and alcoholic beverages such as beers in long neck bottles and canned drinks.

The house’s inventions to sweeten the palate include a Kit Kat chocolate cookie (R$8.90_ and a lemon pie flavored milkshake, served with a chocolate farofinha (R$19.90). sugar and frying combination is hard to go wrong.