Domino's Just Opened a Surry Hills 'Concept Store' for Some Reason
The pizza chain wants to be more than your stop for a $5 midnight snack.
In the latest wave of fast food chains trying to pretend they're not really fast food chains, Domino's has opened a new 'concept store' in Sydney.
It seems the global pizza place must have caught a bad case of FOMO from old-time rival Pizza Hut, who opened its own Waterloo concept store back in November. Domino's has been hitting the niche food offering trend hard lately, adding vegan cheese to its menu back in January and opening a similar outlet in Brisbane last year. But whatever the reason, it's happening — and we really don't have a definitive answer as to why.
As to be expected, the shop looks absolutely nothing like the regular blue-and-red hole-in-the-wall Domino's store you're used to seeing around. The 30-seat dine-in restaurant attempts to emulate a 1930s Italian pizzeria with retro forest green tiling, pendant lighting and espresso machine, along with a timber counter and an unfinished exposed ceiling. It even has a bookshelf full of succulents. An open kitchen and spot for alfresco dining round out this desperate attempt to be cool.
The menu is getting its own upgrade, with "hand-stretched" and "hand tossed" pizza bases replacing the usual. New 'premium' pizza toppings include bocconcini, rocket and prosciutto, duck, blue cheese and chorizo.
But we're still left with one question: why? It all sounds — and, we're sure, tastes — just fine, but Domino's is loved because it's cheap and has an easy online ordering system, and it seems odd that it would try to compete with other pizzerias in the area. Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Redfern are already home to so many restaurants slinging legit pizzas, like Maybe Frank, Dimitris, La Coppola and Bar Reggio. Not to mention the city as a whole is chockas with pizza joints we'd highly recommend going to.
For us, chains like Domino's and Pizza Hut serve their own purpose — that is, to be cheap, quick and great on a drunk/hungover stomach. But we might see more of these concept stores in the future as they attempt to weasel into Australia's homegrown food scene.
The Domino's Surry Hills concept store is now open at 17 Randle Street, Surry Hills. It's open seven days from 11am until late. For more info, visit dominos.com.au.
Image: Domino's Brisbane.
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