Andrea Gregoriou grew up with her dad, Leo, and mum, Des running the beloved Unanderra Charcoal Chickens Take Away shop. The shop is set to shut its doors for the final time this month. Photo: Andrea Gregoriou.
If Unanderra Charcoal Chickens is your go-to for a hot chook, you’d better get your last orders in quick.
After decades of serving the community, the iconic takeaway is set to close its doors on 21 September.
Des and Elias (popularly known as Leo) Gregoriou opened the shop 33 years ago, when they were 24 and 30 years old – but it wasn’t their first foray into hospitality.
Their daughter, Andrea, said her mother’s parents owned a takeaway in Wollongong serving fresh fish and chips.
“It was called Brothers Cafe, near Piccadilly,” she said.
Leo was working at the takeaway as a second job.
“Mum and Dad started their own shop 41 years ago in Kanahooka before they found this place in Unanderra with a house attached.
“It meant they were able to run a business and have a family at the same time.”
The Gregorious went on to have three children and run a beloved business.
Andrea said she had warm memories of her childhood in the shop, and those memories brought her back to work with her parents and start a shop of her own.
“Mum and Dad were always working so we might have missed out on some stuff, but it was fun,” she said.
“Dad was a very friendly man; very approachable, very chatty.
“We had a good time. After school I did pharmacy for a while, but I enjoyed this so much more, so I decided to follow in my parents’ footsteps.
“When you’ve been doing it for so long you build a relationship with your customers.”
Sadly, Leo died of cancer four years ago.
Des is keen to retire and spend more time with her grandchildren, and Andrea has purchased her own store, Delicious Delights, in Albion Park.
The time has come to move on.
Andrea said her parents’ key to success was good food and authenticity, and she’d keep that legacy alive at Delicious Delights.
“We home make everything; I’m making potato scallops as we talk,” she said.
“We make the seasoning that goes in the chicken, we make our own batter, everything that’s sold here is prepared by us except the frozen things like Chiko Rolls.
“Being handmade and homemade makes a big difference.
“We try to support other local businesses when we buy our chicken in. Our Portuguese burgers are the most popular thing we sell here; all the burgers are handmade with our own recipes.”
Portuguese burger afficionados can rest assured that it’s one of the recipes Andrea will take with her to the shop at 3/149 Tongarra Road, Albion Park.
It’s going to be another family affair for the next generation, as Andrea and her partner run the shop with her three-year-old son in tow.
She has a few changes she wants to make but will keep plenty of old favourites on the menu.
“Homemade burgers, schintzel wraps, good old fish and chips,” she said.
“I already adapt things to my own way; even when Dad was alive we modernised a few different things, but I don’t change something that’s not broken.”
Andrea and Des thanked their loyal customers for their support over the years.
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