Cult burger joint Milky Lane opens this Friday in Perth, with three locations set to open here as early as this year.
Perth’s first Milky Lane will be in Elizabeth Quay’s Barrack Square.
A second store will open this year, but founder Christian Avant said he couldn’t reveal the location yet.
DISCOVER THE LATEST NEWS NEAR YOU WITH PERTHNOW DIGITAL EDITIONS
“We were originally looking in Scarborough and couldn’t find anything – it turned out not to be the right location for us,” he said.
“We signed a master franchise agreement 18 months ago and found a location on Elizabeth Quay 12 months ago.
“The plan is to have these centralized than we’ll go south and north and make sure we put one nearby for everyone in Perth.”
The franchise in the eastern states is welcoming customers to its new Perth location this week, with food and drinks from the Milky Lane trademarked menu packed with more burgers, cocktails, and desserts.
Camera IconBurger franchise Milky Lane opens its first eatery in Perth at Barrack St Jetty. Loaded Popcorn Chicken and Bubblegum Sour. Credit: Iain Gillespie/The West Australian
“We started it when social media was booming, and I said we will never make anything that doesn’t look good on social media because it attracts customers,” said Mr. Avant.
“So everything we design always has that in mind: is it aesthetic and taste great? It will come up on the menu if it ticks those two boxes.”
The murals in each hip-hop-themed Milky Lane venue are unique, and the new space in Perth is no different, with music legends Snoop Dog, Nicki Minaj, Kanye, Rhianna, and Eminem painted on the walls.
Camera IconCult burger joint Milky Lane opens this Friday in Perth, with three more locations set to open here as early as this year. Credit: Iain Gillespie/The West Australian
“We flew over our team from Sydney to do the murals, so they were there for seven days,” said Mr. Avant.
“Our origins with everything when we started were hip-hop – it’s on all our murals … and it’s the music we play in the restaurant.”
Mr. Avant said nearly 10,000 people had booked to dine at the new location as of Tuesday evening, with the first few weeks of trading “virtually fully booked”.
“It’s the situation we expected and hoped for after such a long lead, but it’s exciting to see everything come together,” he said.
Camera Icon The Eastern States franchise welcomes customers to its new location in Perth this week. Credit: Iain Gillespie/The West Australian
Things didn’t go smoothly as COVID-19 threw a spanner in the works when building the new Perth space from the floor.
But Mr. Avant said his team was “100 percent” on track to open.
“We’ve jumped through a lot of hoops in the past 12 months with borders closed for so long – that was the biggest obstacle for us,” said Mr. Avant.
“Some of the lead builders got COVID-19 and were off for a few weeks, some things didn’t arrive or arrived late, and getting permits and liquor licenses took a little longer than expected. It feels like a time in Perth is a little slower here. †
Milky Lane opens its doors this Friday at 1 Barrack Square from 10 am to 10 pm.
