Smoke, Skin and Salad: Highett Charcoal Chicken, Bayside’s Free-Range Favourite

On Highett Road, the first thing that greets you is the smell. Not the generic fryer fog of a chain takeaway, but the proper, old-fashioned scent of chicken turning slowly over natural wood charcoal. Highett Charcoal Chicken has been feeding this stretch of Bayside for years with Lillydale free-range birds, generous packs, Greek-inspired gyros and a salad bar that locals treat as a weekly ritual. It is the sort of suburban chicken shop Melbourne still does better than almost anywhere else: family-run, charcoal-first, and quietly serious about doing the simple things well.

The shop on Highett Road

Highett Village is one of those Bayside strips that still feels like a proper neighbourhood high street. At number 505 you’ll find Highett Charcoal Chicken — sometimes listed as Highett Free Range Charcoal Chicken — a takeaway that has built its reputation on two things: genuine charcoal cooking and free-range chicken.

The team cooks over natural wood charcoal and has more than 30 years’ experience in the craft. That matters. Charcoal is not a marketing word here; it is the method. Birds spend their time on the rotisserie until the skin is lacquered and the meat stays succulent. Regulars talk about flavour that holds up even after you’ve driven it home — the test that separates a good chook shop from a forgettable one.

Lillydale Select free-range chicken is the house standard. Whole birds, halves and quarters are available on their own or built into packs with chips, salads and a drink. A whole gluten-free free-range chicken sits on the board as a staple, not a special-order afterthought.

What to order

The menu is broader than “chicken and chips”, though that combination remains the shop’s beating heart.

The charcoal chicken is the reason most people walk through the door. Skin with proper colour and snap, meat that pulls cleanly from the bone, and seasoning that tastes of chicken rather than a packet. Packs range from a simple chicken-and-chips deal through to family and “rooster” packs built for the table at home.

Chips are a local talking point in their own right. There is a dedicated gluten-free fryer, which is why coeliac diners keep coming back. Reviews from people who live with coeliac disease or wheat allergy consistently praise the shop for treating cross-contamination as a real issue rather than a footnote. Several note that the owner understands coeliac life from the inside, and that the chips, roast chicken, gyros meat and a large share of the salads can be ordered with confidence.

The salad bar is one of the better suburban displays you’ll see: chicken Caesar, seafood salad, pasta salads, tabouli, coleslaw, beetroot and more, labelled and portioned so you can build a plate or a pack without guesswork. Eight of the twelve salads are routinely described as gluten-free.

Greek and Hellenic favourites sit alongside the classic Aussie chook-shop line-up. Gyros and souvlaki, lamb or chicken gyros meat by the tray, pita, dips and sauces, and the HSP — the Hellenic snack pack of chips, cheese, meat, chilli and garlic sauce — are all regular sellers. Open Greek gyros packs and schnitzel burger combos give the menu enough range for a Friday night feed or a midweek “I can’t face cooking” dinner.

There are also gym-style grilled breast packs, Hawaiian packs with pineapple fritters, scallop potato packs, peas and gravy, and family packs designed to feed a household without anyone going hungry.

Why locals keep coming back

Highett Charcoal Chicken is not trying to be a concept restaurant. It is trying to be the place you ring when the week has run away from you and you still want dinner that tastes like someone cared.

Customers on delivery apps and review sites come back to the same words: fresh, succulent, generous, friendly. Uber Eats lists the shop at 4.7 from well over two thousand ratings. People mention Nick and the team by name. They mention the chicken that “takes the cake” after they’ve tried other charcoal shops across the east and south-east. They mention feeling safe if they need gluten-free food.

That combination — proper charcoal flavour, free-range birds, a salad bar that is actually worth eating, and a kitchen that understands coeliac customers — is rarer than it should be. It is also why the shop still sells out on busy evenings. When the rotisserie is empty, it is empty. That is usually a good sign.

A neighbourhood takeaway with a Greek accent

Australian and Greek flags sit behind the counter. Gyros meat is portioned in foil trays marked small, medium and large, with gluten-free stickers where they belong. Tomato, garlic and peri-peri sauces are lined up ready to go. The shop sits comfortably in that Melbourne tradition of Greek and Mediterranean families who turned charcoal chicken into a suburban institution — then kept the quality high enough that the next generation still queues.

It is takeaway first, with delivery through the usual apps, phone orders, and the occasional outdoor seat. Families, after-work regulars and coeliac households all use it as a default. That is the brief a good local chicken shop should meet.

Practical details

Highett Charcoal Chicken
505 Highett Road, Highett VIC 3190

Phone: (03) 9532 2924

Instagram: @highettcharcoalchicken
Facebook: Highett Charcoal Chicken

Typical hours (always check before you travel — they can vary slightly):
Monday: Closed
Tuesday–Saturday: 10:30am – 8:00pm
Sunday: around 11:00am/11:30am – 7:30pm/8:00pm

Also listed on: Uber Eats and DoorDash

Whether you want a whole free-range bird for Sunday, an HSP after work, or a gluten-free chicken-and-chips pack you can actually trust, Highett Charcoal Chicken is the Bayside address that still cooks the old way — over charcoal, from their family to yours.