Food News: Macca’s is returning to North Sydney, and we’re lovin’ it!

By ANNA USHER

It’s been a long time since locals have enjoyed a Big Mac in North Sydney.

When Australia’s most popular fast-food chain opened at 51 Mount St in January 1986, Bob Hawke was Prime Minister, INXS stormed the charts, and Aussies everywhere were glued to Crocodile Dundee on the big screen.

Located in a heritage bank building, the restaurant operated for over a decade on the corner of the Pacific Highway. Eventually, it fell victim to the changing face of North Sydney in the late 1990s.

“With no drive-thru service and the death of nightclubs like Metropolis, Sheila’s and Blueberries, it meant there was no trade after about 5 pm,” resident and keen foodie Peter Hardy told Mosman Collective this week, “and when the after-school rush was over each weekday, the cash registers fell silent.”

But all of that is about to change, thanks to the arrival of Sydney’s long-awaited Metro in 2024.

In North Sydney, the new Victoria Cross precinct has announced its first line-up of hospitality venues, which will include a Golden Arches outlet at the Miller St hub.

Also slated are cultish Marrickville Pork Roll, Crows Nest’s Only Coffee Project, award-winning Top Impression bakery, Sushi Hub, DOPA, North Sandwiches, Machi Machi – and the first Mary’s burger joint north of the bridge.

The news comes amid a North Sydney food renaissance, thanks to first rate venues like Poetica, Loulou Bistro, Rafi and Glorietta opening over the past two years.

We’re told 20 food and drink operators will launch at the $1.2 billion development, 13 of them opening next year, with seven remaining retailers set to open in 2025.

“Victoria Cross is going to bring a new wave of hospitality to North Sydney – we are going to see a little bit of Newtown and a bit of Haymarket along with Sydney CBD icons joining some of the best from the North side of the bridge,” Jessica Paterson, Lendlease Victoria Cross Project Director, said.

At the heart of it all is Victoria Cross Tower, a 42-storey office building accommodating 7,000 workers across 58,000 sqm of hi-tech, flexible, premium-grade office space, boosting North Sydney’s economic potential.

The development underpins the ‘North Sydney Vision 2040’ Community Strategic Plan that identifies the need for additional public domain, green space, pedestrianised laneways, and quality amenities to support the growth in workers and residents over the coming decades, Ms Paterson said.