It’s been a rocky few weeks since Skinnys Grill opened its second Australian franchise in mid-December in Wollongong.
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Taking over the former Beach Burrito site in Globe Lane, owner James Mikutowski is optimistic they’ll iron out the “teething errors”.
The three-level restaurant has only this week been granted a liquor licence.
While a number of customers have vented frustrations on social media about the quality of the food and the service at the “low carb” eatery, one of whom was told they had run out of sweet potato chips because of a “world shortage”.
“All those things we’ve dealt with in house, we’ve taken the feedback on board, I’ve personally spoken with these people who haven’t had the best experience and tried to rectify that,” Mr Mikutowski said.
“It’s a new restaurant, new staff.”
The former Harvey Norman Flooring franchisee was also confident about the location, despite Beach Burrito failing in the large corner site.
“Perosnally I really like Globe Lane, it’s one of those parts of Wollongong that is on the up. Being such a big sight we kind of saw more potential, we will be using all three levels,” he said.
He said downstairs will be the common bar area; the mid level will be the main floor of the restaurant with a sports bar meets backyard BBQ feel; the top floor will be uitilised for predominantly functions.
A burger and chips at Skinnys will set the average punter back between $15 and $18, seemingly in competition with Grill’d Healthy Burgers on Crown Street.
Mr Mikutowski said their staff included cooks, not chefs, as the large majority of the food is prepared off site. He said this was to ensure young people who applied for a job were not discriminated against because of their inexperience.
The Shellharbour local and father of two said their rounded low-carb bun was the eatery’s point of difference and similar to those found in the US.