Everyone has their road trip traditions. Whether it’s stopping off to see Nessy at Lochiel when you’re on your way up north, or popping a certain CD in for the drive.
But one thing every family, couple, and person needs out on the road is a good feed.
South Aussies love a bakery stop – and we’re not here to dispute that but instead reveal a lesser-known gem for your roadtrip feast — the servo.
We’ve pulled together a list of some of South Australia’s best regional petrol stations that you HAVE to stop off at on your next road trip, whether you’re looking for the state’s best chicken nuggets or a premium steak.
Liberty 24 Seven Port Wakefield – Krunchy Chicken
You’re heading north, but it may be a bit early to fill up. Doesn’t matter. You’re going to need to pull into the first petrol station on your left when heading into Port Wakefield or run the risk of missing out on some of Australia’s best nuggets.
Big thick pieces of chicken, ripping hot, drippingly juicy, salted to perfection — this is not your regular fast food chicken nugget.
Nicholas Karalis is the operations manager at the station, and has been running it with his brother for the last 15 years.
The petrol station was started by Mr Karalis’ grandparents and has been passed down the generations, only growing in what it serves up.
But why do the nuggets rate so highly?
“Well, we pride ourselves on cooking fresh real food,” he said.
“We’re not another franchise fast food chain. What sets the nuggets apart is it’s 100 per cent breast chicken that we actually batter in house. Our staff do it themselves and it’s done fresh everyday.”
The nuggets are called Krunchy Chicken, and it’s not just the thick, juicy chunks, but the chicken comes in burger form, wraps, and even salads. All of which can be cooked up 24/7.
Site manager Kim has worked at the station for more than three decades and said what really sets the nuggets apart was the “secret recipe” used in cooking and seasoning them.
She refused to give in and reveal even some of the secret ingredients, saying instead if you’re looking for the best you’ll have to head out to Port Wakefield.
Kim said people had come from far and wide just for the nuggets.
Mitch Young and Mabel Combe, both 18, were on their way from Adelaide to the Yorke Peninsula when they pulled in for fuel and a feed.
Mr Young is a regular, saying it was a “staple” to stop off for nuggets when heading through town, while Ms Combe was a first timer.
Giving them a try she said they were the best in South Australia.
But Port Wakefield isn’t the only place serving up Krunchy Chicken, Mr Karalis also manages petrol stations at Blanchetown and Keith.
Krunchy Chicken at one petrol station in Keith, Country Fried Chicken at another, Mr Karalis said it was like Port and Crows, “you support the team that you like the most, but you’ll always stop in at one”.
Keith Ampol – Country Fried Chicken
The rival. But scrumptious in its own right. Keith Ampol is run by Tereena and Richard Wilsdon and has become a popular stop for cross-border travellers and truckies alike.
Ms Wilsdon said she took over the business from her parents about 10 years — 20 years after it was first started — and ventured deeper into the world of food.
About three years before the Wilsdons took over, Crunchy Fried Chicken entered the scene, but it took a while to get going.
Since then, it’s become one of the most widely raved about service station stop-offs for a feed.
“We’ve got an open kitchen out the front so customers can actually see what we do,” she said.
“We’re doing it out the front, putting out good quality food, with friendly staff, it really does sell itself.”
Chantelle Packham has managed the business for nine years and said what made the chicken special was it was made by real people with real ingredients.
On a quiet day, the Keith petrol station chews threw about 3,600 chicken breasts, Ms Packham said.
“A lot of travellers are stopping in just for the chicken, not even the petrol,” she said.
“And a lot more truckies than ever are coming in too because we also cater for them with meal deals and other stuff as well.”
Referencing the fried chicken rivalry in Keith, Ms Packham said it was good to have another business in town, but “we do our thing, and they do their thing”, and that the “people will decide”.
Ampol Roadhouse Clare – Curry
It’s probably the last thing you’d expect to find being served up at a petrol station, but in recent years there’s been a significant growth in popularity of roadhouse curries.
Up in Clare, the Ampol Roadhouse is an award-winning example of the quality curries you can get from regional servos in SA.
Owner Veer Atwal moved into the business 12 years ago, and within months started cooking up takeaway curries.
“It was a very different concept. Not many people were doing it and the thing is, people all want one stop for everything in one place at one time,” Mr Atwal said.
“So we thought we might offer them a little bit more than just the petrol. And we’ve got high quality service too, it’s more like dine in quality food.”
Mr Atwal said curry was not a “fast food or junk food” but a quite healthy option.
He said the most popular purchase was butter chicken, which “is an Australian curry anyway”, but it was hard to actually pick the best of the bunch, citing the vindaloo and rogan josh among the best.
“There’s a lot of popularity about it and it’s just taking off,” he said.
“The food brings us together. It brings communities together and if something is good, it doesn’t matter what it is, it doesn’t matter if it’s Chinese or Italian, I’ll go and eat it.
“It really does bring people in small regional towns who have less options to go out and eat together.”
Snowtown Roadhouse – Curry
Not too far from Clare is Snowtown – and they too are serving up delicious curries straight from the servo.
Happy Singh, 29, started working at the Mid North petrol station just one year ago and said he has been blown away by the popularity of takeaway curries.
Snowtown Roadhouse started serving curries more than a decade ago and Mr Singh said people “absolutely love it”.
“We’ve got heaps of regulars coming through, mostly truck drivers, but everyone loves it,” he said.
Mr Singh said it was great to see so many Indian families working around regional South Australia, sharing their culture and traditional family recipes.
“It’s a really good opportunity for people to go out and start their own businesses,” he said.
“They’re good at cooking it, and if you’re looking to start something new you always go looking for what you’re good at and confident in.
“And people are also making a really good profit in it, and serving good food.”
At Snowtown, Mr Singh said the most popular curries on offer were the beef vindaloo, lamb madras, and, of course, the butter chicken.
Streaky Bay Shell – Curry
All the way on the west coast, in the small petrol station with the big shark, there’s more tasty curry to be had.
Tarlochen Singh said there was a very small Indian community in Streaky Bay, and in much of the west coast, but the food had become a welcome addition to the small town.
The 38-year-old director of Streaky Bay Shell started working at the petrol station in 2018, and worked his way up into management and last year directorship.
Mr Singh said tourists from around South Australia, and the nation, travel to Streaky Bay and when they fill up on petrol they’re often pleasantly surprised to find an array of curries on offer.
“It was good to sort of introduce something new to Streaky Bay, which is a big tourist town, and the food is actually quite popular,” he said.
Butter chicken is again the most popular menu choice, Mr Singh said, but that curry was actually a small part of the puzzle when it came to the feasts sold at the petrol station.
“We really do everything. We have burgers, we do pizzas and other hot food like chicken nuggets, steaks, fish and chips baskets, we sell it all here,” he said.
“We’ve also got fresh sandwiches, all the snacks you want to buy like a normal petrol station, we have everything.”
Spud’s at Pimba – Pub feed
There’s curries and fried chicken when you’re on the road, but all the way up in Pimba, nearly 500km from Adelaide, you’ll find Spud’s.
Though they may not specifically serve up their assumed namesake, Spud’s has become an iconic South Aussie roadhouse known for its great food.
Once designed as a ‘50s American diner — to cater to international visitors to the Woomera Airfield — it has evolved into a servo that sells classic pub fare.
Brad and Erin Scofield have managed the business for two-and-a-half years and said being so remote and on the road up the guts of Australia brought in thousands of visitors every year.
“We do steaks, so rumps, t-bone, scotch, also pork chops, seafood baskets, a big chicken schnitzel every Saturday night, and the burgers are the bigger things we do too,” Mr Scofield said.
Their big, stacked up, triple-decker burger with bacon and a big handful of chips is certainly not what you’d expect from your everyday roadhouse.
But, Mr Scofield said it was a welcome feast for many travellers heading to the Top End.
He said between Easter and October there’s between “30 and 40 caravans parked up here every night, and all the rooms are fully booked out”.
On top of good food, you can also sleep off your food coma in a hotel room at Spud’s.
Mr Scofield said a really big thing for him out in Pimba was that the closest other service stations were at Roxby Downs (85km) or Port Augusta (175km).
Being so far away, he said it was all about giving everyone the best they can get, and a lot more than just fuel.
Coober Pedy Shell – Greek cuisine
The Shell at Coober Pedy is an odd combination of a petrol station and a celebrated Greek restaurant.
Yanni Pantelis, 47, owns the roadhouse and attached Outback Bar and Grill with his two brothers Chris and Alex – the trio taking over from their parents in 2008.
In 2013 the two separate businesses became one.
“Everyone raves about the 400 gram souvlaki which is a massive chicken thigh or lamb and comes with chips, Greek salad and a side of tzatziki, so that’s really our signature dish,” Mr Pantelis said.
“But we’ve also got a rotisserie yiros, and I’ve never heard of a roadhouse having one of those, so we do yiros wraps, open plate yiros, AB packs and all sorts of other things.”
On top of all that, they also serve up a marble score nine wagyu steak.
It’s not just VIP grade beef at the Coober Pedy Shell, but through the years there’s been many VIP visitors too, dating all the way back to the business’ formation.
Mr Pantelis’ parents moved to the remote town in 1974, and his dad ran Kipros Auto Repairs, becoming the impromptu mechanic for Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, which was filmed up in Coober Pedy.
Shortly after that the petrol station was bought, and since then many famous faces making films in the red desert have popped in for a feed.
“Vin Diesel came up and had his birthday up here at the Greek community hall, but we also had Val Kilmer filming Red Planet, Keith David as well, and Benjamin Bratt,” Mr Pantelis said.
“We said at the time, ‘this Vin Diesel do you reckon he’s going to be very famous’, and we said ‘nah’. Next minute Fast and Furious came out and we were really regretting not getting a signature then.”
Captain Kirk himself William Shatner also stopped in for a feed and some fuel while filming at Coober Pedy.
The roadhouse is currently gearing up for its biggest influx of visitors for the year with the Finke Desert Race at the beginning of June.
Mr Pantelis said it was great for business, and gave people an opportunity to get some top tier food straight from the servo.
Extracted in full from: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/food-wine/the-secret-stops-on-your-south-aussie-roadtrip-or-holiday/news-story/063295de33dca7e51835e3825e7c4c32
