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An Aussie institution has fallen! I have so many fond memories of family lunches at Sizzler, gorging on crispy potato skins, slabs of that famous cheese toast and DIY soft-serve sundaes with all the toppings.

After decades of the all-you-can-eat Sizzler salad buffet, this restaurant chain will close its final remaining outlets on 15 November. The writing has been on the wall for a while now as Sizzler stores have been shutting for the past few years. The final nail must have been the rise of coronavirus – buffets are pretty much outlawed in our new COVID-safe reality.

The Demise of Sizzler

In its hey-day, there were 28 Sizzler restaurants scattered throughout the country. But as peoples’ dining preferences shifted towards more sophisticated spots, Sizzler’s popularity declined. Sizzler’s holding company, Queensland-based Collins Foods, also has the Aussie rights to Taco Bell, as well as being the largest franchisee of KFC. In 2017, the company converted Australia’s first Sizzler in Annerley, Brisbane to a Taco Bell.

The Cheese Toast Legacy

But before Sizzler leaves, it has given Aussies one final farewell gift – the secret to their famous Cheese Toast.

Over the years, there have been many copycat cheese toast recipes floating around the ‘net. We even have a cheese toast recipe on Mouths of Mums.

According to Sizzler’s Cheese Toast website, the restaurant has served over 225 million slices of Cheese Toast since 1985 and each year, the chain uses over 10 tonnes of fresh Pecorino cheese to make Cheese Toast.

sizzler-cheese-toast2

Cheese Toast Recipe

Sizzler’s Don Crilly revealed the secret ingredients to 7NEWS:
“It’s two simple ingredients – margarine and pecorino cheese,” he said.

Ingredients:

Thick sliced white bread
pecorino cheese
margarine

Method:

1. Combine equal amounts of margarine with pecorino cheese and mix to create a paste.

2. Take a thick slice of fresh white bread and spread it one one side with the delicious mix of Pecorino cheese and margarine.

3. In the restaurant, the bread is toasted on a flat grill until it’s cheesy on one side and soft and chewy on the other. But at home, you can cook it in a frying pan on a low to medium heat for about 60 seconds until it’s golden brown.

Farewell Sizzler. We’ll miss you!

Do you have any memories of Sizzler and cheese toast to share? Tell us in the comments below.

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  • Such a shame…..my kids loved sizzler nights

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  • So many friends birthdays spent in sizzler as a teen, it really felt like a magical place back then.
    The potato skins were a favourite, but cheese toast, or ched bread, was the ultimate experience. I’ll have to try and make it at home, but with butter rather than margarine.

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  • This recipe l must definitely try! Thanks!

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  • I love the cheese toast!! That was the highlight of my entire meal! I tried buying the frozen ones but they just don’t cut it!

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  • I was never a fan of ‘all you can eat’ restaurants as I have never eaten much so to me it was a waste. However it is sad to see any chains of stores that have been around for a long while have to close presumably because tastes have changed. But with this last year of COVID it would have been an inevitable closure as only those who had a take-away style franchise were able to survive. Another good memory for us to remember [if we can].

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  • Thanks for leaving the recipe and farewell sizzlers, this will add as a great starter dish to any party or even a late night snack, yum!

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  • The closest store to us was originally Pizza Hut then it converted to Sizzlers now it’s used for Tai Kwan Do. Will miss Sizzlers but thank you for leaving us with a special gift. Hopefully when I make the Cheese Toast I can get it close to the real deal.

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  • Awesome! I will be trying this!

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  • We have great memories of good times spent at Sizzler and am gutted that they no longer exist!

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  • Never had this type of cheese before…now I’m keen to try and see the difference between that and other cheeses

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  • Really? Margarine and cheese, I thought there was more to it than that….well, pecorino is nice. But yes, sad to see go


    • Yes pecorino is a lovely cheese !

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  • OMG I totally remember this. It was soooo good. I did not even realize Sizzler was still around, but appreciate in this day and age the issues that may present itself with the sharing of food in such an open environment. I did love Sizzler, particularly the potato skins and the bottomless ice cream.

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  • So many businesses have been closing… This is such a good way for them to be remembered and memories be carries on

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  • This was delicious so sad to see them go.

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  • I’m sad to see Sizzler go, we always went there for family lunch or dinners. The atmosphere was always welcoming and busy. So many families enjoying a Sunday together. I can’t wait to try the recipe out and hopefully the outcome will be the same. Thank you for the memories Sizzler you are surely going to be missed.

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  • Especially initially they really tried to have a good buffet selection and quality, and customers behaving badly could impact this a lot. What a scoop regarding the delicious cheesy toast, and so simple; and a lovely parting gift.

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  • I saw this on my Google news this morning. I’ve never tried it but it looks tasty

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  • I’m gonna miss sizzler, but can understand why it couldn’t last forever. It’s not the sort of place you can afford to go often. I did work experience at sizzler in year 10 and had a cool time. One of my jobs was to make the mix and spread the bread for the toast…. I was pretty sure it was butter, not margarine tho – could be a case of sketchy memory! going out to buy pecorino for old times sake

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  • I remember waiting in line for ages to get in and a server would come out with free cheese toasties to curb people’s hunger and it was soOoo good!
    Yummm! Such a shame they’re closing but there’s not enough around to gain traction.

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  • We just loved Sizzler and whenever we visited Campbelltown that was the first place we went to. So very sad that they have to close. We love all you can eat – the best.

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