The best charcoal chicken shops in Sydney

This Kogarah eatery is super popular for good reason. This place offers up some specials you won't find elsewhere... for instance, order a Hariri whole chicken and it'll come wrapped in a flat bread that soaks up all the juicy chickeny goodness (a masterstroke!). You'll also find delicious side dishes like molokhiya with chicken (a type of Lebanese stew), Lebanese pepper rice with chicken, and eggplant and cheese melt (drool). It's all good.

Portuguese chicken gets all the attention, but we say Lebanese chicken is the top of the pops. At this Dulwich Hill local, the barbecuey flavour of the charred skin carries all the way through the meat – so although their garlic sauce is *chef's kiss*, there's plenty of flavour without it. It's a popular spot, so the chicken never sits there for long. The salad's always nice and fresh, too. Finish with a side of neon Lebanese pickles and you've got yourself a lunch of legends.

The smell of Granville is surely chicken skin charring to a smoky crisp as fat drips and sizzles onto glowing charcoal below. Hawa Charcoal Chicken is an expansive eatery specialising in barbecue chicken, Lebanese-style. Garlic sauce is mandatory, with pickles, flat bread, falafel and tabouli on their mammoth mixed plates.

Cooked over searingly hot charcoals ensures that Liverpool's finest chooks stay juicy on the inside and blistered and crisp on the outside. Al Barekah is no frills and no fuss, and the super soft pita they stuff the chicken into means for a one-stop-shop when the cravings for salty, smoky chicken, carbs, and tangy pickles strike.

The OG Frango, in Petersham, was so popular – people would drive to this Inner West haunt from all over Sydney to cure a hangover – that there are now Frango stores popping up all around Sydney. Think Bella Vista, Concord, Drummoyne, Edmondson Park, Gregory Hills, Penrith, Smithfield, Marrickville – and now the CBD! They've been perfecting their butterflied and charcoal-grilled chicken over 30 years. It's also loved for its chicken burgers, lathered with mayo, as well as chilli sauce if you like it spicy.

For over 20 years, Revesby gem Awafi has been serving up free-range charcoal roasted chooks with all the best Lebanese trimmings. Crisp burnished chicken skin, bright-pink pickles and generations-old garlic sauce all served up in biodegradable packaging; this is deliciousness with a conscience.

One of the original heavyweights in the Sydney chicken game, El Jannah has been kicking since 1998. The unbeatable garlic sauce is its selling point here – that and a price point that means dinner for two here is less than a wine and a bar snack many other places. It's no wonder they're popping up all over Sydney.

Petersham is the traditional enclave of Sydney's Portuguese community, and Silvas is a well-kept secret outside of the area (Frango gets a lot of the limelight). But this unassuming eatery is a charcoal chicken gem. Locals can pop in to grab some to take away for good vibes and juicy, juicy chook. 

Chicken chain, Chargrill Charlie's, has been in the chicken game for a while, and it's amassed a cult following of its own through its 16 stores spread across Sydney and Melbourne. Grab extra-large chickens, a half or quarter chook, or the classic – a chicken and chip pack.

Crown Street's vibey Lebanese charcoal chicken shop, Henrietta, combines fast-casual dining with a little touch of fancy. From the team behind nearby Middle Eastern eatery Nour, Henrietta is dishing up Middle Eastern-style chook (best eaten with a wrap and a slather of garlic sauce) and a selection of bread, dips, pickles and salads.

Their Beaumont Hills and Box Hill locations are where you can get your fill of one of Sydney's finest Portuguese-style chickens. Housemade peri peri sauce gives the free range chicken a kick that you're gonna want more of.

Clem's Chicken Shop is a mainstay of the Newtown community, providing much needed hangover food for the uni crews, a quick dinner for families on the run, and comforting nostalgia for anyone who grew up with a local chicken shop in their neighbourhood and fueled teenage antics with spicy fried drumsticks and a can of Coke.

If Texan flavours are more your thang, head over to Five Dock, where Texas Charcoal Chicken serves up flame-kissed deliciousness. They've been using the same recipe for generations – since 1986 – and cook over natural wood charcoal.