Coming Soon: Macgregor’s Original Smash Burgers Are Heading West

Macgregor’s Original opened in Abbotsford in early 2026. Founded by powerlifting coach Macgregor McNair, entrepreneur Aaron Savrone and chef Laura Boulton, the corner shop has gained a following for its smash burgers and beef tallow fries. Less than a year after opening, Macgregor’s will open a west-side outpost on Ballarat Street in Yarraville.

“Aaron goes to the Sun Theatre in Yarraville all the time with his mates,” McNair says. “He’s always telling us that strip on Ballarat Street is pumping, particularly in summer and when there’s movies on at the theatre, it’s a fantastic vibe.”

He says the trio had discussed plans to capitalise on Abbotsford’s momentum and expand somewhere else in Melbourne. When a space opened up across the street from the Sun Theatre, things fell into place.

“This space was a pho restaurant beforehand. There’s an existing kitchen and we’ve just had to shift a few things around,” he says. “We also had heaps of feedback from people in the west who said they’d love to try our food but couldn’t be arsed heading east, so the combination of everything with this Yarraville space jumped out at us for all the right reasons.”

The new space is 90 square metres and will serve the same menu as the original, plus booze. There won’t be any taps, but you’ll be able to knock back cans of beer with your burger. The fit-out will be similarly casual as at the Abbotsford original, with some small changes.

“The Abbotsford milk bar is a bit of a unicorn,” McNair says. “Yarraville will still lean into nostalgia, it’s a nice old building we’ve got here, but we don’t want to do the exact same thing as the original.

“We’re going to try everything initially and see what works, see how we can slot into the community here. We’ve been so lucky that the original spot has gone better than we ever could have imagined, so to be able to open in an area with a similar demographic on the west side of town is super exciting for us.”

Macgregor’s Original will open at 3 Ballarat Street, Yarraville, in mid-October.