The Hector’s Deli menu truly is all killer, no filler.

An oversized chicken schnitzel on an undersized potato bun. A doubly cheesy HCT with
mozzarella and provolone, mortadella, and tomato chutney. And a banger beef and pickles beckoning to be souped up with cheese and the signature Hectic sauce. Icons.

They’ve kept Melburnians lining up since Hector’s first opened in Richmond in 2017, then South Melbourne in 2021.

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Now owner Dom Wilton has pushed further north, opening a third venue in the former site of Shannon Martinez’s pioneering vegan Smith & Deli on Moor Street in Fitzroy. “Shannon’s a friend … and when I thought about opening Hector’s on the north side, I always said I wanted something exactly like Smith & Deli,” Wilton told Broadsheet earlier this year. “I didn’t want it to be right on a main street, it had to be character-filled, with a pre-existing sense of community.”

What he’s created is schmick and spacious, with some sangas new to the Hector’s repertoire.

As well as all the OGs, the already well-oiled machine is doing a better-than-Macca’s breakfast offering of decadent egg-and-cheese muffins with the option to add on bacon or sausage. Plus, Wilton has entered Melbourne’s competitive salad-sandwich arena with a vegan contender that pays homage to the spot’s plant-based origins: fluffy, thick-cut, house-baked rye is slathered with a saucy, slightly spicy chickpea mix and stacked with beetroot, carrot, cucumber and lettuce.

There’s also what could very well be the (non-alcoholic) drink of the summer. Riffing on coffee tonic, it’s an iced coffee spritz that hits the sweet spot by blending cold brew and lemony soda in a perfect ratio. Caffeine hit. Thirst quencher. Downright delicious.

Working with front-running local interior-design firm Hecker Guthrie, Wilton has reimagined the space but retained the graffitied red-brick exterior. It’s all stainless steel, timber, and red and white detailing, with a dozen or so bench seats to perch at.

Hector’s Deli Fitzroy
111 Moor Street, Fitzroy

Hours:
Daily 7am–3pm

hectorsdeli.com.au