A humble side dish has become the star of the show with a new self-serve concept taking a beachside town and the internet by storm.
The new store has gone viral on social media for its “world first” loaded fries offering, similar to popular weigh and pay frozen yoghurt bars.
Chip n’ Mix has opened on Noosa’s Hastings Street giving a fresh take on the classic fries.
The brainchild of Noosa locals Rhi Pearce, Josh Leach, Ysabella Buckley-Tyree and Lisa Tyree, Chip n’ Mix lets customers build their own loaded fries with a rotating selection of locally sourced toppings.
“We created Chip n’ Mix because no one else had,” Ms Pearce said.
“We wanted a place where you could build your dream-loaded fries, so we made it happen: Hastings Street was the perfect location for us.”
The concept works by starting with a base of hot chips from a self-serve dispenser specially invented for the store.
Customers then head to the topping bar to load up with ingredients like pulled beef, crunchy fried chicken, house-made guacamole and pico de gallo.
Ms Buckley-Tyree said everything was designed to be customisable, fast, and high quality.
“Freshness and quality were always the deal-breakers for us,” she said.
“We’ve teamed up with some amazing local suppliers to make sure every topping hits.
“It’s still surreal to think about the fact that we actually invented a chip machine to pull this off.”
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Mr Leach said the team had been working hard behind the scenes to perfect the concept, from testing chip cuts to engineering the self-serve flow.
“We tried so many different chips before we found the right one.
“We tested more fries than I’d care to admit.
“It had to be crispy, hold up under the toppings and still taste amazing on its own.”
The store opened last weekend, with people lined up along Hastings Street to try it for themselves.
Ms Tyree said it was “wild” to see their hard work so well received.
She said the chips sold out within a few hours on the first day and the store went viral on TikTok.
“Opening weekend was wild – in the best way,” Ms Tyree said.
“We’ve put so much love into this, and to see people loving it from day one was pretty special.”
Chip n’ Mix is located at 8 Hastings Street, Noosa Heads.
