CBD workers have a new lunch and breakfast spot: Kosta’s Takeaway is opening at 25 Martin Place on Wednesday May 14.

The building formerly known as the MLC Centre is undoubtedly set to welcome queues for the cult, Greek-inspired sandwiches that propelled Kosta’s from its initial Rockdale location into Rosebery, Circular Quay, Elizabeth St and now Martin Place.

What started out as a takeaway store in southwestern Sydney during Covid has become a fully fledged brand. Founder Benji Terkalas says it’s all about putting good food in between bread. But he’s not just copying and pasting. This is a new concept. 

Credit: supplied

“What we are doing here, it’s different. It’s more of an LA food truck style with strong European flavours, hot rolls, boureka boxes and muffuletta logs all made in house,” Terkalas says. 

“The team is led by Darryl Martin, the culinary director, and Gabriel del Conti, group head chef, who is ex Love Tilly Group.” 

The new menu includes bourekas boxes for breakfast, filled with jammy eggs, tahini and condiments. Breakfast pitta wraps include tarama and bifteki (Greek baked beef patties), all washed down with caffeine by Coffee Supreme. A breakfast burrito pairs scrambled eggs with feta and oregano.

Credit: Supplied

Lunch sees hot rolls made to order, such as roast chicken with gravy – the chicken is cooked skin on, on the bone and then deboned – and steak with skordalia, a Greek garlic and potato mash. 

There’s also a 200g muffuletta log, fried Brussels sprouts with tahini, eggplant, tomato jam and green pickled tomatoes and eggplant with tomato jam, labne and pickled green tomato. 

Related story: No matter how you slice it, these are Sydney’s best sandwich shops 

Hanging for Kostas’ OG schnitty and fish finger sangas? Breathe a sigh of relief, they made the cut.

While the menu has had an upgrade, Terkalas says the brand’s DNA is the same  – “It’s still really good food in bread.” 

“We wanted to do something fun. Opening stores that are the same are great, but being a creative, it’s fun to change things up. The brief was bread is the plate, every roll we have you could put on a plate and serve it as a hot dish,” he says. 

“This one has taken it out of us, we are really excited to do something different. We don’t want to stay the same, but it’s the same DNA. Our menu is still there, it’s just done a little bit differently.”