Iconic 90s buffet restaurant Sizzler announces Sydney comeback, complete with cheese bread

After a six-year hiatus, '80s and '90s dining icon Sizzler is returning to Sydney.

Minor Hotels has announced plans to relaunch the brand later this year, debuting at the new NH Collection Hotel located at Sydney Airport.

The revival isn't limited to a single location. Reports indicate a broader national rollout is in the works, primarily integrated into other NH Collection properties.

Standalone Sizzler restaurants are also being considered.

Sizzler was known for its signature steaks as well as its all-you-can-eat salad and dessert bars which featured their iconic cheese bread, potato skins, chocolate mousse and jelly squares.

Collins Foods Limited owned and operated Sizzler in Australia from 1985 until November 2020.

The family friendly restaurant chain was already in decline when the COVID pandemic finished it off.

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Sizzler first opened in Annerley, Brisbane, in 1985 before rolling out across the country, peaking in the '90s with 83 locations at its peak.

Business began to wain in the 2000s as Sizzler faced stiff competition as well as a perception that they had become outdated.

The chain experienced a significant reduction in locations by 2015, with only 26 remaining before closing the final nine locations in 2020.

In its statement to shareholders, Collins Foods said the performance of the remaining Sizzler restaurants had been under "constant review" since 2015, from which the firm decided the one-time family favourite was no longer "core to the Company's strategic growth".

The Coffee Club, which is owned by Minor Hotels' subsidiary group Minor DKL Food Group, partnered with Sizzler in July 2024 to bring back the iconic Sizzler Cheese Toast to all Australian locations for a limited, two-week run. The toast was priced at $4.99 for two slices.

This collaboration followed a one-night-only pop-up event in Brisbane and was clearly a winner for the business and has lead to this latest news.

Soon, fans will be able to enjoy Sizzler cheese toast and so much more.

Sizzler fans are delighted the restaurant is making a return.

"Every year on my birthday my parents would take us to Sizzler and it was always SO exciting," one Sizzler lover told nine.com.au.

"We weren't allowed to order off the menu, only the salad bar/buffet. But my brother and I would make ourselves sick off potato skins then go back for dessert and make the most disgusting ice cream concoctions.

Another shared: "The self serve ice cream station hated to see me coming. I used to fill my bowl to the absolute brim then jam sprinkles and wafers on top.

"No wonder I have digestive issues as an adult. Formative childhood experience tho!"

One Sizzler lover described their experiences at the restaurant as "magic".

"I was obsessed with the cheese toast, it was my favourite thing about Sizzler!! Every time I went there I wanted to eat as much cheese toast as possible with a bowl of pumpkin soup and some potato skins.

"As a kid Sizzler was a magic place to go, where you could eat whatever you wanted (but only the buffet, although as a kid I didn't even process that there was a menu haha).

"I remember one time when I was in primary school and I went there with some friends for a birthday party and we loved mixing the different soft drinks together to make weird combinations, and mixing just about everything at the dessert bar."

Another credits the restaurant chain with introducing them to new foods.

"I'd never even tried potato skins and chocolate mousse before in my life, but when I first visited Sizzler as a teenager for a friend's birthday, I was obsessed. I ate so much of it!"

"I am so excited for the iconic SIZZLER CHEESE TOAST to be back - it is so impossibly hard to recreate at home!!" added another.

While the final food line up isn't yet know, it is hoped that all of our favourite menu items will be on offer.

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