Correction (3 October 2026): an earlier version of this page listed places and details we could not stand behind. It has been rewritten from scratch: every place below was confirmed at two independent sources on 2 October 2026.
This is a short list of places in and around Craigieburn South that are not national chain names. We have not checked who owns any of them, so “non-chain” here means only that none is a big brand you would already know from a drive-thru sign. What each one has is a public listing, an address, and in most cases a line or two about itself, and that is all this page leans on.
No Craigieburn South address belongs to any of the five, which makes this an “in and around” list: Craigieburn has three, Merrifield City in Mickleham has one, and Kalkallo has one. We captured no prices for any of them on 2 October 2026, so the page prints none.
The quick picks
| If you’re after | Head to | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Vietnamese food inside Craigieburn Central | VHM Bros Vietnamese Restaurant | Shop C19, Craigieburn Central, 340 Craigieburn Road, Craigieburn |
| A Middle Eastern menu with late hours listed | Shisha Basha | 340 Craigieburn Road (Craigieburn Central, Main Street), Craigieburn |
| A menu that states its meat is halal certified | The Tandoori Joint | Shop 14, 270 Donnybrook Road (Merrifield City), Mickleham |
| A cafe listed as pet-friendly | Dwyer Street Cafe | Corner Dwyer Street & Design Way, Kalkallo |
| Takeaway ordered online | SandwichWali | 12 Walters Street, Craigieburn |
VHM Bros Vietnamese Restaurant — Shop C19, Craigieburn Central, 340 Craigieburn Road, Craigieburn VIC 3064
Craigieburn Central’s directory lists VHM Bros Vietnamese Food and says it invites you to experience the flavours and dishes of Vietnam, and the Australian Good Food Guide files it under Vietnamese. We found no website of its own for it, so those two listings are the whole record. They do not agree on opening times, so call ahead rather than trust either.
The tell: AGFG gives the address as Shop C19/340 Craigieburn Road, which is a shop number inside Craigieburn Central rather than a street frontage.
Shisha Basha — 340 Craigieburn Road (Craigieburn Central, Main Street), Craigieburn VIC 3064
Craigieburn Central’s directory says Shisha Basha “is all about Middle Eastern Cuisine”, and AGFG lists it as Middle Eastern as well. The centre’s directory shows 11:00am - 12:30am every day, while AGFG’s listing carries different hours, so the two do not agree on closing time. We found no website of its own and no prices, so the menu is something to read on arrival.
On the record: the centre places it on Main Street within Craigieburn Central, and both listings carry the same 340 Craigieburn Road address.
The Tandoori Joint — Shop 14, 270 Donnybrook Road (Merrifield City), Mickleham VIC 3064
The restaurant’s own site says “All our meat is 100% halal certified”, mentions vegetarian plates, and says “Grab a seat, stay a while, or take it home”. It lists MONDAY - SUNDAY 12:00PM - 10:00PM, while Merrifield City’s directory lists Monday as 10:00 am - 11:00 pm, so the two disagree and it is worth checking the day. “Tandoori” refers to food cooked in a tandoor, a clay oven; the menu page we fetched loaded no readable text, so we cannot say what is cooked that way here.
Find it: Shop 14 at Merrifield City, 270 Donnybrook Road, Mickleham.
Dwyer Street Cafe — Corner Dwyer Street & Design Way, Kalkallo VIC 3064
Zest, a venue directory, places Dwyer Street Café at the corner of Dwyer Street and Design Way in Kalkallo and says its pet-friendly environment lets the whole family unwind together. That is the directory’s wording rather than the cafe’s, so ask the cafe before you bring a dog. OpenStreetMap spells the name “Dyer Street Cafe”; the other two listings we read, Zest and Curateria, spell it Dwyer. We found no website of its own, and the two directories give different hours, so we print none.
Find it: the corner of Dwyer Street and Design Way, which Zest describes as overlooking Cloverton’s inclusive adventure playground.
SandwichWali — 12 Walters Street, Craigieburn VIC 3064
SandwichWali’s own site gives its address as 12 Walters St, Craigieburn, and titles its menu page “Order Takeaway Online”; AGFG lists it as Indian. When we read its ordering page on 2 October 2026 it said online ordering was closed at that moment, and we found no opening hours we could trust, so we print none; check before you plan a trip. We captured no prices.
The tell: it is a street address, 12 Walters Street, rather than a shop number inside a centre.
Quick answers
Are there lesser-known places in Craigieburn South itself?
None of the five places on this page has a Craigieburn South address. Three are in Craigieburn, one is at Merrifield City in Mickleham and one is in Kalkallo, each confirmed at two sources on 2 October 2026.
Which of these list late opening hours?
Craigieburn Central’s directory lists Shisha Basha as open 11:00am - 12:30am every day, and AGFG’s listing carries different hours, so check the closing time before a late visit. The Tandoori Joint’s own site lists MONDAY - SUNDAY 12:00PM - 10:00PM, and Merrifield City’s directory lists Monday as 10:00 am - 11:00 pm.
Can I check prices for these places before I go?
We captured no prices for any of the five on 2 October 2026. The Tandoori Joint’s menu page loaded no readable text for us, and for the others we found no price list on the pages we read, so check with the venue.
Is there a cafe on this list that allows dogs?
Zest lists Dwyer Street Cafe as pet-friendly, but that is a directory statement rather than the cafe’s own, so ask the cafe before you bring a dog and check which areas are included.
How we checked
We checked every place on this page against at least two independent sources on 2 October 2026: craigieburncentral.com.au, the Australian Good Food Guide, the places’ own websites, merrifieldcity.com.au, OpenStreetMap, zestapp.com.au and curateria.com.au. We copied no menu prices from these places’ own pages, so this page prints none. Menus, prices and opening hours change, so check with the venue before you go. The cover photo is illustrative, from Unsplash, and does not show any place on this page.
Seen something out of date? Email [email protected] with the page link and what has changed, and we will check it again.
Sources
- VHM Bros Vietnamese Restaurant: craigieburncentral.com.au/vhm-bros-vietnamese-restaurant, agfg.com.au/vhm-bros-75155
- Shisha Basha: craigieburncentral.com.au/shisha-basha, agfg.com.au/shisha-basha-84093
- The Tandoori Joint: thetandoorijoint.com, merrifieldcity.com.au
- Dwyer Street Cafe: openstreetmap.org/8524740827, zestapp.com.au/96a23f7a-5f43-446f-ba91-9b79105c9b96, curateria.com.au/dwyer-street-caf
- SandwichWali: sandwichwali.com.au, agfg.com.au/sandwichwali-141129
