The Tailors and Mr Badger’s
As hard as last year was for Brisbane’s dining scene, 2020 still boasted an incredible amount of growth – especially in Woolloongabba. Last year the popular Logan Road precinct welcomed the arrivals of Easy Times Brewing Co., Mac From Way Back and Little G, and soon two new venues will join the ranks courtesy of the team behind local mainstays Canvas Club and Electric Avenue. Opening at the start of July is The Tailors – a South American-influenced speakeasy bar and music venue tucked inside a freshly renovated tenancy next door to Canvas. Inspired by owner Dan Rodriguez’s travels across South America, The Tailors will draw upon the region’s love of hidden, local-secret sipping spots. Disguised as a tailor shop, guests will enter into a dressing room before pushing further into the venue proper, which will boast a slick modern interior complete with its own bar and stage. Rum will be a specialty, with roughly 50 unique rums sourced from the Caribbean and the Americas, while bar snacks from the Canvas Club kitchen will also be on offer. Looking to bring a bit of music back to the street, The Tailors will host live Cuban salsa groups and more intimate jazz ensembles on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. In early-to-mid August, Dan and business partner Adam Pykett will unveil Mr Badger’s – a family-oriented deli-style eatery and bar situated a few doors down in a high-ceilinged space next to Easy Times. Taking an old-world approach to its aesthetic and conceptual direction, Mr Badger’s draws its namesake from Joseph Stillman Badger, chief electrical engineer and general manager of Brisbane Tramway Co. who helped establish the tram system that often terminated in Woolloongabba. Deli-style sandwiches and coffee from Black Sheep will be central to the daytime offering, with six kinds of sandwiches made from breads, meats and cheeses sourced from local suppliers. Later in the day, Mr Badger’s will switch to a pizza-centric offering, bolstered by a small selection of beers, wines and bottled cocktails from Canvas and Electric Avenue. We’ll have more on both venues closer to their respective opening dates.

Lisboa Caffe
If you’ve ever savoured the ecstasy-inducing flavours of a Portuguese custard tart from Lisboa Caffe, this bit of news will surely titillate your pleasure centres. Six years on from its incubator origins at Wandering Cooks, the Lisboa Caffe team is finally opening a bricks-and-mortar cafe and bakery in South Brisbane. Situated on Hope Street in the former Only. Specialty Coffee site (next door to El Planta), Lisboa Caffe boasts a bakery space and shopfront, with a window allowing customers a glimpse at the tart-making process up close. While an off-site kitchen continues to handle Lisboa Caffe’s wholesale baking and distribution, the South Brisbane site will be dedicated to crafting small batches of sweet and savoury goodies to order – with treats moulded, baked and dispensed into our hot little hands in short order. In addition to the traditional custard tart, locals can expect a new range of breads and barista-brewed coffee, while the cafe will also offer a rotating selection of new flavours that will cycle every couple of weeks. Lisboa Caffe is targeting a late-August opening.

Musketeers Cafe
Vegetarian and vegan-friendly cuisine and specialty coffee will take centre stage at Musketeers Cafe when it opens in Woolloongabba in early July. The eatery is the brainchild of pals and business partners Sheridan McKenna and Carla McAllister, two die-hard foodies turned cafe operators looking to create a kind and inclusive dining experience that celebrates all things local. The duo has discussed the idea of opening a cafe together for seven years, but only finally agreed to take the leap last year. They’ve managed to snag a cracking character-filled location for their passion project on Stanley Street – tucked in between Can You Keep A Secret and Woolloongabba Art Gallery. Sheridan and Carla are currently hard at work installing brand-new kitchen gear, which will be tasked with executing Musketeer Cafe’s menu of vegetarian-friendly eats with the option to include meat as an add-on item. Protein will be sourced from ethically minded farm Piggy In The Middle in Kilkivan, while an on-site retail space will stock locally made pantry goods (think jams, pickles and coffee beans) and a small selection of gifts (jewellery, soaps, candles and more). Keep your eyes peeled for more on this one soon!

To Be Or Not To Be
William Shakespeare-inspired cafe Method to the Madness has become a beloved fixture of Kenmore’s brunch scene since opening in late 2018, with its menu of adventurous day starters as invigorating to the soul as any passage of The Bard’s timeless works. Good news for locals of Westlake – MTTM’s owners Reagan Nongkhlaw and Urvik Bhalani are bringing another slice of Shakespeare-laced hospitality to your area next week with 70-seater sibling eatery To Be Or Not To Be Cafe, which is set to open at The Hub on Westlake Drive on Tuesday June 22. Though named after the iconic opening line from Hamlet’s act three soliloquy, To Be Or Not To Be Cafe will be less caught up in the weighty debate between life and death and more concerned with the one between lobster Benedict or Hong Kong-style peanut butter waffles. The fare here will feature familiar breakfast items shaped by some modern Asian-inspired twists, backed by a coffee offering incorporating Veneziano beans. While focusing mostly on breakfast and lunch, monthly pop-up dinners are also on the cards – stay tuned for a closer look at this eatery next week!

Snack Man Wine Party #1
Widely regarded as one of Brisbane’s best wine bars, Snack Man is often a go-to for oenophiles looking to savour a sublime sip or two. On Monday June 28, the Fortitude Valley bar will be hosting the first of its newly minted wine parties, bringing together a list of incredible purveyors, importers and distributors for an evening of vino-soaked celebration. More than 30 wines will be available by the glass (with many also available to purchase by the bottle for take-home consumption), with Giorgio de Maria, Godot Wines, Vivant Selections, Living Wines, Halle Aux Wines, Campbell Burton, Vino Mito, Black Market Sake and Virtuous Vine contributing to the trove of hard-to-find low-intervention wines on offer. Tickets cost $30 and include an etched wine glass to use and take home as well as some snacks from the Snack Man kitchen. Ensure your attendance and book here.

If you’ve heard something that’s worth mentioning in The Weekend Edition’s Pavement Whispers, email [email protected].