MAYA Mexican
The Coats Group – the hospitality crew behind Il Molo in Bulimba – revitalised Fortitude Valley’s Eleven Rooftop Bar in 2020, transforming it into pop-up Mexican restaurant MAYA. The concept has morphed the chic tapas and cocktail bar into a breezy open-air eatery inspired by Mexico’s gorgeous coastal regions. Key spaces have been revitalised and reconfigured to better suit a sit-down dining experience for 90 patrons, with an all-white aesthetic broken up with desert cacti, stone, marble and timber, plus furnishings in the form of oversized lounges and intimate booths. The food and drinks menu spotlights colour, fresh produce and light flavours – think flame-grilled prawns coated in tequila, Dos Equis-battered snapper tacos, kingfish ceviche, chargrilled flank steak and roast butternut pumpkin. As one would hope, the bar will also be amply stocked with artisanal tequilas, mezcals and sotols (filtering into a clutch of margaritas, naturally) as well as a list of Australian and international wines and draught and bottled beers.