Project: Mejico Tequila Bar and Restaurant

Location: Melbourne CBD

Completed: 2020

Photography: Michelle Despot

Overview: ONE68 are excited to have been part of the redevelopment of the iconic hospitality precinct at ‘Collins Quarter’ in the Melbourne CBD. In 2020 we fitted-out two amazing new restaurants owned and operated by the Sam Prince Hospitality Group. Their first foray into the Melbourne restaurant scene, Mejico Tequila Bar and Restaurant at the infamous ‘Pink Alley’ and INDU a lively Sri Lankan and Southern Indian Restaurant, are now just as popular as their sister restaurants in Sydney. Awarded the Interior Fitout Association’s 2020-2022 Interior Fitout Award for the 'Victorian Fitout of the Year', we are so proud to have bought the interior design vision for these incredibly creative spaces to life!

Previously the site of Doc Martin’s Bar (also another ONE68 project) we are honoured to have been part of the evolution of this iconic hospitality precinct and to see how a venue can be completely transformed in a relatively short period of time. The two-storey Mejico space sports a Mexican fiesta-inspired interior, with an industrial edge. The fitout features an oversized custom-designed and made Day of the Dead skull sculpture, hand-painted mandala murals, striking floor and wall artwork by local Melbourne artist Ash Keating, with a black and neon pink colour pallet throughout. An all-weather courtyard dining room on the ground floor includes a leafy vertical garden and serves up a diverse menu of regional Mexican fare, whilst a more intimate tequila bar and cocktail lounge upstairs provides over 260 varieties of tequila and mezcal. The built-in rotisserie and extraction in the courtyard and hanging festoon lighting make this all- weather courtyard incredibly unique. Hands-down this was one of THE most creative projects we have worked on, and also one of the most challenging! In particular the kitchen which services both the Mejico and INDU restaurants required the flexibility of on-the-spot problem solving by our team.