The team behind Sydney cocktail institution Maybe Sammy is spreading its wings again with the opening of El Primo Sanchez. The casual tequila bar joins the Maybe Group, which also operates pizza joint Maybe Frank, coffee-focused cafe and bar Sammy Junior, and sky-high cocktail den Dean & Nancy on 22.
El Primo Sanchez is a joint effort between the Maybe Group and Public Hospitality and is set to open on the ground floor of Public Hospitality’s The Rose Hotel on 27-33 Oxford St, Paddington. According to Maybe Sammy co-owner Stefano Catino, the venue will be more casual than the group’s other sites and will also be inspired by Mexico during the 1970s and 80s. Cocktails will be served in handmade clay jarrito jugs while Mexican and Latino produce will be utilized for the drinks, alongside a wide selection of agave spirits as well as slushie machines filled with margaritas and highballs.
“We wanted to do something a bit different from the classic Tequila joint,” said Catino. “It will be casual and fun with good music. Arriving in Mexico in the 80s – that’s the experience we’re looking to bring.”
“You can still expect the same high level of hospitality, playful energy, brilliant cocktails and attention to detail as our other bars,” added Vince Lombardo, co-founder of The Maybe Group. “It will just be wrapped up into a Mexican environment with more of a laidback pub vibe than a high-end cocktail bar.”
The name of the bar, which translates in Spanish to “cousin Sanchez,” takes inspiration from the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny. The space will hold 100 people inside and out. To start, it will be open five nights a week plus two lunch services.
“We are excited to begin our journey with The Maybe Group in our beloved Rose Hotel in Paddington,” said Anna Touhy, group general manager, food and beverage, for Public Hospitality. “The Maybe team have developed world-acclaimed products which we have admired for some time. El Primo Sanchez will complement our newly opened lifestyle hotel, Oxford House, and add further energy to Oxford Street.”
For more information, head over to the bar’s Instagram.