First look – La Bodega doubles down with a new taqueria in Fortitude Valley
What began as a modest neighbourhood taqueria has quietly become one of Brisbane’s most reliable crowd-pullers. Now, La Bodega has opened a second location in Fortitude Valley, taking over a heritage-listed former service station on Wickham Terrace. With more space, a bigger bar and an evolved approach to traditional Mexican flavours, the new venue gives Brisbane foodies even more room to eat, drink and linger.
When Anna Brobjer and Tim Glasson opened La Bodega in East Brisbane a few years back, their expectations were fairly modest. For the duo, creating a welcoming haven for locals was their prime directive – a space where all comers could duck in for a taco or two when the mood struck.
Brisbane had other plans, though. Swing by on a weeknight and you’ll find the place buzzing. Gamble on a walk-in on the weekend and you’ll likely find yourself out of luck. Safe to say, La Bodega is one of the biggest surprise hits of recent memory – and no one is more surprised than its operators.
“We didn’t even think we were going to do table service,” recalls Anna. “Our idea was that we’d have one person on the floor during the week and then we’d have one or two people helping out on the weekend. Now we’ve got eight people on the floor – it’s just so different to what we thought it would be.”
On Friday January 30, Anna and Tim will celebrate the opening of their second La Bodega location. The taqueria can be found on Wickham Terrace, inside the old Alfred E. Griffiths Service Station, just a short tortilla toss from Homemaker Fortitude Valley.
While the group wasn’t outwardly looking for opportunities to expand, the new site – much larger than the East Brisbane venue – opens the doors for Anna, Tim and the crew to capitalise on a growing amount of event requests.
“It wasn’t so much us looking to expand or looking to be better – it was more about falling into this space and seeing that this fits with what we’re already doing,” explains Anna.
You might like
“There’s so much that we want to do if we just have that extra space. This building is like a match made in heaven for our brand. It’s made for it.”
Boasting approximately 120 seats, La Bodega Fortitude Valley easily doubles the capacity of its Lytton Road sibling. The past few months have seen Anna and Tim enact a cosmetic refresh of the site’s internals, alongside some back-of-house improvements (only the building’s Spanish Mission style facade, which now boasts a terracotta-hued paint job, is heritage listed), with an eye towards creating room for everything from intimate dinners to large events.
“We’ve had to put gas into the building, install an exhaust fan and redo the whole kitchen,” says Anna. “We’ve obviously had to rebuild the bar, put the deck in, the pergola … lots of bits and pieces.”
Off the street, guests enter a casual bar area, which will be your best bet for a walk-in feed. Out back sits an alfresco space furnished with booths and a scattering of smaller tables, which can be utilised for group functions.
At the moment, both La Bodega locations are running the same food menu. Over the past few months, the team has been improving the offering here and there, with head chef Alejandra Mendoza (formerly of La Patrona) elevating the menu with small adjustments that have enhanced flavours across the board.
“We haven’t actually changed the menu, but we’ve levelled it up,” explains Anna. “I am hesitant to say that we make authentic food in general, especially not for a country as big as Mexico. I would say that we are definitely bringing in more traditional cooking techniques and more traditional flavours into the mix.”
La Bodega’s menu kicks off with starters like house-fried tortilla chips with guac, spiced bean dip topped with queso, chargrilled streetcorn, empanadas and quesadillas. From there, it’s all about tacos – classic fillings like beef birria, pork pibil, steak asada and slow-cooked Yucatan-style chicken sit alongside unorthodox options like Mojo jackfruit and shiitake birria.
Larger plates like nachos, burritos and enchiladas pair well with La Bodega’s two salad options, but be sure to save room for a scoop of the venue’s horchata ice-cream to finish.
Anna says with a bigger bar to work with, fans can expect the drinks menu to evolve quickly.
“We’re going to start off doing the same cocktails, but I think probably even sooner than the new food menu, there’s already a few things happening behind the bar,” says Anna.
A bank of frozen margarita machines pumps out a trio of ice-cold concoctions (including coconut and mango flavours), with artisanal agave spirits from Beudi giving the sips a smoky lean.
Almost three years on from La Bodega’s debut and Anna can’t quite put her finger on the reason behind the venue’s success. When we prompt her to take a guess, she tells us that it might be due to the team’s commitment to going the extra mile for their customers and the venue’s all-are-welcome approachability.
“Tim and I come from fine-dining backgrounds, so I think we’ve taken a lot from what we’ve learned from fine dining and we strive to offer service with that nice touch,” says Anna. “I also always take the time to speak to customers and give that personal service, which then leads to us getting to know our guests better.
“We’re not fine dining and we’re not a club – La Bodega’s a place where you can come, you can celebrate and you can come as you are.”
La Bodega officially opens on Friday January 30 – head to The Directory for operating details and booking info. Want more? Join thousands of Brisbane locals that plan their weekends with us regularly – click here to subscribe to our newsletter, filled with Brisbane’s best food openings, culture news and weekend escapes.