We'll miss the laughs, music, tacos and margs from this local favourite.
Sitting pretty on Bell Street, Alisitos has earned a name for itself in Torquay’s competitive foodie scene for the past few years, serving up absolutely delish food and drink and offering the best ambience on the Surfcoast.
Opened by California-born restauranteur Anthony Gist back in 2018, Alisitos was the energetic and colourful younger sister to the sophisticated Roku Den (opened by Gist in 2015) and came to life out of necessity – Gist was homesick for the Cali-style Mex reminiscent of his childhood.
Keep up with the latest food and booze news via our website.
“I was just missing all my California style Mex. All my carne asada tacos, the Baja fish tacos, my Aunt Gina’s enchiladas. And a lot of people doing Mex were doing different styles or just were not putting love into it. So I thought I’d go round two.”
“When I fly back to Cali, the first place I go is to the taco truck. We call them roach coaches. Just the manky little taco trucks on the side of the road, but there’s just beautiful food being put out of them. It’s really hard to duplicate those flavours.”
With Alisitos at almost four years in business, it has gone from strength to strength combining the Cali-style Mex Gist craved so much with his inimitable knack for creating the perfect dining atmosphere. However sadly, the Mexican street food restaurant has just announced it has closed its doors.
The restaurant (AKA Margaritaville) announced its closure on social media this week, citing the reason behind the closure was to help grow and flourish Gist’s other venues, Roku Den and Bird Rock, which Gist took over merely months after opening Alisitos.
“With mixed emotions today we are announcing that we are closing the chapter on our beloved Alisitos. We are making way for another delicious new local venture in this space and wish them the same good fortune, love and epic times that have been bestowed upon us by YOU GUYS, our loyal customers. For this, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” the social media post read.
“Please know that this is not goodbye, you’ll still find us at our other venues, Roku Den and Bird Rock. The change allows us more time to grow and flourish these babies where you’ll find heaps more exciting developments to come.
“We also want to take this time to thank all of our staff, past and present, who have helped make Alisitos was it was, and for all the laughs and rad vibes that you all brought to our time here.
“Juan more time, at the risk of sounding cheesier than a plate of our nachos, thank you again for all your support over the past three years, we couldn’t have done it without you.”
View this post on Instagram
While we’ll certainly miss the authentic and mouth-watering Mexican food and cocktails for dinner on the coast, the dining experiences offered at Roku Den and Bird Rock are set to soar even higher. With such a focus on creating a good vibe, there’s always a good night to be had!
Adios Alisitos, we’ll miss you!
