Antico

Overview

Every couple of years, the team at Cuatro Group — aka Martin Lange, Wiebke Lange, Blake Ward and Belinda Ward — gives Brisbane a new place to while away a night or several over drinks. First came Death & Taxes, complete with a hefty focus on whisky. Next arrived Dr Gimlette, with table service in one of the River City's oldest buildings. The latest: Antico, this time riffing on Italian cocktail bars since August 2023.

You'll be heading to familiar roadway to get sipping from 4pm daily — for walk-ins only, with no reservations taken — with Antico located in Burnett Lane, where Death & Taxes also sits. After Super Whatnot closed its doors earlier in 2023, Cuatro Group took over the space, opening the crew's most intimate venture yet.

The team's third spot is a 50-seater that, like its other watering holes, is big on atmosphere. Think: moody lighting including candles and an eye-catching gold chandelier, leather booths and a black-and-gold marble bar top. After taking the stairs up from the lane, patrons will enter a venue that finds its inspiration in old-school Italian hotel lobby bars. That's where the black-and-white mosaic floor comes in, too, and the sunken seating area — with the aforementioned booths catering to small groups.

The hotel lobby bar theme comes through in the menu as well — and, of course, the Italian influences. Antico pours classic cocktails, rotating through ten different varieties every two months. Whatever's on the drinks lineup, it'll always feature the bar's own twists on well-known concoctions using fresh ingredients sourced locally from across Brisbane. And, a signature negroni is a mainstay as well.

Beyond cocktails, beer and wine are also on offer, as well as a curated range of high-end spirits — for going in the cocktails, obviously, and just for enjoying otherwise.

Food-wise, Brisbanites can nibble their way through selection of Italian-inspired bar snacks, such as bruschetta and burrata.