First Look: Super 44 Brings Psychedelic Margaritas To Newtown

Mucho Hospitality has explored every nook and cranny of the Margarita universe. Across its beloved tequila taverns Tio’s, Cantina OK and Centro 86, the Marg-mastering bar group has forensically charted every member of the classic cocktail’s family tree, from close siblings to distant cousins. It’s even added a few canonical contributions of its own to the genus.

But at their core, Margaritas are just tequila and lime having a good time. How many more ways to riff on them could there be? What more could Mucho have to say about Margaritas?

Much more, says Super 44. And it makes a very compelling argument.

“We’ve done some crazy Margaritas over the years – it’s like we’ve got 15 years of Margarita data and now we’re drawing on all that experience to do a whole new menu,” says Mucho CEO Daisy Tulley. “We’re making the best versions of what we think of as Margaritas, and doing them in the most interesting, psychedelic, unexpected and different ways.”

Super 44 is in the Enmore Road space that much-loved dive bar and live music spot Midnight Special occupied for 13 years, until September last year. Fans of the Spesh will recognise the chequerboard floor, which has been extrapolated into a recurring visual motif throughout the bar. (The pattern is everywhere, don’t come here if you have chess trauma.)

Most of the graffiti in the toilets has been kept too, ready for the next generation of bathroom Banksies. But cosmetically and emotionally it’s vastly different to its predecessor.

Imagine if an Australian graphic designer with a popcorn addiction bought an old taverna in the middle of Spain and made it Mexican-themed. That’s what Super 44 looks like. It’s gorgeous. Just don’t look too hard for thematic consistency – you’ll ruin the fun for yourself.

Booths, bentwoods, high-tops and barstools – there’s not a dud in this 75-seater. It’s easy to picture this becoming the spot for a pre- or post-show drink at The Enmore, or a Marg before or after a Martini at sister venue Bar Planet, a couple of minutes’ walk away.

Super 44 shares more than a street and a postcode with Bar Planet. Both bars feel cut from the same cloth, particularly on the cocktail front. Planet’s flagship is the Bar Planet Martini, which Mucho Group pitches as a thesis statement for what that drink should be. Super 44’s agave analogue is the Super Margarita. “It’s our flagship take on a classic Margarita, the distillation of years of Margarita experience,” says Tulley.

It’s a pretty traditional take on a Marg, with the exception of house grapefruit liqueur and the popping-candy zing provided by fresh finger lime pearls. Fruit in general is a fixture of Super 44. “Every Margarita we’re doing is going to feature fruit in different forms,” Tulley says. You’ll see it deployed across the menu, from the four Spicy Margs to the Frozen Margarita section, all done from scratch, no slushie machines. And, if finger lime pearls are too tame for you, order a Shark Fin – which is packed with fish roe.

There’s also more than 100 tequilas and mezcals to investigate, as well as a selection of beers and wine. And, of course, there’s ample free popcorn – the Mucho Group’s signature – with a new, Mexican Tajin-evoking flavour.

You would think that after 15 years spent pumping out enough Margaritas to make Jimmy Buffett blush, there would be no improvements or interpretations left for Mucho to make to the cocktail. But Super 44 is proof that they’re nowhere near done mapping the Marg’s genomic sequence. Here’s hoping they never stop.

Super 44
44 Enmore Road, Newtown

Hours:
Wed & Thu 5pm–midnight
Fri 5pm–2am
Sat 4pm–2am
Sun 4pm–midnight

muchogroup.com.au/super44
@barsuper44