Iconic Alfred & Constance Fortitude Valley site to be relaunched

The former home of bar and eatery Alfred & Constance in Fortitude Valley is set to reopen, with one of Queensland’s most popular restaurant groups behind the transformation.

The once popular bar and eatery Alfred & Constance in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley is set to be reborn, with a local hospitality group breathing new life into the well-known site.

Justin Lane Group, behind the much-loved Justin Lane Establishment at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast, will bring their famous pizza, pasta and cocktail bar concept to the heritage-listed site later this year.

Alfred & Constance in Fortitude Valley in its heyday.

“We’ve been looking to expand our Justin Lane brand up in Brisbane and it’s such an amazing bespoke venue,” said group general manager Johnny Hall.

“Alfred and Constance was the place I’ve always seen Justin Lane going into.”

The venue on the corner of Alfred and Constance Streets first opened in 2012 before going into receivership and closing in 2018 after then-owner and disgraced businessman Damian Griffiths fell into serious financial trouble, with a number of failed ventures including Limes Hotel and Doughnut Time.

RMS Group (Hellcat Maggie and Isles Lane) took over the bar from receivers in 2018, before they vacated the site and it began undergoing renovations by the landlord in February last year.

A render of the former Alfred and Constance site in Fortitude Valley, which will reopen as Justin Lane Establishment.

Justin Lane Group acquired the site in the second half of last year, with the venue currently in the midst of a complete overhaul, with the new Space Cubed Design interiors to include a rooftop bar for up to 50 guests, a hidden underground cocktail bar, takeaway area, as well as restaurant dining for up to 200 across two storeys.

“Our ambition is to replicate Burleigh Heads in as many ways as we can and put some polish on it,” Mr Hall said, with many of the Gold Coast customers regularly coming from Brisbane.

“We want to bring our flavour of hospitality and the food and drinks that we know the residents of the city know and love.”

A render of the new-look Justin Lane Establishment in Fortitude Valley.

That means the exact same menus as Burleigh Heads will be in play, running from antipasto such as meatballs, bruschetta and burrata to handmade pizzas and pasta, plus their famous gelato.

The cocktail menu, which has also become a hit on the GC, will find its way up the M1 too, with their adored passionfruit and chilly tommy’s margarita, mango and coconut caprioska and apple and elderflower daiquiri all making the cut.

“We’re extremely lucky to have a great business model that we know works,” said Mr Hall.

But the new Justin Lane Establishment might not be the only new venture for the restaurant group.

The company also just bought Gold Coast institution Paddock Bakery, and are potentially looking for a Brisbane location for a 2.0 version of the cafe and doughnut hotspot.

However, Mr Hall is keeping mum on any further details for now.