Mackay’s new trendy Rare Bar and Grill restaurant opens in April

Rare Bar and Grill has locked in an opening date and when people can start booking to secure their table in the fine dining restaurant.

A new Mackay restaurant aims to sprinkle “flair” and ignite a new spark in the heart of Mackay’s city.

Rare Bar and Grill will soon open its doors with fresh seafood, quality meat, exotic cocktails, and an atmosphere like no other.

The restaurant will be more like an aquarium, with lobsters, crabs and fish in large fish tanks to greet customers as they enter the lobby.

Rare Bar and Grill co-owner Luke Bauer said it could not have been better timing for him and his partner Shayna Smith to open their restaurant in Mackay’s busiest street just as the Covid-19 pandemic peak eased.

The restaurant will open on Thursday, April 14 and it is taking bookings from Saturday April 2.

Rare Bar and Grill co-owner Luke Bauer discusses his new restaurant that is set to open in April. Picture: Madeleine Graham

He said with his new business, the bakery next door opening soon and Red Dog Brewery down the road, this stretch of Mackay would be rejuvenated with life again.

“We just want to bring some flair and a new spark to Mackay and this is the perfect location for it,” Mr Bauer said.

“There will be nothing like it here and will bring a new element to Mackay.

“It will try to bounce back the atmosphere back to Mackay, which it needs.”

Mr Bauer and Ms Smith met while they were working at the Rydges Hotel in Mackay, and less than a year later they decided to open a business together.

In early February they bought the Victoria Street building where the former popular Lone Star Rib House once thrived and before that the Outback Jacks Bar and Grill.

Mr Bauer has owned several restaurants around Queensland and has worked as a chef for more than 15 years.

“It is a good collaboration, as I can cook everything and Shayna can be at the front of the house,” he said.

“We only bought the place seven weeks ago and have only started working in here in past four weeks.”

The exotic menu items will offer more than the average pub parmi, with an Asian “flair” and twist to classic Mackay meals.

“It’s bringing a new stamp to Mackay, we are going to put our spin on Mackay’s staple meals,” Mr Bauer said.

“So instead of a crumbed steak, we are going to a 19-hour slow cooked rib and then we will crumb that.”

Rare Bar and Grill will aim to source seafood and produce from the Mackay region specifically.

He said all their top cuts of beef would be sourced from Signature Beef in Clermont and they would buy many of their food products through Whitsunday Food Services.

Mr Bauer said they would also import rare seafood and meat such as black marron from Western Australia and Kobe beef from Japan.

“We will sell rare and local seafood like lobsters, crabs, black marron that will be on display in large fish tanks in the lobby,” Mr Bauer said.

“We will be importing kobe beef from Japan, it is a high quality wagyu meat.

“People will also have choice between grass fed and grain fed meat, to suit both pallets.”

The restaurant comprises two main areas, with customers having the choice of fine dining inside or casual eating in the outside area.

Inside, customers will be dined with silver service; a maître d‘ to take them to their table, silver cutlery, crystal glasses and an open kitchen plan.

Rare Bar and Grill co-owner Shayna Smith discusses her new business on Victoria Street, Mackay. Picture: Madeleine Graham

Ms Smith said it would be a place for special occasions and the perfect time to book out the babysitter for a night.

“It is somewhere where you go out with your partner and for special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays,” Ms Smith said.

“People want that experience when they go out.

“We will have signature cocktails for sure, definitely a rare martini.”

The coastal, boho themed outside area is for a more casual dining experience, with live music and grazing seafood platters on the menu.

Mr Bauer said they had already been overloaded with people calling to try and secure a table.

“We have had people making bookings since day one,” he said.

“You think it is a plumber trying to call you but it is someone trying to book.

“But we won’t take bookings for a while until our website is up and running.”

Mr Bauer said on opening night, they might have a real life cow to greet customers as they crossed the “red carpet” into the restaurant.

“People can get photos with it on the red carpet,” Mr Bauer said.

Rare Bar and Grill will open on Thursday, April 14 and it is taking bookings from Saturday April 2.

Gift cards to the restaurant will also be available.