Arriba Grill

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Posted 2016-11-06 by Jane Wong ⇒ follow

The word Arriba is Mexican for "on top" or "above", which was the "perfect choice" because it aligns with 's goal to provide the best fresh and tasty Mexican meals in Australia. With their first store opening in July 2011 in Adelaide, South Australia, has since expanded with one other store in South Australia and one here in Brisbane. The best part about the one here in Brisbane, aside from it being the first store in Queensland, is that in Brisbane is Australia's first 24 hour Mexican takeaway. Yes, you read right - 24 hours!

Located in Morningside, a quiet suburb that is mainly residential in nature, is a rare 24 hour restaurant hidden in a suburban backstreet. Morningside is just 5 kilometres east from the CBD, making it a convenient place for late night Brisbanite foodies. In addition, with Mexican being one of the more popular "drunk foods" world wide, it's convenient location with close proximity to the CBD scores bonus points for the party animals out there!

Despite being marketed as Australia's first 24 hour Mexican takeaway, in Morningside has the capacity to allow customers to dine in if they so wish, which we did. Both indoor and outdoor seating is available. Despite looking simple in appearance, I like how minimalistic this eatery is, as I feel it gives off an authentic Mexican restaurant vibe.

Starting with burritos, operates under a "make it as you like it menu" - they have since expanded this service to include nachos, soft tacos and hard tacos. To order at , you fill in a form that asks for your name, whether you are dining in or having take away, plus 5 levels of food options. It's a simple tick and flick form, and shouldn't take longer than a minute (unless you have Decidophobia). The plus side of writing down your order is that you're always going to receive exactly the food you ordered!

For customers who are either super hungry and can't wait to eat, or are poor on time, you can also have your meal ordered online through their website - your order will be made fast and fresh with priority, and will be ready for pick up in-store in just 20 minutes. That's customer service for you right there!

I didn't eat on this particular night as I strangely had no appetite, but two of my friends were keen for Mexican food. One friend opted for nachos with chicken, black beans, medium hot tomato sauce, topped with sour cream and jalapeños - the other could not remember what he ordered with his taco. I love Mexican food, but in my opinion, it's not the most photogenic food out there - I find it hard to take photographs that capture its delicious taste, but here is my attempt at taking a photograph of their orders without it looking like a pile of random ingredients!

Food aside, the best thing about Morningside is that they have a classic old school Nintendo Entertainment System, complete with games (Mario Kart (circa 1992) and Street Fighter) and a CRT TV! To top off this amazing facility, unlike other restaurants I've frequented, does not charge you to play - we literally spent longer playing games than eating, which is pretty impressive in itself (one friend even left his meal half-eaten in order to play).

All four of us had a lovely time - with great food and great entertainment, what cemented our positive first experience of Morningside was the staff. I don't know what your names are, but thank you so much for your friendly, upbeat, and positive attitude that you took to work with you late on a Friday night when there are probably other things you wanted to do at that time. We really appreciate how you went one step further to make us feel welcome, by showing us pictures of your pug back home in Colombia, and of course, by showering Eddy with love and attention!