Esteban tequila bar to open in Temperance Lane

A tequila bar in Temperance Lane? It probably wasn't what Sydney's wowsers had in mind when the CBD laneway first received its name, but the spirit will feature in a new restaurant-bar headed into the former Grasshopper site.

When Grasshopper closed its doors late last year, Michael Fegent, owner of Paddington's Tequila Mockingbird, made an offer to buy the site. It settled this month.

"It'll be called Esteban. We want to do tortillas from scratch. It'll have a Freds feel, with the kitchen in the middle of the space. And a room with probably the largest selection of tequila and mescal in town," he says.

With the dust finally settling on the light rail work on George Street, Fegent's run on the city is well-timed.

"The interior will be inspired by the 1930s and 1940s, but definitely not the Prohibition era. There was no such thing as Prohibition in Mexico," he quips.

Fegent jumps on a plane this week for a whistle-stop tour of Mexico, Los Angeles and New York for a little extra inspiration.

Esteban opens in October.