Erskineville's Imperial Hotel reopens with Priscilla's vegetarian-leaning restaurant

Fraser Short has been making left-field hospitality punts for years.

Now his restaurant divining rod is pointing to Erskineville's Imperial Hotel, where he'll open a restaurant named after Priscilla: Queen of the Desert and featuring a ceviche bar.

"They shot a lot of the film here, so we called it Priscilla's. I was really drawn to the area because it has a great community, a loyal LGBTQI following and the lock-out laws in the city have helped the inner-west," Short says.

That same gut-feel that previously saw Short jump early on city bars and the northern beaches had him team with publican Scott Leach to snap up Erskineville's Imperial Hotel.

But mystery has surrounded the pub, which has been under development for the past eight months.

"It didn't have a restaurant before, it didn't even have a grease trap. Priscilla's menu will be 85 per cent vegetarian, 10 per cent pescatarian, with a strong influence on gluten-free, and we don't want to exclude people who eat meat, so there'll be a few dishes for them," he says.

Short and his team scoured California for menu inspiration. "We ate a burger with a patty made from jackfruit, which was amazing. We want to bring that sort of creativeness here. Crabless crab cakes that you'd swear was crab. And while there'll be fish at the ceviche bar, we'll also do a coconut ceviche," he says.

Fraser worked with design outfit Alex & Co on the interior: "It's like an old palace, and there's a fresco ceiling."

The Imperial's famed drag performances will also return, in a refurbished performance space in the hotel's basement.

Imperial Hotel opens Friday, March 2. Priscilla's opens Monday, March 5.

Open Sun-Thurs 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat 11am-11pm

35 Erskineville Road, Erskineville, imperialerskineville.com.au