A CBD brewpub (that’s not a brewpub) opens in a light-filled laneway spot

Donna di Santo wants you to know Little Miss Sunshine isn’t a brewpub. Not quite, anyway.

This hefty 250-seat venue slotted into the ground floor of the snazzy Suncorp headquarters on Ann Street as part of its Heritage Laneways food precinct looks like a craft boozer, with its 28 beer taps and 10-hectolitre brewing set-up taking pride of place behind the bar and kitchen. But di Santo says to think of it as a bistro first.

“The brewery is a feature within our bistro,” she says. “It’s just very non-traditional to put a brewery in a restaurant in a commercial office tower.”

Whether you wind up there for the food or the beer, Little Miss Sunshine is a much-needed shot in the arm for the city, and this George Street-end of the CBD in particular, where there’s a lack of substantial nighttime venues catering for the court workers and those who occupy the surrounding office towers.

“This end of town has so much to offer,” di Santo says. “It’s in its infant stages but Queen’s Wharf is starting to come ahead, and we’re going to have the new arena over at Roma Street Parklands. But there’s definitely a need up this end of town for something new and something different.”

Little Miss Sunshine is a looker. With much of the design handled by local company Jumble & Stack, its open-air fit out is all exposed brick and original timber beams outside, and a slick pale wood and mustard leather banquettes inside. In the afternoon, with the natural light shining through from the venue’s western side, it’s a prime spot to delete a few frothies.

For food, chef Ferdinand Sari is overseeing a menu of small plates, salads, mains and grilled meals that looks toward the eastern end of the Mediterranean for inspiration.

You might order baby squid with sweet paprika and lime aioli, a lamb gozleme with mint yoghurt, or a harissa-smoked sweet potato salad.

For mains, there’s a chicken cotoletta served with mozzarella, crispy chat potatoes, cured bacon and peas; market fish with matbucha, creme fraiche, char grilled squash and a Peruvian salsa criolla; and a Moreton Bay bug spaghetti with a marinara sauce, chilli oil, parsley and parmesan.

From the grill, you can order a 200-gram rib eye, a four-score 350-gram sirloin, a shish taouk Lebanese flatbread with a Mediterranean salad, and either a beef or chicken shawarma. There’s also a wagyu cheeseburger and a southern fried chicken burger.

“Little Miss Sunshine is intended to reflect Queensland, so we’ve tried to work closely with producers and suppliers to make sure we’re not only celebrating our lifestyle but also local produce,” di Santo says.

For drinks, there’s a keenly priced 40-bottle wine list and a short selection of signature cocktails. Still, though, it’s the beer that’s the main attraction here.

The venue’s 28 taps are currently occupied by a mix of craft and major brews, with head brewer Becky Centeno’s own beers yet to come online, but di Santo says that’s by design.

“Our first brew is fermenting in the tank right now,” she says. “We have an Australian lager brewing away, and then our next one to come online will be a pale ale, followed by an Italian pilsener, and then a hazy to round it out.

“The current tap selection is intended to hit every angle, but the idea is to invite people down as we launch each of those beers. It’s about building up that excitement and getting local people involved in the unveiling of each of those brews.”

Open Mon-Wed 10am-9pm, Thu-Fri 10am-12am

80 Ann Street, Brisbane

littlemisssunshine.com.au