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We can’t overstate this enough.
Your jaw will absolutely drop upon entering the new Mesita Mexican location in downtown Amityville, which is set to open later this month.
Outside, the historic bank building at 8 Green Ave. looks much as it did in 1907, when it was built.
It’s the inside that will floor you. Or, more accurately, have you looking up at the art that stretches to the ceilings, lighted trees and iron balconies of the second floor.
“You will not feel like you’re in New York,” promises Jonathan Lopez, Mesita Amityville’s general manager. “And I just cannot wait to see those people walk in and those smiles and that look of awe and, just, ‘Wow!'”
To accomplish all this magic, the Mesita team recruited lifelong artist Craig Banks of Seaford, who’s built hundreds of Broadway theatre sets across decades.
His vision was to bring the outdoors in, to make the massive space look and feel like a Mexican zócalo, or plaza. Banks calls it “the village.”
But he certainly had his work cut out for him, as the building’s interior had to first be stripped to the bones.
Here’s how the main space looked before Banks got to work:
“When I first saw the space it was still the bank,” Banks said. “It was an unusual space; the ceiling was low. And when they dropped the ceiling, I was completely overwhelmed by the height, to the point where I honestly had no desire to go to the ceiling level and do what I had to do. It was a little nuts. You had to twist your brain — how do you make this into the village?
“But once the walls went up and we started to add the color in, and they put the balconies in, it started to develop itself into the village. And it became the village. We added the trees and we just darkened it, we aged it, warmed it.”
What resulted was Mesita.
What comes next — with an opening day planned for sometime later this month — is the energy of the people.
“Just picture the sound of the bar, the metal shakers, the sound of the music and people, the sizzling of the fajitas,” Lopez said. “The music will match the cocktails, with goblets smoking across the room.
“It’s going to feel like you’re on vacation; that’s the idea. We want you to feel like you’re in Mexico, just chilling. Enjoy the decor. Forget about your problems. Take in the sounds and the smell, it’s all going to come together in here.”
“And wait until you see all the food,” Lopez continued. “The sizzling fajitas, when you smell that walking in here, you’ll just say, ‘I’ll have that!'”
Lopez and the ownership team, which opened the first Mesita in Rockville Centre in 2015 before expanding into Garden City and Port Washington, said they’re especially excited to welcome the community, as this is their first Suffolk spot.
“They’ve been waiting so long for us to open,” Lopez said, recalling all the curious faces he’s seen pressed against the windows over the last few months. “They’re just excited as we are. They’re just waiting for this to happen.
“I can’t wait to make it happen for them.”
Check back with Greater Long Island for updates. Scroll down for more photos by Nick Esposito.
