Bandista sits inside Four Seasons Hotel Houston, its entrance a bookcase on the far side of a journey that begins in the hotel lobby and passes through a service elevator and the kitchen before arriving at a shelf of menus. The room behind it spans twenty seats across a bar and lounge, clad in silver oak with an onyx back bar, hand-stitched blue leather bar edge, and custom mushroom lights casting shadows across over 200 spirits. The bar concept draws on the tequileros – the Prohibition-era smugglers who transported agave spirits illegally across the border – and agave remains the focus of the spirit selection, which runs across tequila, mezcal, sotol, bacanora, and raicilla.

The menu is built around the team’s own backgrounds – a Latin bartender brought in herbs and botanicals rooted in their cultural heritage, a native Texan pulled flavours from the Hill Country, and a team member with an Asian background introduced curry, turmeric, and nori. Around twenty percent of drinks served are made off-menu through a Dealer’s Choice conversation with the guest, in which the team asks a few questions and builds something bespoke. Every cocktail has its own presentation story – a Ranch Water comes with a Collins cube carrying an imprinted image of an agave field, a Bermuda Triangle-inspired drink arrives with an airline coaster and a pair of wings, and a Texan highball comes with a rubber duck. Chocolate bark and berry tarts accompany other drinks. All glassware is chilled by liquid nitrogen or CO2 froster before service.

The bar runs a regular pop-up exchange with some of the world’s best bars, bringing visiting teams to Houston and sending the Bandista team to visit them in return. The Behind You beer, brewed by Roadhouse Brewing in collaboration with the Southern Smoke Foundation, is the bar’s sole draft option. Food waste is donated to Second Servings, a local charity, and produce going to waste across the hotel is shared centrally between departments before reaching that point.