FRATPACKER WORLD.

A Dying Breed

In today’s modern society, there aren’t too many spots where you can just come as you are and be accepted without judgement. Whether you’re running at zero or you’re on a hundred, a place that always has room for you. Need to sit-down and unwind with a drink, cigarette, joint, hubbly or some great food while enjoying the music that makes you get up and shake your money maker then you’ve probably found yourself enjoying The Last Alpaca on a warm spring night.

The Last Alpaca is a restaurant based in Greenside, Johannesburg in South Africa, ran by Fezile Majozi Matthew Fourie and Chisanga Mubanga, who are not just business partners but brothers in arms. The restaurant doors officially opened on the 16^th of April 2021 with the restaurant looking to celebrate its 5^th birthday next year. The Last Alpaca is a South American inspired restaurant, and you can tell by the vibe and theme of the restaurant with the highlight being the outside area with the colour tiled café tables, hanging pot plants and comfortable lounge areas.

With it being a South American/African themed or inspired restaurant, the quality and taste of the food and beverages was always going to be the talking point and what would either make it a staple and beloved pillar of the community or just another building filled with broken promises and dreams. Fortunately for The Last Alpaca and its patrons the food didn’t not fail and delivered the high-level quality and standard that was expected of it. Starting with its famous burger that became an instant hit amongst their patrons that allowed them to start building a community. People would come for the food and to try out their menu of burgers, ribs, wings, empanadas and more. You combine that with the high-quality service received from both the bartenders and servers they started building community with people growing an emotional attachment to the establishment. People were no longer just coming for the food but coming because they wanted to feel a part of something bigger than, a part of a culture and space that catered to the human spirit. The food was so good that in 2023 they started their own food truck called the Roaming Alpaca which has featured across multiple events and occasions around Johannesburg, growing and expanding the reach that is The Last Alpaca.

Now what’s a meal without a good cold beverage to wash it down and another thing that South American’s & South African’s have in common is that we love our liquor, and we don’t just want to get drunk but we want our tastebuds and pallets to be intoxicated with a flavour of ecstasy in every sip. As people were complaining that the art of making a cocktail and mixology was dying The Last Alpaca stood tall and proud in the face of extinction. They’ve made it a culture and religion to pay special attention, time, energy and details on their cocktails so that great is the standard and exceptional is not a rarity. You can tell they have a deep passion for mixology as well as the art of creating mixing cocktails. They have had special activations where; they will serve and create new cocktails every day for a month, they will do taste tests and mixing classes, have competitions where they trial new cocktails and the community will vote for the one that stays on the menu and most recently they had a week where they invited close friends and creatives to come and be a bartender and mixologist for an hour each in the night.

It’s activations like this and community engagement that has created a strong bond between the restaurant and its patrons. Even in celebration of their own, they still reach out to the community with Fezile hosting a donation drive at The Last Alpaca every year on his birthday. They’ve planted themselves and dug right into the roots of the young black creative and working adults, hosting events such as; chess and game nights, birthday celebrations, after parties, special occasions and music themed nights. You can feel the energy is that of young people of colour and culture who have been given the keys to the door to own and create their own narratives and vibes. You hear it in the playlist and music selection, hearing the songs you pray to hear when you go out but know you won’t because it doesn’t fit into the mainstream and the popular but at the Last Alpaca it’s not about what’s popular but about the quality and the shared experiences, we all love and have in common.

The bond and strength of the Last Alpaca community was demonstrated early this year when they were threatened with being shut down and had to lock their doors for about 3 months. They raised awareness through an online campaign and petition that had required 20 000 signatures that they had received within a matter of week. Their presence was missed with people tweeting and posting about missing the food, cocktails, music and experience that is the Last Alpaca. The whole community was scared and worried about living in a world with where the Last Alpaca goes extinct, and we now must search and hunt for a new home and animal that could feed our appetite for love and life. Luckily, we don’t have to imagine that world because with the strength and support of the community the Last Alpaca was able to beat the case and have its doors re-opened and everything that has been flowing like they never left.

If you’re looking to have a great time, to find a place that can feel like home when home starts to feel a little strange. When you want to find yourself enjoying a delicious cocktail that just flows down the throat while your tastebuds are being spoilt with flavour and afterwards you enjoy it with a relaxing joint while the smoothest and funkiest jams play into your ears and the rhythm syncs with you are heartbeat then your looking to find yourself at The Last Alpaca where the vibe can never go extinct.