From vinyl DJ nights to Mission’s Issue #14 launch, Maya is fast becoming one of London’s most compelling new cultural spaces.
In the basement of a London Mexican restaurant, behind an alley backdoor entrance, is Maya, a lively new listening bar. Led by Andres Mijares and Mungo Schmidt, the bar considers sound, agave, and atmosphere sacred.
Mijares grew up outside Mexico City dreaming of the chaos of London, where “everything happens.” After moving to the U.K., studying at UAL, and working in food service, he found a summer kitchen job at Cavita that turned into almost three years. At the same time, he was building a strong network in London’s music scene.
Cavita hired a DJ to draw a crowd to the restaurant’s basement, but Mijares had a more intentional vision. “Coolness isn’t just aesthetic. It needs a real cultural background.” He soon helped convert the space into Maya, a late-night hi-fi bar named after the Aztec goddess associated with agave.
From the start, Mijares wanted to cultivate an authentic community – not just book DJs and fill a room. “The vision was always a hi-fi bar, a space where the music and the artists we genuinely care about could exist,” he said.
In a hi-fi bar, music is the core of the experience rather than background noise. It’s a blossoming scene, with many relying on the blueprint of the serene Japanese listening bar. Maya honors that heritage, but is not precious about it. “I’m Mexican, and Mexicans are loud and warm and want to dance,” Mijares said. That’s where Maya gets its heat.
The ambiance begins before guests reach the bar. “It all conspires to make you feel like you’ve found something that wasn’t meant to be found,” he said. “Which, given that we’re accessed through a back alley with a small sign, is fairly accurate.” Once inside, the underground room is low-lit and warm, with hand-painted Mexican art and comfortable seating.
Mijares wants the music to “catch you off guard,” not merely entertain. A DJ himself and Maya’s music director, he looks for the moment listeners lean in. “You can see it in their eyes: ‘What the hell am I listening to right now?’” he said. When guests ask what’s playing, “that’s when I know the DJ has done their job.”
The unprecedented vinyl sound system is the heart of Maya: horn-loaded speakers, reminiscent of 1950s designs, built by hand so no two are identical. “There’s something about an artisan object that carries its own imperfections honestly,” he said. “A factory speaker would have been wrong for this space. These feel like they belong here.”
Maya hosts DJ nights, vinyl listening sessions, live sets, mezcal tastings, and open decks. With Don Julio Presents, its monthly first-Saturday series, the bar stays open until the early hours with a lineup curated by Mijares.
The venue has also quickly established itself as a home for London’s wider creative community. Recently, Maya hosted the London launch party for Mission’s Issue #14, the Human & Nature issue, guest-edited by David de Rothschild.
Despite a record-breaking heatwave, the basement listening bar welcomed contributors, artists, musicians, designers, environmentalists, and cultural leaders for an intimate evening celebrating the issue. Mission founder and CEO Karina Givargisoff co-hosted the event with the issue’s beloved bear mascot, who greeted guests throughout the evening and was an unexpected talking point. Cocktails were generously provided by Eduardo Gomez, co-founder of Tico Tequila and founder of Ojo de Dios Mezcal, with guests enjoying Mezcal Espresso Martinis and Spicy Mezcalitas, alongside BUCI’s hard kombucha in Pear and Elderflower, Wild Berries, Ginger and Lemon. BUCI.
Mission’s launch party reflected exactly what Maya has become known for: an intimate cultural space where editorial, music, conversation, and community naturally converge.
The bar’s menu is agave spirit-based, and Mijares is developing an agave omakase format – a guided tasting of rare mezcals and spirits.
Since opening in March, Maya has grown mostly by word of mouth. “Nobody is being pushed for an ad,” Mijares said. “It means the experience itself is doing the talking.”
His core memory is opening night, watching people’s faces as they came through the dark alley and through the back door. “That moment of disorientation, then curiosity, then something clicking.”
That “click” is the point of Maya. It is harder to define than a club or a trendy listening room. Still, it’s understood completely through music, mezcal, and ambience.
Maya, 60 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2R (under Cavita Restaurant).Homepage image courtesy of Andres Mijares by Ana Lucia Morales. All other images by David Owen.
