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Coco Maya by Miss B’s, a rooftop restaurant and bar serving Latin American and Caribbean food, opened earlier this month in Little Italy. Located in the former PrepKitchen space at 1660 India St., Coco Maya is the latest project from San Diego’s Grind & Prosper Hospitality Group. Coco Maya is a Yucatan-inspired spinoff of the company’s Miss B’s Coconut Club restaurant/bar in Mission Beach.

Coco Maya explores the flavors of the Yucatan and Caribbean with cane- and agave-based spirits enhanced by citrus and spices in direct and fruit-forward cocktails. Let’s Do Mushrooms is a curious blend of leather-infused Reposado tequila, cinnamon agave, huitlacoche, amontillado sherry, and pina balsamic that straddles earthy and savory elements, while Cocomaya Cocktel, with a house rum blend, passionfruit, coconut cream, and pina orange cordial is a fresh, tropical escape. Weekend brunch serves up coffee cocktails, mimosas, Bloody Marys, micheladas, and mojitos alongside Bokits, a Guadeloupan fry bread sandwich stuffed with chopped beef or white fish.

Little Italy’s latest hotspot, Coco Maya, is now open. The neighborhood just keeps getting better! Coco Maya is the more sophisticated, well-rounded, Yucatan-inspired counterpart to Miss B’s Coconut Club in Mission Beach. The cuisine serves as a contemporary link from the past to the present using local produce, flavorful spices, and seafood guided by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. The newest concept from Grind & Prosper Hospitality Group takes its inspiration from the history of the islands and Latin American regions of the Caribbean. The menu features bold, large-format proteins cooked over coals in the Josper oven, which is at the heart of the kitchen—hints of ocean, smoke, and char are present throughout.

On India Street, Coco Maya by Miss B’s is replacing Prepkitchen, which closed early last year. The upper level restaurant is being redesigned by GTC Design Studio (Fort Oak, Rare Society) with an open-air feel to reflect the boho chic vibes of Tulum, Mexico; the central cocktail bar will sit under a 30’ by 30’ skylight and part of the roof is being removed to create a 900-square-foot deck. Influenced by the whole of the Caribbean, there will be tequila drinks inspired by the Yucatan Peninsula from Rob McShea and a menu of modern takes on Jamaican coal pot cooking from a Josper charcoal oven-powered kitchen. Grind & Proper owner Pete Cich tells Eater that the restaurant and bar should open this October.

If you want to get a small taste of the Caribbean without leaving San Diego, you’ll have the opportunity to do so at an upcoming rooftop bar in Little Italy later this year. Coco Maya by Miss B’s — a new endeavor by Grind & Proper Hospitality Group — is landing in Little Italy in the former Prepkitchen location by May 2022, according to Eater San Diego. The tropical rooftop bar is being designed by GTC Design Studio. It’ll feature an open-air aesthetic crafted to mimic the boho vibes of Tulum, a town on the Caribbean coastline of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Coco Maya’s central cocktail bar will feature a massive skylight, while part of the location’s roof is being removed to create a 900-square-foot deck.

As Coco Maya by Miss B’s makes its way through the county’s permit system, owner Pete Cich is working toward the restaurant’s late summer debut. The new Yucatan-inspired spin-off will take the place of PrepKitchen at 1660 India Street. "We’re still in the preliminary stages, still trying to get our ducks in a row,” Cich told What Now San Diego. "But we’re aiming for a different spin on the Miss B’s concept. There will be a different menu, with food from the Yucatan side of the Carribean, so more Mexican-Carribean options on this one.”

Coco Maya blew out the walls of the former Little Italy Prepkitchen and the new open air space offers plenty of sunshine with a tropical cocktail menu to match. Grab a high-top and enjoy coconut oil washed pineapple-infused rum in the Gring Groni or the tamarind and chili oil infused mezcal in Side Piece.

This breezy rooftop spot now opens at 10 a.m. (closed Tuesdays) and offers a daily brunch from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Its menu, which draws from cuisines of Latin America and the Caribbean, includes chilaquiles and Cuban steak and eggs along with Jamaican-inspired oxtail soup with oat flour dumplings and a range of bokits, or Caribbean sandwiches, filled with everything from fish to breakfast fixings. Brunch cocktails include mimosas, margaritas, and Maya Coffee, a mix of tequila, cinnamon cold brew, vanilla agave, and salted caramel mascarpone foam.