Humor is at the heart of this restaurant’s concept and design, a fact that is evident from the moment you walk in. But the subtler design intent at the core of the owner’s concept was to create something that feels like an evolution—of both the space and the sandwich—something at once unexpected yet familiar.
This project mashes together highbrow and lowbrow, formal and fun, resulting in gourmet pizza Bagel Bites and a space that is deliberately anachronistic. The historic details of the 1800s Victorian building are complemented by 80s pop culture ephemera and talismans, a combination that recalls the comfort of your grandparents’ spare bedroom you decorated on summer breaks.
The design sought to renovate an existing 2,200-square-foot neighborhood po-boy shop to accommodate seating for 95 patrons by connecting three previously separated dining rooms and the sidewalk. This large-scale reconfiguration of space was combined with small-scale infusions of humor, such as the leaf blowers for hand dryers in the bathrooms and custom wallpaper replete with the team’s inside jokes. Secondhand and surplus school cafeteria furnishings and cutlery ensured that the new space would maintain the patina of the neighborhood sandwich shop it once was, with enough nostalgia to welcome patrons of all ages.
