We Can't Stop Staring At These Restaurants' Walls
Forget the friendly, impeccably dressed host. The best way to welcome people to a restaurant happens before you even check in. Dynamic, colorful murals are covering restaurant walls, from these sunny squares at NYC’s De Maria to the fierce tattooed woman at Here’s Looking at You in LA. At spots like these, the exteriors match the bold food that's inside. Here are some more of our favorites.
Photo by Katie June Burton1/7Zak the Baker, Miami
Miami’s industrial Wynwood Arts District—home of this deliciously kosher bakery—has become a street-art destination for tourists and locals alike. “Sometimes people stop me in the street to ask where the Yoda painting is or the Bob Marley one,” says Zak Stern, the bakery’s owner. Rather than paint his own, he kept this vibrant mural created by Dutch artists Haas & Hahn, which was already there when he moved in.
Photo by Andrew Cebulka2/7Lewis Barbecue, Charleston
We love Lewis Barbecue's seafoam wall adorned with sausage links, cows, and, appropriately, a smoker. The Charleston barbecue spot commissioned the sleek mural by artist Scott Harrell. A second one of a bold-faced steer greets diners in the parking lot.
Photo by Mud Hen Water3/7Mud Hen Water, Honolulu
“The mural has turned out to be one of our social media calling cards,” jokes the restaurant’s owner Ed Kenney. Their Instagram geotag is riddled with selfies taken in front of the intertwined hands. In 2015, German artist Andreas von Chrzanowski (who goes by CASE Maclaim) painted the mural in response to the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris earlier that year. According to the artist, the top hand represents freedom of expression, the dark purple hand represents core human values, and the bottom hand represents society. In short, his message is that society must uphold core human values and support freedom of expression.
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Photo by Katie June Burton4/7De Maria, New York City
The jewel-toned mural outside the popular all-day café was created by The MP Shift, the design studio behind some of the prettiest restaurants in New York right. The duo gleaned inspiration from a geometric painting that artist David Novros created for a friend, the visionary architect Donald Judd. (Go see the original at the Judd Foundation.)
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Photo by Molly DeCoudreaux5/7Media Noche, San Francisco
Media Noche's owners, Jessie Barker and Madelyn Markoe, loved the bright colors of Miami’s Wynwood Art District and wanted to replicate a similar feel at their Cuban eatery. After talking with street artist fnnch, they landed on pink flamingos, a playful nod to the lawn ornaments often associated with Miami Beach.
Photo by Here’s Looking At You6/7Here's Looking at You, Los Angeles
This restaurant's owner, Lien Ta, describes her mural as "pure girl power." “She’s tough, but she doesn’t take herself too seriously,” Ta says of the inked woman that guards her Koreatown storefront. Ta worked with her muralist, Priscilla Witte, frequently to get the cartoonish tattoos just right.
Photo by Bodega7/7Bodega, San Francisco
The crimson pout just around the corner from this North Beach spot is the only thing more photogenic than their sweet potato tacos. The work, created by San Francisco street artist fnnch, is known around town for tagging his whimsical honey bears and bold lips.
