This week’s #FridayFeed restaurant branding review is Pie Tap at Market Center and Oak Lawn in the Design District.

Order Up!

Pie Tap has 3 locations and another on the way. I really like this place. The exterior, the interior, the photos, the food, the website and finally, the SPIEDINI (oven fired skewers of prosciutto wrapped fontina cheese served with a small arugula salad). The Spiedini is a Keto eaters dream.

I haven’t really found much reason to leave the “snack” menu yet. Our office neighbor Erin has an unnatural relationship with the Goat cheese fondue served with toasted pecan pepper jam and fresh made rosemary bread puff -it’s nothing less than sensual. Really.

Danny is a pizza guy so he got the Prosciutto pie. It has la quercia prosciutto, medjool dates, pistachio, arugula, house ricotta, parmigiano-reggiano and is topped with a balsamic drizzle. Even though he meant to get the Salami pizza, he said the Prosciutto pizza was a sweet and savory surprise.

In 2017, Pie Tap was voted the Best New Restaurant in Dallas and won Culturemap’s Tastemaker Award.

It’s clear that there’s a chef behind the food and that he’s Italian and it’s obvious that they are having fun here. This place is cool and “neighborhoody!”

Environmental Branding:

When a place is “cool” it’s really hard to describe it because, well, it’s just cool. I’m going to try anyway – one thing about this place is the WARMTH. It is true industrial design but somehow it’s not cold and uncomfortable. I think the open kitchen with two massive and beautiful italian ovens is a big part of it. The smooth warm wood tables and touches of gold upholstery make for nice and toasty interior. It actually smells warm too! 

It’s not a very big place but the layout is great. I pretty much like everything except the blue and green argyle tile wall and the lightbulbs in the bathroom.

Pie Tap was designed by Plan B Group. Plan B is Royce Ring and Alex Urrunaga. They are credited with LOTS of cool restaurants – check ‘em out. Name dropping sidebar: Way back when – I worked on a few projects for Club Nikita – a basement level Russian vodka bar in West Village owned by Russell Hayward who was partners with Royce in Triple R Group. Russell owns Ascension Coffee – another great place just down the street.

Branding DNA:

The design district location has great curb appeal with lots of visibility for signage including a billboard. Window graphics advertise 1/2 price wine. There’s a big pizza wheel sculpture on the corner and outdoor seating. Everything ties in and results in one nice big branding package.

Digital Branding:

Pie Tap’s website has a scrolling banner that mixes mouthwatering food photography with decor and employee imagery that lets the consumer know what to expect any time you visit one of their locations. Their Instagram and Facebook have the perfect balance of food, marketing and lifestyle images. Pie Tap’s photographs look professional while still retaining a candid feel.
-Danny

Score:

MJ and Danny give it a solid A.

#FridayFeed:

Every Friday, Studio B Dallas visits a local fast casual concept for lunch to critique the brand (and eat lunch). Three rules apply: it’s a concept we haven’t been to or it’s been in the restaurant news and it’s within 10 miles of our office. Wait, four rules – it can’t be sushi. Danny doesn’t do sushi. If you have any suggestions on where we should eat next, feel free to leave it in the comments. Look for our restaurant branding reviews each Friday! MJ & Danny

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This week’s #FridayFeed restaurant branding review is Tacodeli at Sylvan | Thirty with celebrity guest, Bret Sano from Caliber Creative.

Order Up!

Tacodeli has 10 locations in Austin, Dallas, Houston. Big menu with lots of “Farm to Taco” menu items. Everything is made fresh daily including a nice selection of fresh salsas and sauces. Delicious queso – a little thinner than I like it but the flavor is really nice. Before I talk about the food, I’m going to say what I’m sure so many people say about Tacodeli – Why are they not open for dinner???!” In a city where you can pretty much get anything you want, any time you want, this makes me crazy – like how Chick-Fil-A is not open on Sunday.

They ARE open for breakfast every day and lunch is served until 3pm which would be GREAT for Tacodeli if that location was in the heart of a business district vs surrounded by apartments. I ordered the Frontera Fundido Sirloin with grilled sirloin, jack cheese glaze, and sautéed poblano-onion rajas and an Akaushi Picadillo which is a ground beef, jack cheese glaze, cilantro and onion. Now, I don’t know what Fundido is and I don’t know what a jack cheese “glaze” is but I do know that I like them both. I rarely order anything sirloin unless it’s the fajitas at Uncle Julio’s (yum) but this sirloin was tender and delicious. Bret got the Happy Taco, and the Carne Asada. Danny got the Tacoloco and Akaushi Picadillo. We shared a queso and chips and we sampled all of the sauces.

Environmental Branding:

The interior design at this location is very light and bright. They use a large format octagonal tile in grey, black and white which dominates more than I like. I actually had to go back and look at the photos to remember anything about the floor, tables, chairs and lighting. The dining room has a variety of “hard” seating and this location also has outdoor seating. I wouldn’t say that the decor says anything about the concept. 

Branding DNA:

I went to the website to learn more about the brand. Labeled Farm to Taco, the website tells the story of founder Roberto who was born in Mexico and started Tacodeli in Austin in 1999. The logo was updated just last year, retiring the cartoon Mexican eating a taco (still found at the Sylvan | Thirty location, however). I’d like to see a slogan or something to help me connect the brand a little more. While “farm-to-table”, “organic”, “locally sourced”, have dominated the restaurant scene this last 5 years, it’s time for something new. It might have been “different” in Austin in 1999 but if you’re going to enter the taco scene in the Dallas Market without benefit of your history, you better bring your A-game. Just sayin…

Bret’s Thoughts:

Overall, I’d say the branding is not bringing much new and different to the table. The tone and style of the logotype and brand typography are definitely kicking a casual, approachable vibe, which is appropriate and fits the category. The logotype itself comes across as both custom and stock typeface at the same time. You could see it either way. The style of it reminds me of infamous 90’s gimmick display fonts like Fajita and Remedy, which is not for me, but it’s not nearly as obnoxious as those were. The color palette is pretty standard and basic, which is fine, but again not differentiating itself much. I think the ancillary branded graphics like the t-shirts are a missed opportunity. For me they blend together with a multitude of other Tex Mex restaurants and brands – Chuy’s comes to mind. All that said, the tone and personality of brand is authentic and true to what it is — it’s not hipster food, it’s not elevated food, it’s Tex Mex comfort casual, and the branding speaks to that in my opinion.

Celebrity Guest, Bret Sano is a principal and creative director at award-winning Dallas design firm Caliber Creative. He also happens to be the very first designer I ever hired at Studio B in the mid 90’s when we officed in the White Swan Building (now House of Blues). He and his company do beautiful work

Digital Branding:

Tacodeli’s social media is full of taco and promotional imagery, but showcase only a few lifestyle photographs. In such a competitive market, Tacodeli would benefit by mixing in more posts about their brand’s uniqueness i.e. their farm fresh produce, locally sourced ingredients and their ties to the community.

Something to Chew On:

Tacodeli uses a variety of tattoo-esque illustrations on their tabletops, various secondary signage and even on retail merchandise. The use of this secondary art style should be carried throughout the branding more or remove it entirely. Their primary design of clean and modern clash with the ancillary tattoo-esque illustrations.
– Danny

Score:

MJ gives it a B, Danny gives it a B+ and Bret gives it a B.

#FridayFeed:

Every Friday, Studio B Dallas visits a local fast casual concept for lunch to critique the brand (and eat lunch). Three rules apply: it’s a concept we haven’t been to or it’s been in the restaurant news and it’s within 10 miles of our office. Wait, four rules – it can’t be sushi. Danny doesn’t do sushi. If you have any suggestions on where we should eat next, feel free to leave it in the comments. Look for our restaurant branding reviews each Friday! MJ & Danny

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“Rodeo Goat Icehouse is the GOAT”

This week’s #FridayFeed restaurant branding review is Rodeo Goat Icehouse on Market Center Blvd. with celebrity guest, Mike Snyder.

Order Up!

Rodeo Goat has 5 locations. Full disclosure-I’ve been here 5 times. 4 of the 5 times I got the Terlingua Burger. Let me give you the description so you can enjoy it in its full glory: Terlingua Burger: havarti, homemade brisket chili, onion, corn chips, garlic-herb mayo. Mike Snyder (Brinker, Corner Bakery, Newk’s Eatery and currently Partner in Ecotrack), was my “celebrity guest” on this visit. He ordered The Brad Sham. Measuring 5” tall, this burger has bacon, beefsteak tomato, jalapeños, fried onion, cheddar, pickle chutney, and house made bbq sauce. We shared a basket of fries because Foursquare said they were the #1 place for fries in Dallas/Fort Worth. I’ve got hot sports opinions (unwikit) about fries so I don’t agree, but hey, I tried them, again, in the name of research. 

Environmental Branding:

The interior is big and open with high ceilings. Cinder block walls, concrete floors, lots of high community tables pretty much sum up the interior. Aluminum gate room dividers, kind of (exactly) like a livestock pavilion, separate the space between the high tables and a room with upholstered booths. I wouldn’t call it cozy but it matches the brand so there you go. There is a huge outdoor patio with picnic tables, yard games and a view of the “Elm Fork” of the Trinity river which hasn’t really come into it’s own yet. Looks like a grassy ditch but better than looking at concrete and cars and there’s a pretty good view of the city.

Branding DNA:

On the subject of branding, one of Rodeo Goat’s slogans is “WE GRIND SO FINE!” and they warn that the patties may be juicer and messier than everybody else’s. This is true and it is excellent brand positioning! I didn’t see any branded packaging, no logos on cups, napkins, etc. I DID buy a cool long-sleeve goat t-shirt though. Founder Willard “Daddy-O” Watson’s story about “How I Got The Goat” is a great read (located on the backside of the menu). I also love brands with “people” behind them.

Mike’s Thoughts: 

Signage was hard to read. I actually drove past the building. “Was not over branded as I did not see the word- Rodeo Goat on anything in the restaurant except the menu.” “Very engaging menu that made you read through all items. Unique local names that caught a Dallasite’s attention.” “It was a three napkin burger.”

Mike Snyder, former VP of Development at Newk’s Eatery and I worked together on the Gen 2 store redesign. We once remodeled a store together in one night!

Street Cred:

They’ve got lots of INK. People love this place. They’ve been featured in Fort Worth Magazine, Dallas Observer and Thrillist just to name a few.

Digital Branding:

I don’t like websites that force me to choose a location before I am let into the site. However, I discovered that the locations have some different menu items based on location. Food photography on the website is obviously taken in-house. Instagram rocks great food photos, however. Website does an ok job for information but could be much better.

Score:

MJ gives it an A for the Terlingua burger because that might be the only thing I ever order, ever. I’ll go A for branding. Room for improvement on the website. Mike gives Rodeo Goat a solid B.

#FridayFeed:

Every Friday, Studio B Dallas visits a local fast casual concept for lunch to critique the brand (and eat lunch). Three rules apply: it’s a concept we haven’t been to or it’s been in the restaurant news and it’s within 10 miles of our office. Wait, four rules – it can’t be sushi. Danny doesn’t do sushi. If you have any suggestions on where we should eat next, feel free to leave it in the comments. Look for our restaurant branding reviews each Friday! MJ & Danny

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