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2024 |  Historic Renovation  | 5,330 sq. ft.
French Quarter

Manolito

Manolito’s renovation came with a deceptively simple challenge: expand a beloved award-winning French Quarter bar and restaurant while making it feel like nothing has changed. Studio West’s design expanded Manolito from a 550 sf space with a modest mezzanine into a 2,600 sf full service restaurant with a courtyard. The design removed the existing mezzanine stair to create a passageway to the rear of the existing building, creating additional dining space and doubling the size of the mezzanine dining. Most importantly, the expansion gave access to the rear courtyard, which has been styled to be a French Quarter meets Havana outdoor space. We knew we had succeeded on opening night when someone exclaimed, “They even left the floor tile!”. We hadn’t, it was fully replaced. 

Expanding a beloved bar without changing the vibe