Panera Bakery
8531 State Highway 151
San Antonio, Texas  78233

The Panera Bakery, located in The Westover Marketplace at the intersection of Highway 151 and Loop 410 in San Antonio Texas.  The building is approximately 5,400 square feet and features a covered patio to provide outdoor dining in addition to the typical indoor dining area.  Unlike many of their locations which are in retail centers, this one is a new freestanding building with drive through service.  The exterior of the building consists of painted stucco parapet walls with a ceramic tile wainscot. The patio is covered with a standing seam metal roof on a painted steel frame. The interior design was furnished by the Panera Bakery franchise and has a full service commercial kitchen and bakery which offers fresh baked breads, sandwiches, soups and salads.  The dining area has both table and booth seating is finished with wood surfaces and plastic laminates in warm inviting colors.  The flooring is a combination of tile and carpet.  The contemporary light fixtures and furniture, abundant natural light, and overall color scheme give the interior a clean upscale look.

Little Caesars
5580 Walzem Road
San Antonio, Texas

This Little Caesars location is the first of several locations designed by Stephen J. Kramer Architecture + Design for local franchise owner. The wood framed building is approximately 1,500 square feet and features a brick exterior, a painted stucco parapet, with metal window canopies and low slope roofing. The interior consists of a customer waiting area, a full pizza kitchen and a drive through window.

Little Caesars started in Garden City, Michigan and has grown to be a international chain of restaurants in over 25 countries. Little Caesars has been serving pizza for over 50 years and offers a variety of other menu items such as their crazy bread and wings.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
1144 Ruben Torres Boulevard
Brownsville, Texas

The building in Brownsville is approximately 2,000 square feet and was built for our client Glazing Saddles, LLC from Austin, TX. It has the typical Krispy Kreme’s look with light colored painted stucco and brick veneer. The building is wood framed construction with a parapet wall and low sloped roof. The interior features a commercial kitchen with a serving line, dough mixers and the tunnel oven for making the Krispy Kreme doughnuts where customers can watch the whole process as the doughnuts are made. There is a small indoor dining area features a large windows to allow for natural light and also a covered patio for exterior dining.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts was started in 1937 when Vernon Rudolph bought a doughnut recipe from a New Orleans French chef and set up shop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Krispy Kreme offers a variety of doughnuts as well as it’s special blend of coffees. Originally Krispy Kreme started out selling doughnuts in grocery stores, and now it has franchise location across the United States as well as 21 international market.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts II
8815 Potranco Road
San Antonio, Texas

This Krispy Kreme doughnut shop location is approximately 2,300 square feet and is an interior finish out in an existing shell building. The space features a customer dining area with a service counter and display area. The back area features a the doughnut making kitchen, with an office and wash area.

Krispy Kreme first opened in 1937 in North Carolina and began selling doughnuts to grocery stores. The first retail store only store is opened in 1989 and Krispy Kreme has grown to over 1,000 locations in 21 international markets.

Las Palapas
5530 Babcock Road
San Antonio, Texas

The building is approximately 4,000 square feet and was built by Superior Contracting for Ron Acosta. It has the typical Las Palapas look with painted stucco, stone wainscot, Spanish tile roof and palapa covered dining patio. The building is wood framed construction with a parapet wall and low sloped roof over the kitchen area and a gabled tiled roof over the dining area. The interior features a full commercial kitchen with serving line, grilling areas, walk-in cooler and freezer. There are two dining areas. The indoor dining features a large number of windows that allow for natural light and the exterior covered dining area to enjoy the surrounding landscaped courtyard.

Las Palapas was started in 1981 with the idea of serving a fresh mix of traditional family recipes from California and South Texas. The pride themselves on serving Mexican food that can be enjoyed with friends and family at everyday value pricing. The first Las Palapas in San Antonio was located in Central Park Mall and they continue to grow throughout San Antonio.

Bush’s Chicken
1035 North State Highway 123
San Marcos, Texas

The building which is approximately 3,000 square feet was built for The Restaurant Ranch, and has the typical Bush’s look with painted stucco, a stone wainscot, signature red awnings and three lane drive through. The building is wood framed construction with a parapet wall and low sloped roof. The interior features a full commercial kitchen with serving line, frying areas, walk-in cooler and freezer. The dining area features a large number of windows that allow for natural light.

Bush’s Chicken was started in Waco, Texas in 1996 and is committed to the perfection of providing a family friendly quick-service restaurant experience for southern fried chicken lovers. The menu features a variety of items including boned chicken, tenders, sides desserts and great sweet tea.

Eddie’s Taco House
3755 Thousand Oaks Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78247

The Original Eddies Taco House on W. Cevallos, south of Downtown San Antonio, has been a longtime Mexican Food standard for politicians, police and fire personnel as well as lawyers and city governement and municipal workers.  The original location is known for their homemade tortillas, breakfast tacos, Tex Mex specialties and combo plates.  The owners plan to carry this reputation and loyal following to the new location as well. The new Northside location is a bigger facility at approximately 6500 s.f. and provides a full dinner menu and full bar in contrast to the original location which is open for breakfast and lunch only and has no bar service.  The Northside location also has a double lane drive through to accomodate busy breakfast and lunch rushes.  Their seating capacity exceeds 320 including indoor dining, private dining, outdoor patio seating and bar.  The large full service kitchen has everything required to keep up with the anticipated crowds including full walk-in cooler and freezer, large dry storage areas, cook line, dish area, drive through facility and large plating and pick up area for wait staff.  The building exterior has a typical Mexican look with rock and stucco materials, rich earthtone colors and a spanish tile roof.  There is a large corner tower element with a domed top at the  front corner of the building.  Ample parking is provided and the landscaping compliments the building.

Bill Miller Bar-B-Que Restaurants
San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, and other Texas Cities

The Bill Miller Bar-B-Que Restaurant Chain is a locally owned San Antonio Barbeque restaurant chain with approximately 60 restaurants in San Antonio and other Texas cities.  From 1992 until the present Stephen J. Kramer Architecture + Design, Inc. has designed and remodeled over twenty facilities for this long term client.  Initially we designed restaurants using an existing building prototype.  This consisted of a clay tile structure with a simple fascia and covered front porch.  Over the years we have developed two new prototypes for this restaurant chain.  The first one is approximately 5,000 s.f. and is designed to look like an early Texas Ranch style building.  Exterior materials consist of vertical board and batten siding, and rock faced concrete block topped by steeply sloped standing seam metal roofing.  Accent details such as wood shutters, cast iron stars, and column brackets complete the exterior look.  The second prototype is a modification of the original Bill Millers building however the basic box has been modified keeping the front porch from the original building design and adding a standing seam metal mansard roof and gabled entry foyer.  All of the Bill Miller facilities contain ample parking and drive through ordering facilities.  The building interiors use material similar to the building exterior with the addition of a stained concrete flooring and some cypress wood paneled walls.  Additional items such as custom made tables sporting the cattle brands of the chain Owners, custom made counter stools fashioned out of tractor seats as well as western paintings, airbrushed murals of ranching scenes and accents such as cowboy boots and ropes are used to give the building interiors more of a western flair.  In addition to the visual design elements these restaurants require extensive design time and coordination with engineers and consultants in order to provide a functional efficient facility kitchen area in back of the house that is seldom seen by patrons.

Outtakes Fresh Cuisine
Nationwide locations

Outtakes Fresh Cuisine is a small fast food franchise that focuses on healthy food choices and convenience items offered in a pleasing, convenient atmosphere.  They feature fresh sandwiches, salads, soups, juices and other healthy food choices in a  sleekly designed enviornment.  When you reach for Outtakes, expect a meal that rivals the finest retail take out establishments and spend less time getting it.  Their sandwich wraps and signature salads are prepared for customers with discriminating palates that want to get their meals fast.

We have completed design development plans for roughly a dozen of these facilities which are typically located in Universities, High Schools, and Corporate Campuses.    Locations for projects that we have worked on with Outtakes include the University of San Francisco in California, Boeing in Seattle, Northrop Grummann in Los Angeles, Lockheed Martin in Denver, The Capital Group in Phoenix, and USAA here in San Antonio.

Both Steve Kramer and Andy Immroth have travelled to many of these and other locations and worked on plans for the Outtakes projects.  We look forward to a continued reltationship and additional work on future projects with Tim Delaney the Design and Build Manager for Eurest/Compass Group the developer of the Outtakes brand.

Big’s Burger Joint
San Antonio, Texas

The Big’z Burger Joint is located on Loop 1604 between Huebner and Bitters Rd. in San Antonio, TX.  The site is over 2 acres with lots of native oak trees to provide a shady break during the hot days of summer.  The menu offers big juicy hamburgers with all the trimmings and a gourmet sauce bar in a casual atmoshphere that is destined to become a classic hang out.  The building is a pre-engineered metal structure with a Barn Red exterior.

The interior has a stained concrete floor, corrugated metal walls and a soaring vaulted ceiling.  In addition there is an exterior patio where you will be able to eat outside, watch the kids playing in the ample back yard and hopefully listen to some live music.  There is nothing pretentious about this restaurant.  They are just there to offer great burgers in a relaxing atmosphere.

Mission Cafe
21510 Blanco Roa
San Antonio, Texas  78260

The Mission Cafe Mexican Restaurant located at 21510 Blanco Road in San Antonio north of 1604 at Gathering Oak. The building is 4,000 s.f. and has fast casual dining inside the establishment as well as drive through service outside.  The building exterior uses traditional materials to carry out the Mission theme of the restaurant.  The wall material is stucco with wrought iron and cantera stone accents at the windows.  The roof parapet and shade covers above the windows use traditional terra cotta clay tile roofing material.  Exposed wood on the building is a stained rough cedar.  In addition to using traditional materials the building uses traditional forms and elements such as domed bell towers with actual bronze bells and a parapet that draws on the California Mission style in order to carry through on the theme.  The entry porch has saltillo tiles and a stained and carved entry door.  On the interior the restaurant uses things such as custom booth seating, talavera tile, a salsa bar and fresh made flour tortillas to complete the atmosphere started on the exterior.  The building Owners are orginally from Mexico and in addition to the building design and style, bring with them the recipes and traditions of their country.

Barnacle Bills Seafood Restaurants
San Antonio, Texas 

The Barnacle Bills Seafood Restaurant chain is a long standing client of Stephen J. Kramer Architecture + Design.  There are currently six locations in San Antonio and all of them have been designed by the firm.  We initially worked with the Owners to come up with the exterior concept for the look of the building.  What we tried to achieve was the look of a Texas Coastal Bait Shop.  The idea being that facility started with a small simple pitched roof shack and had been added on to number of times over the years.  Looking at the design for the original buildings one can see how this concept was accomplished.  The use of simple materials including painted concrete block, corrugated galvanized metal roofing, and painted structural steel canopies in addition to painted wood siding completes the building theme on both interior and exterior of the restaurant.  The Owners also hired and worked with an interior designer to collect used fishing gear including boats, motors, bait buckets, maps, poles and other items to furnish the restaurant and enhance the desired atmosphere.  The final touch in completion of the interior of the restaurant consist of hundreds of fishing photos featuring restaurant Owners and their friends and family pictured with their catches. In addition elaborate air brushed murals of different coastal scenes are used inside and out and designed to look like windows on the interior or items on the walls of the exterior of the building.  As additional restaurants were built the design has became simpler and more standardized with the idea of creating a standard prototype for future restaurant locations.

East Coast Wings & Grill
2120 W Oaklawn Road
Pleasanton, Texas

East Coast Wings is approximately 4,000 square feet and is a finish out in an existing shell building in Pleasanton, Texas.  The interior construction consists of metal stud framing, with an open ceiling in the dining areas and a lay-in ceiling grid in the kitchen and restroom areas.  The restaurant features a full commercial kitchen, a host stand, seated dining, space for patio dining, and a bar area.

East Coast Wings and Grill offers a wide variety of wing flavors in various heat options.  East Coast also has a wide variety of other options available, including appetizers, salads, hamburgers, beers and spirits.

Italian Coffee Company
1144 Ruben Torres Boulevard
Brownsville, Texas

The Italian Coffee Company was founded in the city of Puebla, Mexico in 1996, and with over 400 locations is one of Mexico’s fastest growing coffee franchises. Their Italian Tuscan style wrap their clients in a European atmosphere with fine coffees from around the world.

Italian Coffee Company project in Brownsville is approximately 2,000 square feet of wood framed building with a brick veneer exterior and stone masonry entry and accents. There are custom steel architectural details such as the drive thru canopy and exterior lighting fixtures. It features a coffee service and storage area with indoor seating as well as a covered terrace seating area. March Construction of San Antonio was the General Contractor on the project.

EZ’s Brick Oven and Grill
San Antonio, Plano, and Rollingwood Texas 

The Ez’s Brick Oven and Grill restaurant chain consist of ten locations in the San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin areas.  They were added as Clients to our firm in 2001 and since that time have completed three locations at the rate of one a year.  All of the existing locations are either in retail strip centers or have been remodeled from existing restaurant facilities.  In the future the company as plans to open additional locations, both in retail settings and as free-standing building locations.  The spacial arrangement of the facilities are simple with kitchen, restroom, and storage facilities at the back of the space and the public dining areas toward the front.  We work with the Owner and kitchen consultants to insure that the kitchen layout is as functional and efficient as possible.  The dining area of these restaurants provide an opportunity to use colors, materials and unique design elements that give EZ’s its trademark; a fun and playful atmosphere.  Multicolored vinyl tile floors along with brightly colored paints and laminates are all used to achieve this.  Other accent items such as other optics, metallic surfaces and in once case an automatic ice delivery system add to the atmosphere.  All of this design work is done keeping in mind the Clients budget as well as the image they wish to project.

Papouli’s Greek Grill
San Antonio, Texas

The Papouli’s Greek Grill project is the second in what the Owner hopes will become a chain of restaurants specializing in Greek and Mediterranean foods.  The original location is in the Forum development at IH35 and Loop 1604 in San Antonio.  It was built in a space occupied by another sandwich shop and adapted by the Owner.  The second restaurant is located in the City View retail center near the intersection of Huebner Road and Exposition Boulevard also in San Antonio.

The space is on an end cap of the center and has lots of storefront glass in the dining area as well as a patio that allows for outside viewing and dining.  The kitchen, food storage and rest room areas are pushed to the back of the space and the ceilings are open and exposed to painted structure and deck in order to achieve a very open, airy feel in the dining area.  The kitchen is open to the dining area so that the customer can see and hear as the food is prepared.  The Owner was very involved in the interior design of the space and selected a lot of the colors, textures and fixtures.  The Mediterranean theme was carried through with bright accent colors as well as extensive murals and trompe loeil done by “aartvarks”, a local firm that specializes in custom artwork.  The murals are of landscape scenes that evoke Greek scenery.  Other architectural items such as archways, columns, windows, and shutters and are used to give the customer the feel of being in Greek villa.

Papouli means grandfather in Greek and according to the Owner, ” At Papouli’s Greek Grill, we feature traditional & contemporary Greek cuisine. Leg of lamb, beef, chicken & Gyro are all presented in a variety of dishes, from the Greek style sandwich wrap to gourmet quality platters. Complementing these standard offerings are Moussaka, Pastichio, Dolmas and of course, our traditional Greek salads. Rounding out the menu is our classic sweet favorites Baklava and Galaktobouriko, as well as a wide selection of Greek and domestic wines & beers.”

“Papouli’s Greek Grill is dedicated to all the Grandfathers who passed their legacies on to their children and grandchildren to build lasting family traditions”.

Sushi Zushi Restaurant
18720 Stone Oak Parkway
San Antonio, Texas  78258

The Sushi Zushi Restaurant restaurant in San Antonio, Texas is the third in a chain of local sushi restaurants.  The first two were opened by the owner in locations that been home orginally to other restaurants.  This restaurant is located at the Stone Oak Retail center on Loop 1604 and Stone Oak Parkway in north central San Antonio and is the first in the chain to start with a clean slate.  The building exterior was modified from the original center design using canvas awnings, a painted trellis and horizontal window mullions to provide a unique look.  The building interior has a very contemporary look that was achieved through the use by the interior designer of materials such as bamboo, natural wood, stained concrete and brushed aluminum.  Other design items such as the use of suspended ceilings, interesting wall forms, dark colors, halogen lighting, interior plants and art serve to make this project a very elegant space to enjoy, both visually and for an excellent meal.

The Melting Pot
14855 Blanco Road
San Antonio, Texas  78216

The first Melting Pot restaurant was started in Maitland, Florida in 1975 with a menu that consisted of just three items: Beef fondue, Swiss cheese fondue and milk chocolate fondue for dessert. Since then, The Melting Pot menu has grown immensely with about 70 restaurants in locations all across the nation. The latest franchise in the Melting Pot Restaurant family is located in San Antonio, Texas. Now that you know a little about the Melting Pot, here’s a little history lesson on fondue. It originated in Switzerland as a clever and tasty way of using up hardened cheese. Fondue is derived from the French verb fondre and means “to melt.” While most people define fondue as a “thick cheese sauce in which bread chunks are dipped,” the Melting Pot takes it to a whole new level.

At the Melting Pot you can experience a memorable four-course dinner where you can enjoy a choice of four flavorful fondue cooking styles and a variety of tasty entrees, including beef,  chicken, duck, lobster, shrimp, scallops, salmon and much more. All are available in many different combinations with a variety of special dipping sauces.  The Melting Pot also has a wide selection of creamy, mouth-watering chocolate fondue desserts. There is also a full bar and private wine cellars are available.  Each table has it’s own fondue pot to allow the customers to cook their own meals.

As the local architect on the project, Stephen J. Kramer Architecture + Design Inc. provided plan coordination, code review, permitting services and construction administration for the restaurant. Interior layout and design was provided by the design department from the Melting Pot corporate headquarters as well as by the franchise owners.   The restaurant is located at a prominent spot in a retail/office center at 14855 Blanco Road, #110, San Antonio, TX 78216 at the corner of Bitters and Blanco Roads and promises to provide an interesting and intimate setting along with a wide choice of excellent food and drink.  If you would like to find out more about the melting pot go to www.meltingpot.com .  For reservations in San Antonio call 210-479-MELT.

The Naples Pizza restaurant in San Antonio, Texas is located in a corner lease space of an HEB center at the intersection of Huebner rd. and Northwest Military Highway.  The client orginally moved to San Antonio from Princeton N.J. where he had run a pizza parlor catering to the local college crowd.  He wanted to maintain some of the atmosphere of the original restaurant and as a result we were able to incorporate a open painted ceiling, rough wood siding, arched openings and individual booths into the design.  The kitchen area is open allowing customers to see the pizza and other foods while they are prepared.