AIA|LA 2017 restaurant design winners announced

The best designed restaurants, cafes, and night clubs

By Jenna Chandler@jennakchandler Jun 23, 2017, 5:31pm PDT

One of the winners is the Long Beach location of Beer Belly.

The Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA|LA) awarded design honors Friday to local restaurants, cafes, and night clubs.

“Sometimes people don’t think restaurant design is that important,” designer Barbara Lazaroff said in announcing the winners. “You only understand how important it is when it doesn’t work. Somehow when it works, it just flows, and it’s great.”

The five winners were selected from nearly 70 entries by a three-member panel comprised of Los Angeles Times writer Lisa Boone, architect Aaron Neubert, and restaurateur Caroline Styne, who owns Larder Baking Company and Tavern.

Below, we’ve compiled images from the stunning winners, along with excerpts from the jury’s comments, provided by AIA|LA. (Not included below is Design, Bitches, one of the winners, whose beautiful pink and white project, Little Octopus, is based in Nashville.)

Break Room 86

This 80s-themed nightclub, filled with old TVs and boomboxes, was designed by Houston Hospitality.

Jury comments: “This one stoked me the most in terms of, not only the décor, but the interactive aspect of it for the guests. Going in there and being able to immerse yourself in this idea of the break room and the karaoke and the music: it almost felt more authentic in its craziness.”