Interior Design, Retail DesignFlorence LAugust 30, 2023Nonno's PizzaInterior Design, Retail Design, Restaurant Design

From Vintage Pizza Hut Pendants to Arcade Game Nostalgia: Dive into the Unique Retro Charm of Nonno's Pizza

Interior Design, Retail DesignFlorence LAugust 30, 2023Nonno's PizzaInterior Design, Retail Design, Restaurant Design

There's a story behind every one of the collectibles and vintage items thoughtfully placed throughout the restaurant.

Gin design group collaborated closely with the owners, husband and wife team Sara and Martin Stayers, to design the restaurant harnessing Gen X nostalgia. From vintage Pizza Hut and Tiffany glass pendants hanging above the cozy dining booths to the memorabilia adorning the dining walls and shelving, you will feel as if the owners welcomed you to enjoy a meal in their living room. The design is highly personal, and that's what we love about it. The resulting design fully captures gin design group's vision statement: "A teen in the 80's hanging in your Grandpa's basement gameroom."

The cozy, dimly-lit dining room will remind you of a basement game room, away from the eyes of parents, where teens would share a pizza with friends and play video games.

*The space is filled with fun details like this Pac-Man shaped host stand.*

Slide into one of the retro booths to enjoy thin-crust Midwestern square slices of pizza under vintage Tiffany glass pendants from Pizza Hut. The raised dining area features a brown and cream checkered laminate floor, classic spindle partitions, and a yellow corduroy banquette. The fun extends to the outdoors, where the patio features a canopy and columns in a gradient of cheerful yellows punctuated by refurbished picnic tables with floral patterned umbrellas from Business & Pleasure.

*Vintage Pizza Hut and Tiffany glass pendants are scattered throughout the space.*

*Take a break at the arcade room with a funky disco ball-style ceiling.*

Nonno's is where you can hang out for hours, much like teenagers at a friend's house after school. Take a gaming break in the arcade room, which comes complete with a disco ball-style mirrored ceiling and floor-to-ceiling carpet illuminated by a gold neon band.

It's evident the design team and the owners really had fun building out the space. When asked how long it took to source all the fun items for the restaurant, owner Martin Stayer shared, "As far as sourcing the stuff, it was more of a scramble down memory lane than a well-curated plan. Sara had some stuff from her childhood and then found some fun things on eBay. My mom and grandma have been clearing out their attics, and we got a lot from them." The parents and the grandparents weren't the only ones chipping in; even the youngest members were thrilled to contribute. "Our kids were super excited to give toys or suggest things we should put around. We would just bring a box of stuff every couple of days, and then, our manager Gillian or I would hang it up or put it on a shelf. Most of the photos in the restroom vestibule are family photos. All in all, it was super fun to put together."

Similarly, designer Gin Braverman enjoyed the collaborative process with the owners, where they would amplify each other's creative ideas. Braverman shares one such example. "The host stand, which was originally going to be a Pac-Man shape, evolved into a glass prize case with the Pac-Man eating the dots along the countertop. The Stayers also envisioned a mini-arcade, for which we specified a mirrored ceiling tile. They came back with disco-ball style adhesive sheets, which nails the aesthetic perfectly."

*The raised dining area features brown and cream checkered laminate floor and a yellow corduroy banquette.*

*Nonno’s is the neighbourhood pizza joint that will take Gen X-ers and Millennials down memory lane.*

These fun details throughout the restaurant are what make Nonno's Pizza so unique. Dominos inlaid into the tiled restroom walls, a Pac-Man shaped host stand, memorabilia and trinkets displayed in the glass case, nostalgic memorabilia and vintage speakers adorning the bar shelving, the list goes on. A trip to Nonno's is akin to a treasure hunt taking you on a trip down memory lane.

Nonno's captures this throwback daydream in a non-formulaic and completely original way.