A lot of work goes into the magic behind your favorite holiday bar

Via S O S Tiki Bar Instagram Despite being hard hit this year by higher ingredient prices tariffs labor challenges and rent hikes more Atlanta bars and restaurants than ever before are getting into the holiday makeover spirit in December For a multitude of bars and restaurants operating a holiday pop-up is only a continuation and an unstoppable acceleration of what s become an annual tradition In Inman Park the owners of Amore e Amore formerly Il Localino uncovered themselves carried away by the Italian restaurant s campy decor during the holidays It started with the hats It was Sinatra s birthday Dec and I thought we should play Sinatra all week Amore e Amore co-owner Mama Gale Parker declared I went to the party store looking for inexpensive fedoras for the staff and within two songs customers at the restaurant had taken the hats and started wearing them During a trip to Las Vegas a ceiling installation of roses in a hot air balloon caught Parker s eye Struck by people s positive reactions to the design Parker contemplated how to bring a similar experience to Amore e Amore A curious hanging chair in the corner of the dining room meant to hide a bump on the ceiling sparked an aha moment for Parker who soon began hanging other things around the dining room It didn t take long for it to erupt into a full-scale explosion of decorations Walking into Amore e Amore during the holiday season you enter a dining room bursting at the seams with festive decor Think an eclectic collection of lights and ornaments hanging from the rafters tinsel festooning a tree at the entrance and endless tchotchkes nestled into nooks Via Amore e Amore Instagram Related Get festive at these holiday pop-ups around ATL For S O S Tiki Bar in Decatur one of the first local bars to go overboard with a holiday makeover back in the choice to do a pop-up was intentional It coaxed people in the door for drinks on cold nights in December The Decatur bar s Mele Kalikimaka Tiki Holiday theme was a natural fit Here tropical kitsch vintage decorations and novelties like the shot train that chugs around the bar provide the necessary atmosphere A soundtrack ranging from punk surf rock holiday tunes to Bing Crosby classics sets the mood at the basement bar Marietta Melt Yard s holiday makeover journey began in with the bar van in the dining room Having in recent months watched Home Alone co-owner Justin Wilfon was struck by how much the restaurant s van looked like the one in the movie The holiday pop-up s initial design started with cut-outs of the burglars The present day the pop-up features paint cans in the ceiling Buzz McCallister s bookshelf Duncan s Toy Chest and elements of other beloved holiday movies Going hard for the holidays isn t cheap Wilfon noted he spent roughly for materials in He spends a little more each year to make the Home Alone pop-up bigger and better View this post on Instagram Parker admitted she spends more than a normal person would on holiday decorations for Amore e Amore At one point she had seven storage units stuffed with decorations for themed months at the Inman Park restaurant Ian Jones of Conquest Brands the restaurant group behind S O S Tiki Bar mentioned decorations glassware and custom-made items used to do up the Decatur bar for the holidays occupy largest part of a -foot shipping container He s lost count of how much he s spent over the years on decor for the pop-up Jones Wilfon and Parker reported that part of the fun of operating a holiday pop-up is procuring unique pieces to put on display Amazon is a treasure trove but thrift stores antique and consignment shops and estate sales are on regular rotation when scouting for decorations during the year The coolest stuff are the handmade props we have from artists we ascertained on Etsy along with a local set-builder Wilfon noted Even professional designers hired by restaurants countless of whom source from trusted wholesalers and large-scale commercial decor vendors seek out custom-made items or craft and paint decorations themselves announced Lauren Reeves of The Spirit Exchange Reeves is the designer behind the Santa s Speakeasy pop-ups this year at the East Cobb and Woodstock locations of Marlow s Tavern The first year is inevitably an expenditure in decorations after that it becomes more of a spend on the actual labor Reeves stated of the costs Part of that outlay includes manpower Provided by Wood s Chapel BBQ There s no shame in recognizing that there are others out there who have the skills and information to succeed in a way we wouldn t if we did it on our own disclosed Rye Restaurants partner Jennifer Johnson For Rye Restaurants debuted an Elf movie-themed pop-up at Wood s Chapel BBQ in Summerhill The group tapped Brans House Design Studio to come up with a theme and decorate the restaurant This allowed Johnson and her Wood s Chapel staff to concentrate on food and drinks for the holiday pop-up including novelty foods like candy corn-bread with maple syrup The festive decorations decking out Amore e Amore takes Parker s staff two weeks to install Employees first tackle taking down the previous theme in the dining room putting in the hours for extra pay and for the fun of it S O S Tiki Bar s staff start decorating for Tiki Holiday a week before Thanksgiving Between the labor involved and coming up with the food and beverage menu and designing and ordering all of the merch it s wild how much time we put in compared to less than actual nights of business Jones mentioned It s an army of people contributing but we love it and consistently do The alleyway entrance to Tiki Holiday in Decatur Via S O S Tiki Bar Instagram Staff at S O S Tiki Bar begin decorating for the holidays a week before Thanksgiving Via S O S Tiki Bar Instagram Marietta Melt Yard took a one-fell-swoop approach to decorating for December this year closing after Halloween for a week to transform the restaurant s viral Ghostbusters theme into Home Alone The temporary closures and the costs and labor involved in holiday pop-up makeovers seem worth the hassle however even as restaurants and bars prepare for the busiest dining season of the year It s not easy to get the word out about your restaurant Johnson revealed of choosing to launch the Elf pop-up at Wood s Chapel The city is saturated with restaurants and we want to stand out and invite people to check out Summerhill Jones stated Tiki Holiday increases business exponentially during December with people lingering longer at the Decatur bar and ordering multiple rounds to see the different garnishes and interactive presentations from the bartenders Despite the fun he and his staff have putting on Tiki Holiday the added expenses involved don t translate into an instant windfall Now in its eighth year and with greater part of its decor set Jones has learned to keep a sharp eye on the extra costs associated with Tiki Holiday s themed cocktails including buying smokers glassware more garnishes and special spirits and ingredients not normally stocked behind the bar It s been an incredibly challenging time for the hospitality industry and my heart goes out to everyone Parker declared of why she keeps Amore e Amore s holiday pop-up going We ve all been struggling and the answer has invariably been to work smarter to find a way and to build something that people will remember The post A lot of work goes into the magic behind your favorite holiday bar appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta