Coyo Taco

Coyo Taco is a Miami institution, for their new flagship restaurant they entrusted us at Saladino Design Studio to design a space that would set the visual standard for the brand going forward. We grounded the concept in the energy of a Mexican city after dark.  Drawing on neon, blue-washed walls, and the warmth of a late-night taquería this concept embodies an underground, local Mexican feel. Keeping their traditional cobalt blue as the anchor, we carried it across walls, structural columns, custom steelwork, and planters until it became part of the architecture. The material palette is simple and effective: washed white brick with artistry playing off of a traditional Mexican Lotteria game, polished concrete, exposed ceilings, and a custom hand painted blue-and-white botanical tile on the bar face pulling authenticity from Talavera and Puebla traditions.

Lighting and furniture were custom designed in-house. Custom neon line drawings were mounted along the bar's upper rail so the artwork doubles as ambient lighting. Our custom cobalt-steel sconce with a vertical cluster of frosted globes balances the neon with warmer light against the brick. The bar stools were built from powder-coated steel rod with open grid backs and cognac leather cushions, their geometry echoing the industrial mesh paneling throughout the bar's framework. Our result is the new Coyo Taco flagship, a defining expression of the brand, and we're grateful to the team for giving us the room to build it.