01 · The Client

HOSPITALITY · TAMPA, FLORIDA

THE BRISKET SHOPPE

A growing brand system built across illustration, menus, merchandise, signage, events, and in-store experiences for Tampa’s go-to destination for Texas-style barbecue.

Collage of images showcasing The Brisket Shoppe, a barbecue restaurant in Tampa, Florida. Includes picture of branded coasters, packaged embroidered patches, various hats with the shop's logo, a menu with pit sides, and a decorative illustration of a smiling onion with a chile on its head.
Illustration of a whole walnut nut and its shell, shown both closed and cracked open

02 · Project Overview

BUILDING A BIGGER WORLD AROUND THE BARBECUE.

The Brisket Shoppe already had the beginnings of an identity and loyal following when Saltbox came on board. The opportunity was to build on that foundation, developing a more cohesive visual language that could extend across the restaurant, merchandise, signage, special events, and new customer experiences.

Client

The Brisket Shoppe

Industry

Restaurant · Wine Shop · Catering · Hospitality

Location

Tampa, Florida

Services

Brand Refinement · Illustration · Menu Design · Merchandise · Indoor & Outdoor Signage · Event Collateral · Print Design · Production Support

03 · The Challenge

GROWING THE BRAND FROM A HANDFUL OF LOGOS INTO A COHESIVE STORY ROOTED IN OLD WEST TAMPA.

When The Brisket Shoppe first came to Saltbox, it was primarily a small set of logos with limited supporting assets. The opportunity was to take that foundation and expand it into a more complete visual system. One that reflects its West Tampa roots and connects with customers on a more personal, memorable level. Rather than replacing what customers already recognized (the logos), the goal was to strengthen and extend the existing brand beyond flames and cartoon pigs. The new system needed enough personality to feel distinctly theirs while remaining flexible across everything from a restaurant menu to a T-shirt, roadside sign, wine club, or special event.

Build on what works

Evolve the existing identity without losing the familiarity the restaurant had already established.

Create more personality

Develop illustrations, typography, textures, and supporting graphics that give the brand a richer, more expressive visual world. One that reflects the character, culture, and energy of Old West Tampa.

Make it flexible

Create a system that could continuously support new merchandise, events, promotions, signage, and restaurant needs.

04 · Visual Direction

Collage of outdoor and barbecue-themed items, including a person preparing meat, restaurant menus, apparel patches, branded merchandise, and barbecue accessories.

TEXAS BARBECUE WITH A LITTLE FLORIDA PERSONALITY.

The visual direction draws from traditional barbecue culture, vintage restaurant graphics, hand-drawn illustration, and the hard-working personality of The Brisket Shoppe itself.

Page from a branding guide for The Brisket Shoppe featuring three sections: hand-drawn brand illustrations and icons, story-driven design and signage, and clean menu design and typography pairings. Each section includes images and descriptive text about the brand's visual identity, shop environment, and menu presentation.

05 · Brand Refinement

EXPANDING THE IDENTITY INTO A WORKING BRAND SYSTEM.

Color palette guide showing five color swatches with descriptive labels. From top to bottom, the swatches are 'Brisket Shoppe Cream', 'Brisket Shoppe Burnt Red', 'Brisket Shoppe Bark', 'Ranger Green', 'Desert Pink', and 'Golden Papaya'. Each label describes the color in a bold font, the background colors include a light beige, burnt orange, dark grayish black, muted green, soft pink, and warm orange.
A vertical palette with seven color swatches arranged from top to bottom in the following order: dark gray, terracotta, beige, dark green, light pink, burnt orange.
Text-based graphic with green background, showing different font styles for headings: "This is the Header," "This is the Accent Font," and "This is the Body."

A collection of custom illustrations, supporting typography, and expanded color palette helped extend the existing identity beyond the primary logos.

The result is a more flexible toolkit that can move between restaurant materials, merchandise, signage, events, and promotional pieces without requiring every application to rely on the logo alone.

06 · Restaurant Menus

A CLASSIC BARBECUE MENU DESIGNED FOR AWARD-WINNING OLD WEST TAMPA ’CUE.

Menu from The Brisket Shoppe featuring Texas-style barbecue options, meats, pit sides, sweet treats, and an option to build your own plate with fall under the 'Pitmaster's Table' section.
Menu for The Brisket Shoppe featuring bar bites, ice cold beer, house red sangria, wine by the glass, frozen and spritzy drinks, and catering services for private events. Includes QR code and website URL.
Part of a menu titled "Pitmaster's Table" featuring illustrations of sliced smoked meat with text promoting building your own plate with vegetables and sides, and highlighting options for meat with sides and protein.
Close-up of a menu featuring smoked house-made sausage, pit sides, and homemade sauces and more at a barbecue restaurant.

07 · 86 Wine Club

86 WINE CLUB: A BRAND WITHIN A BRAND FOR RARE POURS & GOOD COMPANY.

Logo for 86 Wine Club with a background of wine bottles and glasses.

The 86 Wine Club was created as a brand within The Brisket Shoppe. A members-only program centered around rare bottles, special pours, and shared experiences. With Danny at the helm, together we developed a custom identity inspired by the restaurant’s personality, including a corkscrew logo, supporting marks, membership materials, matchbooks, and branded collateral that give the club its own distinct presence while still feeling at home within The Brisket Shoppe.

Black and white image of various wine bottles with a logo overlay that says "Eighty Six Wine Club" in red script font, with a corkscrew graphic.
A glass of red wine on a wooden surface with spilled wine underneath. Overlaid text reads 'Crafted Curated 86'D' with a corkscrew illustration.
A corkscrew illustration overlaying a blurry image of beer bottles in a cardboard carton.
Logo of 86 Wine Club featuring a corkscrew integrated with the numbers 8 and 6, over a background of wine bottles and corks.
A rectangular card with the text 'Eighby Six Wine Club' and a corkscrew graphic on it, featuring a background of a wine glass and a blurred outdoor scene.

A SERIES OF POSTERS FOR A SERIES OF GOOD NIGHTS.

Event flyer for the 86 Wine Club at The Brisket Shoppe, featuring tasting of 20+ wines paired with small bites, on Friday, February 27th from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Includes event details, website, and promotional graphics.
Flyer for Eighty Six Wine Club member benefits, including two curated bottles of wine, a paired culinary item, monthly wine club pick-up party, retail wine discounts, early event access, and catering order discounts at The Brisket Shoppe.
Event poster for a wine, whiskey, and pork barbecue night with live music, raffle, over 20 wines, 5 distilleries, and featured brands like Penelope and Green River. Date and time: Saturday, April 18th at 6 PM, tickets $15. Location associated with The Brisket Shoppe and Peace Love BBQ, supporting local charities.
Event poster advertising an evening of prime steak cuts and curated wine pairings at The Brisket Shoppe on Saturday, March 21st at 6 PM, with limited seating and a fee of $125 per person.

08 · Merchandise

GOOD BARBECUE DESERVES GOOD MERCH.

White t-shirt with a logo that reads 'The Brisket Shoppe, Your Hometown Smokehouse' on the front, and a graphic of a smoker with the text 'Smoke 'Em on the Field on the Grill' and 'The Brisket Shoppe, Old West Tampa Florida' on the back. Background features cooked barbecue meat.
White t-shirt with a logo that reads 'The Brisket Shoppe, Your Hometown Smokehouse' on the front, and a graphic of a smoker with the text 'Smoke 'Em on the Field on the Grill' and 'The Brisket Shoppe, Old West Tampa Florida' on the back. Background features cooked barbecue meat.
Two white T-shirts with red and blue graphic designs against a dark background. The front shirt features the text "eighty six" in red cursive, with "BARBECUE & WINE CLUB" in blue underneath. The back shirt shows a graphic of a sauce bottle pouring onto a mop with the text "THE BRISKET SHOPPE" on the mop.
Two white T-shirts with red and blue graphic designs against a dark background. The front shirt features the text "eighty six" in red cursive, with "BARBECUE & WINE CLUB" in blue underneath. The back shirt shows a graphic of a sauce bottle pouring onto a mop with the text "THE BRISKET SHOPPE" on the mop.
Cream-colored T-shirt with orange graphic and text, featuring a pizza slice with the words "The Brisket Shoppe" on the front and back. The back text reads "My only is brisket & sunshine. The Brisket Shoppe. Great BBQ. Fine Wines. Good Times. Old West Tampa, Florida." The shirts are displayed against a background of a BBQ grill with flames and smoke.
Cream-colored T-shirt with orange graphic and text, featuring a pizza slice with the words "The Brisket Shoppe" on the front and back. The back text reads "My only is brisket & sunshine. The Brisket Shoppe. Great BBQ. Fine Wines. Good Times. Old West Tampa, Florida." The shirts are displayed against a background of a BBQ grill with flames and smoke.
Two yellow T-shirts with red text and a graphic of a baked potato, set against a background of cooked food including shrimp and vegetables. The front of the shirts reads "The Brisket Pit Krew Tampa Bay Shoppe" with a small graphic of a cooking fork, and the back reads "The Brisket Shoppe Tampa Bay" with an image of a sliced baked potato and the words "Fire, BBQ, Clean, Good Times, Vibes, Meat."
Two yellow T-shirts with red text and a graphic of a baked potato, set against a background of cooked food including shrimp and vegetables. The front of the shirts reads "The Brisket Pit Krew Tampa Bay Shoppe" with a small graphic of a cooking fork, and the back reads "The Brisket Shoppe Tampa Bay" with an image of a sliced baked potato and the words "Fire, BBQ, Clean, Good Times, Vibes, Meat."
Comparative design samples for a logo with different color combinations, featuring the text 'The Brisket Shoppe, Old West Tampa, Florida' and color codes for patch base and stitch.
A round wooden sign with black text that reads "The Brisket Shoppes" around the top and bottom, "Tampa Florida" in the middle, and "Your Hometown Smokehouse" in cursive in the center, with decorative swirls.
Wooden badge with the text "Good for" and "Danny Sent Me" in black, with a decorative line underneath.
Collection of six caps with embroidered patches saying "The Brisket Shoppe, Old West Tampa, Florida," in beige, orange, green, navy, tan, and yellow, displayed on a wooden shelf.
Collection of six caps with embroidered patches saying "The Brisket Shoppe, Old West Tampa, Florida," in beige, orange, green, navy, tan, and yellow, displayed on a wooden shelf.
Three packs of fabric patches with embroidered text for The Brisket Shoppe, Old West Tamps, Florida, in yellow, pink, and red color schemes, packaged in plastic bags and arranged on a wooden surface.
A person's hand holding a wooden token with text, surrounded by similar tokens in a cardboard box.
Design template for a 20-liter book match with sections marked for outside cover, inside/underprint, bleed line, cut line, and dash line live area. The outside cover features a burger restaurant name, slogans, and contact info, while the inside has branding and a note about blackout printed areas.
Logo for TampaMade featuring a sketch of The Brisket Shoppe smokehouse, with the text 'Your Hometown Smokehouse' below.