Smitty's Food and Drink Apparel: A Stylish Twist on Culinary Fashion

Smitty’s Food & Drink is a neighborhood bar and restaurant with a 36-year legacy of great food, strong drinks, and a laid-back, old-school atmosphere. For this apparel overhaul, the goal was to reflect that history and charm with a bold, wearable design that felt true to the space and the people who love it.

The focal point of the redesign became the restaurant’s unmistakable storefront — a terracotta-shingled awning, wood pillars, brick façade, and glowing neon bar signs behind large windows. This iconic entrance was illustrated as a one-color vector graphic, perfect for making a statement on the back of tees and hoodies. To ground the design (and provide a visual endpoint, given the storefront is part of a plaza), a circular border was added. Background trees and foreground parking spots brought balance and dimension to the scene.

The text “Smitty’s Food & Drink – Since 1988” was offset around the border in a repeating pattern, creating a strong sense of movement and continuity. The design was kept in solid white, letting the garment color do the heavy lifting — ideal for vibrant prints on heavyweight, slightly oversized tees that give the artwork room to breathe and stand out without distraction.

This project was all about honoring the legacy of a local institution and giving regulars — and new fans — something they’d be proud to wear.

In addition to the storefront graphic, a secondary line of apparel was created featuring a clean, standalone “Smitty’s” wordmark. A custom ribbon underline extends back from the final letter, containing the text “St. Louis, MO” — a subtle but proud nod to the bar’s hometown roots. This version was designed for more flexible placement across various apparel styles, allowing customers to rep their neighborhood favorite in both bold and minimal forms.

A third piece in the line introduced a stylized photo-based design: a sunset shot from the Smitty’s patio, reworked with bold color treatment and graphic overlays. The Smitty’s logo stretches beyond the frame of the image, adding intrigue and tension — visually breaking the border and symbolically reflecting how the bar extends beyond just a building into a community fixture. This more expressive design brought a modern, artful option into the apparel mix while still keeping it grounded in real, recognizable Smitty’s vibes.