The Gyro Joint Mural

There’s a fantastic new restaurant in Pompano Beach called The Gyro Joint. It’s 2 minutes down the street from me. Middle eastern and Greek food are my favorites, so I frequently come here to get their delicious freshly made gryos, hummus and dolmades (stuffed grape leaves). The owners, Christina and Pasquale Rapi, also own the higher-end Greek eatery Christina’s Cafe. They take great pride in what they do. Their food is fresh and authentic, and their premises are immaculate. They are also very nice people.

The Gyro Joint once had very large, bland, beige walls. I remember driving home at night and thinking to myself how great it would be to see some murals in there. I even talked to Christine about it as I picked up my meal to go…but I got busy, and forgot about it.

Then a message arrived to me via my web account with Thumbtack, a freelance gig compiler site. A local Greek restaurant needed murals. It didn’t take long to figure out it was The Gyro Joint. Soon I was meeting Christine’s daughter Irini at the restaurant learning about her vision for a mural project. Her idea was to create a wrap-around mural depicting the story of her family leaving Greece and coming to FL to open The Gyro Joint with various stops along the way. She wanted a simple cartoon style with a monochromatic color scheme that picked up on the tans, grays, and charcoals she chose for the decor.

I created a quick cartoon mockup in my studio after the meeting and sent it to her. She loved it, and I bid for the job. Once I won the bid I created a full mockup complete with Photoshopping the design onto photos of the walls. We added in some light color washes onto the cartoon details and a tan faux on the entire design to keep it cohesive. The work was completed in apx. 40 hours complete with a protective clear coat.

It was a pleasure working for the Rapi’s. I love working for people who care deeply about what they do. And Irini has a wonderful creative vision I was more than happy to bring to life.