Restaurant Retractable Glass Wall at Joe's American Bar and Grill Project #1224

Project Details

Model: Panora - View W4 Bays: 6 Height: 7' - 11 7/8" Width: Various widths up to 17' - 5" Joe’s American Bar and Grill replaced horizontal bi-folding doors that were manually opened and closed, wasted valuable seating area and required an external balustrade. The solution was Libart’s space saving and motorized vertical retractable glass walls with integral balustrade.

How One Restaurant Increased Their Earning Potential with Retractable Glass Walls

For Joe’s American Bar Grill, space is money. Since every square inch is important, they needed to be able to maximize their seating space. Libart’s Chris Stover and Jeff Manger first met with Lisa Helmke, VP of construction and design at Tavistock Restaurant Collection (the ownership group of Joe’s American), in August of 2015. They looked at three separate Tavistock locations in Boston that were interested in implementing operable glass applications. The third of those was Joe’s American, and it was instantly clear that this was not your average project.

Joe’s American has a main seating area along with a hybrid seating area that can be opened up to the sidewalk when the weather is accommodating. This hybrid area was previously separated from the sidewalk with a series of bi-folding doors. When open, this created an invitation for customers to come in. However, these bi-folding doors retracted to the sides and eliminated revenue generating seating indoors. Joe’s American needed a better solution.

When Libart was brought in on the job, Chris and Jeff coordinated with Lisa and Steve Vrabel, director of construction for Tavistock. They made it clear that they needed a solution that would give Joe’s American the same open-air feel while simultaneously creating a barrier to the bar area. Finally, and most importantly, it couldn’t deprive them of any precious seating space. Libart’s engineers went to work with Eric Rainville, Tavistock’s director of facilities, to decide on the best application for these specific needs.

Using Libart’s custom Panora – View W4 Window System, Libart worked with a specialized German company to create glass panels of various sizes and special engineering considerations. Libart also partnered with local glazing contractor, John Chisholm of Chisholm Sons Glass Company. In collaboration with Brian Kennedy, our team site supervisor, the panels were installed completely at night in order for there to be minimum impact on the restaurant’s revenue and the neighborhood. It was a unique project, but Libart coordinated with the restaurant’s team and their local partners to ensure the finished product was customized to fit their specific needs.

When all was said and done, Joe’s American had retractable glass walls that provided them with the refreshing, outdoor feel they wanted, while preserving their entire seating area. This was accomplished due to the fact that our Panora – View system collects at the bottom, thus creating the necessary barrier from the bar area while also keeping the seating area free for maximum earning potential.

When you run a popular restaurant like Joe’s American, there are many business decisions that have to be made every day. If you’re going to make a change, you need a compelling business reason for doing so. Even though Joe’s American had already invested in the bi-folding doors, they made the decision to switch to Libart’s Panora – View system because it was the better solution for their needs. The Panora – View system created the quality customer experience they desired, while also ensuring that Joe’s American maintains the highest possible revenue potential from their seating area. The upfront costs associated with making the switch were far outweighed by the added earning potential it generated.