Blue Dog Construction and Renovation - Quality construction in the Bay Area

Restaurant Remodel: The Arlington

The new owners of The Arlington Restaurant were determined to have a rapid turnaround when they took over the old sandwich bar in Kensington. Three weeks was the time allocated to removing the old paneling and floors and providing a new serving counter, wine bar and a 17’ new bench along the North wall for their customers to sit comfortably. Their other stipulation was that this was to be a ‘green’ restaurant so they wanted to use recycled materials and FSC certified lumber.

In order to accommodate the short time schedule, we manufactured the counter cabinets off-site out of pre-sealed FSC-Certified, formaldehyde-free plywood. These arrived just a day after the main equipment had been removed and were ready to install. The cabinet bases were made separately to allow us to install plumbing and electrical wiring.

The redwood bench was also manufactured off-site and arrived in time for installation. It was made out of a single piece of 17’ long, 2” thick redwood which had been salvaged from a road project.

Behind the main counter we replaced the original wooden panneling with 26 gauge stainless steel sheets which were mounted onto OSB to provide them with a solid backing and prevent denting. Above that we built the blackboard style chalk-board for writing up the menu items. These were framed in MDF and trimmed out.

The piece de resistance was the new wall we installed at the back to support the new wine bar. Constructed of FSC-certified 2”x6” Douglas fir, it also allowed the owner to create more blackboard space as well as hiding the unsightly ramp at the rear of the restaurant.

The entire project was finished on time and within budget. It was a pleasure to work with the new owners who are setting out on this venture and we wish them the best of luck with their green organic restaurant. 269 The Arlington is located on Arlington Avenue in Kensington.