A Custom Showit Web Design Project for a Local Pizza Bar in Quincy, MA
The Client: Drifter’s Kitchen + Bar
Drifter’s Kitchen + Bar is a new pizza bar that opened in February 2025 in Quincy Center, Massachusetts. A restaurant this cool needed a website that brought the vibe—and made it easy to order online.
The Web Design Wishlist: Online Ordering, Easy Updates, and a Bold Brand Presence
Drifter’s wanted two things from their new restaurant website:
Seamless online ordering through their POS system, SpotOn
A site they could easily update themselves
Done and done.
But after chatting on our kickoff call, I saw a few more ways we could take this website to the next level.
Drifter’s uses Instagram for daily updates and regularly hosts live music events on the weekends. To keep visitors in the loop, I added a sticky announcement banner at the top of the site for upcoming events and specials. I also added an Instagram integration in the footer so users could also follow along with their frequent posts.
Design Direction: Vintage Sports Bar Meets Quincy Shipyard Vibes
Drifter’s interior delivers sporty vintage energy with subtle (and not-so-subtle) nods to Quincy’s shipbuilding past. (See: a beautiful, massive, hand-painted mural of a salty sea captain and tall ship in a storm, painted by muralist Mark Grundig.)
The branding blends retro diner decor—black leather booths, red neon signs—with a staff that makes you want to become a regular. And we wanted the restaurant website design to capture all of that.
Thankfully, they’d already had a brand photoshoot with the incredibly talented Courtney of CJKeys Photos, plus some eye-catching social media graphics that really leveled up the website visuals.
As a web designer, I loooove when a brand shows up with professional photography. It makes a huge difference.
Function Meets Flavor: Making Online Orders and Reservations Easy
With the visuals locked in, the main goal became user experience: Make it super easy to order food or book a reservation.
To do this, I built a floating navigation menu that appears as soon as users scroll below the fold. These buttons link directly to Drifter’s SpotOn system for online ordering and reservations.
My Favorite Detail: The Buttons
The buttons. I just love the buttons.
I added a bit of custom code that makes the button drop shadow snap back on hover—a little moment of motion that signals “click me.” Exactly what you want from a call-to-action.
Even better? They float on scroll, so no matter where you are on the site, you can always order food or reserve a table.
Because let’s be real—who wouldn’t want to place an order the second they see that crab rangoon dip? (I thought about having some DoorDash’ed during this website build, but alas, I live too far away.)
What the Client Had to Say
“Just opened my first small business, and when it comes to having a website, I know how important it is—yet how foreign it can feel trying to figure it out.I used a very large company initially, and they were unable to walk me through how it all works. When I found Shay and Saltwater Heart Creative, I immediately knew I was in good hands. She broke everything down, filtered out what wasn’t necessary, and made it simple for someone who’s not as tech-savvy as he’d like to admit. I know I can reach out to her if we ever run into a problem. There’s no one else we’d use moving forward. Thank you, Saltwater Heart Creative!”
