El Xolo, San Salvador – El Salvador

The first restaurant in El Salvador to classify, it placed as No. 91 in Latin America’s Best Restaurants list by The Worlds 50 Best. From the moment you enter the space you will live the experience to the fullest and be transported to Mesoamerica with an underworld vibe.
The venue allows to seat 45 in a combination of tables for two and four, 2 bars and a communal table for larger groups. The furniture combines an eclectic mix of textures and natural materials all handmade by Salvadoran artisans. The pendant lights above the communal table were made by recycling “tecomates”, from the Nahuat “tecomatl”, or dry bottle gourds, which are used as daily household items of various indigenous communities, in rural areas of El Salvador.
Lighting was key to create the underworld vibe, with focal lighting reserved for tables at the dining and kitchen area, for a theatrical feel. The bar and the bathrooms are the darkest, with dim ambient lighting and a dramatic light effect through backlit natural stone on the walls and ceilings.
Textured walls became the focal point to represent the identity of the brand, with a wall of niches filled by objects of Mesoamerican origin, along with the other wall completely upholstered in corn husk decorated with Creole dried corns. The existing curved half wall in the bar and back wall are covered with rectangular tiles with rustic variations in earthy tones. Every detail adds up to transport you to another dimension.