Wine Lounge Aviary Isn’t Moving From South Lamar

Turns out Aviary Decor and Lounge won’t have to move from its ten-year home on South Lamar. Instead, owner Marco Fiorilo is staying put with grander plans to transform the home goods/art gallery/wine bar into a fully-blown restaurant.

Those impending changes will include adding a full kitchen with grease trap, fashioning a new bar setup, adding raw bar, revamping the deck, and expanding the menu. Fiorilo and co-owner John Coronado also want to broaden the wine list from 30 or so to 200 to 300 options. Hours will also extend into Mondays, and lunch will be added.

To help that dreams come true, they launched a Kickstarter for additional renovation funds. The duo are looking to raise $50,000 by early August. To celebrate the crowdfunding campaign, there will be a pig roast and luau on Saturday, July 9 with free food and drinks starting at 5 p.m.

Fiorilo was originally seeking to relocate Aviary after fearing that the change of use process would take too long, as well as neighborhood complaints about noise. They submitted a change of use request to turn the store into a restaurant, which the city finally approved. Aviary currently cooks up its snack-centric menu, including grilled cheese sandwiches, on hot plates and toaster ovens.

The two opened Aviary as a home goods store in 2006, and tacked on the wine and bar snacks aspect in 2009.