The Brief
In 1975, three hippies who had never worked in a restaurant opened a vegetarian spot on West Morgan Street. The founder, Arthur Gordon, named it Irregardless after his grandmother, who he credits with coining the word. She passed shortly before the doors opened, and in Jewish tradition, every time someone says your name after you are gone, you are one step closer to heaven. So every time someone says “Irregardless,” his nana gets a little closer.
Fifty years later, the restaurant is still here. Still serving a seasonally rotating menu. Still hosting live music every night. Still one of the most genuinely diverse dining rooms in downtown Raleigh. But the brand had not kept up. The last update was in the 90s and felt more dated than the original ever did. The restaurant had quietly become known as a nice place for older Raleigh and guests with dietary restrictions. The funkiness that made it an icon had faded. No one under 50 knew they were there.
New owner Lee brought MRC in not for a revolution, but for preservation. The goal was to get Irregardless back to what it always was: a casual, pretension-free, funky neighborhood restaurant that happens to serve incredible food to every kind of person who walks in.
The Work
The brand needed to feel handcrafted, authentic, and unmistakably rooted in its origins. Not a 70s costume, but a genuine connection to the spirit of the original. Retro without being nostalgic. Contemporary without losing the funk.
We built a new hand-lettered wordmark that nods to the character of the original wooden sign while working cleanly across every modern application. Custom illustrations by Lauren Griffin bring personality and warmth to the brand without relying on a mascot or literal references to food and music. The color palette was brightened and modernized while keeping green at the center, where it belongs. Every element was designed to appeal across generations, from the regulars who have been coming for decades to the young professionals who live three blocks away and had no idea the place existed.
The menu was redesigned to match, giving the seasonally changing format a system that feels as intentional as the food. And a fully custom Squarespace website brings the brand to life digitally, built to feel as welcoming online as the dining room does in person.
Real food. Real music. Real good. Since 1975.
