Coco's Bakery Restaurant had good reasons for embarking on a remodel: The 115-unit chain's last overhaul took place well over two decades ago.

But in December 2006, when parent company Catalina Restaurant Group set the redesign wheel in motion, it decided to do more than buy new furniture and slap on a coat of fresh paint.

The idea: an espresso bar and takeout-bakery program to “capitalize on our core competencies,” says Heather Gardea, executive chef and vice president of food and beverage and marketing for Carlsbad, Calif.-based Catalina.

That core competency is breakfast, a menu mainstay at the 60-year-old concept. “The bakery was the natural progression,” Gardea says. “And from that, we went to espresso and iced beverages.”

The result is a 25-seat cafe area within the 216-seat restaurant that offers customers the chance to eat a quick breakfast at Coco's or order it to go. A new menu, complete with a good-selling ham-and-cheese muffin ($2.49), and a new equipment-to-beans coffee program accompanies the prototype, which bowed last September.

Remodeling the Coco's in Mission Viejo, Calif., to add an espresso bar and takeout bakery took some planning, says Tom Ertler, prototype director at WD Partners, a Columbus, Ohio-based restaurant design firm. The reason: Coco's mandated that Ertler use the same footprint and basic layout asthe existing store.

“It was not a very fun or sexy store-planning exercise,” Ertler says. “We were really working on it to analyze the flow.” The biggest challenge, he says, was designing the espresso bar so operation of it would not interfere with the restaurant's eat-in business.

The kitchen's convenient location, in a corner right next to the space dedicated to the espresso bar, made the design process a bit easier. Servers and staff can get from the kitchen to the espresso bar without traversing the dining room, which is invaluable to smooth traffic flow.

The kitchen's location also made it easier for Ertler to design a dedicated entrance for the espresso bar. That, plus a dedicated parking spot, menu boards and POS system, “tell [customers] that they'll get me in, give me a quality offer and get me on my way,” says Ertler.

The espresso bar's colors and finishes, like that of the entire restaurant, are earth-inspired. A palette of oranges, reds, yellows and sage green attracts a “fresh” demographic of 35- to 45-year-olds without alienating Coco's core customers: those from 45 to 65 with a household income of $75,000 to $100,000 a year, says Catalina CEO Sam Borgese. Wood furniture and a large stone wall, visible from all vantage points, also lend an upscale, but not intimidating, feeling.

Menu boards, tilted toward the floor, are equipped with changeable photography as well as copies of the whimsical chef drawing that adorns Coco's printed menu.

The espresso bar's top is a quartz-like material; cabinetry below it is two-toned wood. Tables and chairs, which are upholstered with artificial leather, sport the same two-toned wood as the cabinetry. Accent lights are clad in a natural, translucent plastic that looks like paper.

So far, the prototype is posting sales twice that of the older Coco's, says Borgese. That's partly because the restaurant's location, near a mall and just off the freeway, makes it an ideal spot for a quick eat-in or takeout breakfast.

Still, customers aren't taking advantage of the espresso bar, which is also open for dessert in the evening, “to its full extent,” Gardea says. As a result, takeout sales remain a tiny, though growing, portion of the sales mix; sales will likely build when the Mission Viejo restaurant begins marketing the program more aggressively later this year, according to Gardea.

It's all part of a strategy to snare some of fast-casual's grab-and-go market, Gardea says: “If we can capture some of that with this design, then it's a win for all of us.”

1. Earthy colors and finishes please Coco's older demographic while attracting a “fresh” client base that includes teens and 30-somethings.

2. Traffic flow is smooth: Staff needn't traverse the dining room to get from the kitchen to the espresso bar.

3. Bar- and dining-height counters and chairs add visual interest to the espresso bar, as well as seating options for customers.

5. While the coffee bar and takeout bakery is situated in the corner, it is visible from the main dining room.

6. The patio fireplace is a distinctive element at Coco’s:  “That’s nothing you’d find in a regular restaurant,” says Catalina Executive Chef Heather Gardea.