Located in downtown St. Louis in the MX Building directly across from the National Blues Museum, the restaurant’s design is sleek and modern without being cold. The lofted two-story space that used to house Takaya New Asian has been transformed with white subway tiles, light-colored wood tables and an impressive mural that transposes a fluid, orange-hued illustration of Italian-style buildings onto a black and white image of downtown St. Louis. 

A wooden staircase transports diners to an upstairs space with televisions and a foosball table. To soften the space, potted plants, including miniature olive trees, are placed around the room. Porano is a testing ground for Craft’s vision of the future of fast food, with the kitchen stations being set up like you might expect at a Chipotle.