When you live and breathe tourism in Door County, Wisconsin, sometimes updating your web presence falls to the wayside, especially when you’re opening a third business. That’s why the owners of Sonny’s Italian Kitchen & Pizzeria, Bridge Up Brewing, and the Door County Cherry Hut reached out to Signalfire in 2021.

Sonny’s Italian Kitchen & Pizzeria, locally referred to as Sonny’s, has been the leading Door County family pizza spot since the mid-1990’s. The waterfront Sturgeon Bay location boasts some of the most incredible dining vistas in Door County.

In 2018, Sonny’s launched a single barrel brewery alongside the historic Michigan Street steel lift bridge—appropriately named Bridge Up Brewing.

In 2021, Sonny’s opened Door County Cherry Hut, an iconic roadside cherry store in Fish Creek. Remodeling the historic location, Door County Cherry Hut added a taproom, kitchen, and outdoor live music venue complete with gas firepits, comfortable seating and outdoor monitors for sporting events.

Anticipating an extremely busy summer and acknowledging that Sonny’s current website (or complete lack of website in the case of Bridge Up Brewing and Door County Cherry Hut) needed updating, the three businesses commissioned Signalfire to simultaneously design, develop, and launch three brand new websites. Each website was to be focused on each business’ visual elements and practical content.

“Taking on these three very different businesses was an exciting challenge,” Signalfire Project Coordinator Chelsea Hutzenbuehler said. “We really focused on digging into each business’ vibe and personality and bring that feeling to the forefront in their website designs.”

Sonny’s Italian Kitchen & Pizzeria has been a staple in the Sturgeon Bay community for more than 20 years. Their dining room has one of the best waterfront views in town, and their kitchen is known for its authentic pizzas, delicious pastas, lunch pizza buffet, and everything in between.

The goal of the new website for Sonny’s was to apply a fresh design, optimize the site for phones, and give visitors an idea of what it’s like to visit Sonny’s for lunch, dinner, or even just drinks.

• Feature video that plays on homepage

• Full menu

• Online ordering portal

• Event calendar for all their waterfront live music during the summer

• Photo gallery

• Employment application

• Contact information and email forms for employment, catering, and fundraising

Bridge Up Brewing is in the lower level of Sonny’s but has a vibe completely its own. Bridge Up’s website had to deliver the same functional experience, but the design needed to reflect the taproom’s unique vibe.

One of the most important functions was the ability to feature the current taproom beer selection. Because Bridge Up brews only single barrels on site, the taps are changing constantly.

• Feature video that plays on homepage

• List of current Tap List

• Beer features, including naming history

• Event calendar

• About section, with charitable donation feature

• Photo gallery

The owners of Sonny’s opened Door County Cherry Hut in the spring of 2021. The Cherry Hut, located in Fish Creek, is a combination general store, taproom, patio, pet-friendly event venue, and weekend family destination with a kitchen serving up dishes featuring local ingredients.

• Feature video that plays on homepage

• Kitchen menu

• Taproom menu

• Event calendar

• History section of local roadside destination

• Photo gallery

All three of the websites were designed, developed, and launched simultaneously to round out the summer 2021 tourism season, and get them ready for 2022 planning.

Signalfire will continue to support all three websites with a hosting and maintenance program that ensures the websites are continually up to date, SEO performance is monitored, and content is maintained—even in the off season. Signalfire’s website support and maintenance ensures that each site is backed up daily, uptime is monitored by a third-party provider, and critical site security updates are maintained.

Signalfire’s support allows each business to focus on delicious pizza, craft beer, and fantastic live music.