Barefoot Barista

Overview

Barefoot Barista is a Gold Coast hospitality brand rooted in Palm Beach and Currumbin — coffee, food, community gatherings, and beachfront energy that started as a local hub long before it became two venues. The website had to feel like that place: warm, visual, easy to browse on a phone in the queue, and clear about where to go (Palm Beach vs Currumbin), what is on the menu, and how to enquire about functions.

I converted the Figma design into a custom WordPress site, then stayed on for ongoing maintenance plus Google Tag Manager and analytics so the team can see what pages and campaigns actually move bookings and enquiries.

The challenge

Hospitality sites fail when they look beautiful in a design file and fall apart in WordPress — slow galleries, buried menus, or venue pages that feel like afterthoughts. Barefoot needed:

• A faithful Figma to WordPress build that keeps the brand’s illustration-led, community-first look
• Clear paths for Palm Beach and Currumbin venues, menus, What’s On, About, and Functions enquiries
• A CMS the team can update without fighting page builders every time a menu or event changes
• GTM and analytics so marketing and venue decisions are not based on guesswork
• Ongoing maintenance after launch — updates, fixes, and small content/UX tweaks as the venues evolve

What we built

1. Figma to WordPress theme

The design system from Figma became a custom WordPress theme: homepage storytelling, venue hubs, menu templates, functions enquiry paths, and content blocks that stay on-brand. Mobile rhythm mattered as much as desktop — most guests will hit the site from a phone looking for opening vibes, a menu, or how to book a function.

2. Multi-venue structure for local search

Palm Beach and Currumbin are not interchangeable. The information architecture keeps each venue discoverable — menus, location context, and calls to action — so Gold Coast locals and visitors can land on the right place fast. That supports GEO-style “near me” and suburb intent without stuffing every page with the same generic copy.

3. Google Tag Manager & analytics

Tracking was part of the delivery, not a later patch. Google Tag Manager sits on top of the WordPress front end so tags and conversions can change without theme edits for every campaign. Analytics (GA4-oriented measurement) was wired so key actions — venue interest, menu views, function enquiries — are measurable for the team and any agencies running ads.

4. Ongoing maintenance

After launch I stayed on for ongoing WordPress maintenance: core/plugin hygiene, small content and layout updates, performance sanity checks, and tracking tweaks when campaigns or forms change. Hospitality sites are living products — menus and events move; the site should keep up without a full rebuild every season.

What shipped

• Custom Figma-to-WordPress theme for the Barefoot brand system
• Venue, menu, What’s On, About, and Functions page patterns
• Mobile-first UX aligned to how guests actually browse
• Google Tag Manager container and analytics foundations
• Ongoing support and maintenance after go-live

Outcome

The live site at barefootbarista.com.au carries Barefoot’s Palm Beach and Currumbin story in WordPress — design-faithful, editable for the team, and measurable through GTM and analytics, with maintenance in place so the digital side keeps pace with the venues.

Who this pattern suits

• Cafés, bars, and multi-venue hospitality brands that need Figma brought to life in WordPress
• Gold Coast and Australian local businesses where suburb/venue pages matter for discovery
• Teams that want GTM and analytics set up properly at launch, not months later
• Operators who need a maintainer after launch instead of an abandoned theme