diff --git a/.github/workflows/server_deploy.yaml b/.github/workflows/server_deploy.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..28f0bb9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/server_deploy.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+name: Webserver deploy
+
+on:
+  push:
+    paths:
+    - 'django-server/**'
+    - '.github/workflows/server_deploy.yaml'
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    name: Checkout and deploy
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@master
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.ref }}                                                              # checkout to branch which was pushed
+      - name: Deploy to Heroku
+        if: job.status == 'success'
+        run: |
+          rm -rf .git
+          git clone https://heroku:${{ secrets.HEROKU_API_KEY }}@git.heroku.com/eaterslab.git # clone repo from heroku server
+          cd eaterslab                                                                        # folder on deploy server
+          find . -maxdepth 1 ! -path './.git' ! -path '.' -exec rm -rf {} +                   # remove all files excluding git repo info and current path
+          git config --global user.email "${{ secrets.HEROKU_DEPLOY_EMAIL }}"                 # deploy as specified user
+          git config --global user.name "${{ secrets.HEROKU_DEPLOY_NAME }}"
+          git commit . -m "cleaned local repo"                                                # commit and push all files
+          cp -r ../django-server/server/* ./                                                  # copy new version of server
+          git add .
+          git commit . -m "deploy full refresh from ${{ github.ref }}"                        # commit and push all files
+          git push
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0fc5eabb..0dca1bef 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ __pycache__/
 django-server/server/db.sqlite3
 .env
 django-server/serverenv/*
+django-server/server/static/
 
 # IDEs
 .vscode
diff --git a/django-server/server-env-setup.sh b/django-server/server-env-setup.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index c4c5b765..08d16342
--- a/django-server/server-env-setup.sh
+++ b/django-server/server-env-setup.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-# This script assumes you have python3, pip and virtualenv installed
-# (Sometimes you have to apt-get install python3-venv)
-# https://packaging.python.org/guides/installing-using-pip-and-virtual-environments/
-echo "Starting installation"
-python3 -m venv serverenv
-source serverenv/bin/activate
-pip install django
-pip install django-environ
-pip install djangorestframework
+# This script assumes you have python3, pip and pipenv installed
+# you can install pipenv using pip3 install pipenv
+echo "Starting installation of virtual environment"
+cd server
+pipenv install
+pipenv shell
 echo "Done"
 
diff --git a/django-server/server/server/.env.sample b/django-server/server/.env.sample
similarity index 100%
rename from django-server/server/server/.env.sample
rename to django-server/server/.env.sample
diff --git a/django-server/server/Pipfile b/django-server/server/Pipfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..88f8caaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django-server/server/Pipfile
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+[[source]]
+
+url = "https://pypi.python.org/simple"
+verify_ssl = true
+name = "pypi"
+
+[requires]
+
+python_version = "3"
+
+[packages]
+
+psycopg2-binary = "*"
+django-heroku = "*"
+gunicorn = "*"
+django = "*"
+django-environ = "*"
+djangorestframework = "*"
+whitenoise = "*"
diff --git a/django-server/server/Procfile b/django-server/server/Procfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..05aeb4cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django-server/server/Procfile
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+release: python manage.py makemigrations; python manage.py migrate --no-input
+web: gunicorn server.wsgi
diff --git a/django-server/server/api/__init__.py b/django-server/server/api/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/django-server/server/api/admin.py b/django-server/server/api/admin.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7e5f003a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django-server/server/api/admin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from django.contrib import admin
+from .models import Cafeteria
+
+admin.site.register(Cafeteria)
diff --git a/django-server/server/api/apps.py b/django-server/server/api/apps.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d87006dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django-server/server/api/apps.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+from django.apps import AppConfig
+
+
+class ApiConfig(AppConfig):
+    name = 'api'
diff --git a/django-server/server/api/migrations/__init__.py b/django-server/server/api/migrations/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/django-server/server/api/models.py b/django-server/server/api/models.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9311dd8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django-server/server/api/models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+from django.db import models
+from django.core.validators import MinValueValidator, MaxValueValidator
+
+
+class Cafeteria(models.Model):
+    name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
+    description = models.CharField(max_length=256)
+    sub_description = models.CharField(max_length=512)
+    latitude = models.FloatField(validators=[MinValueValidator(-90.0), MaxValueValidator(90.0)])
+    longitude = models.FloatField(validators=[MinValueValidator(-180.0), MaxValueValidator(180.0)])
+    capacity = models.IntegerField(validators=[MinValueValidator(1)])
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return self.name
diff --git a/django-server/server/api/serializers.py b/django-server/server/api/serializers.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9e73765f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django-server/server/api/serializers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+from rest_framework import serializers
+
+from .models import Cafeteria
+
+
+class CafeteriaSerializer(serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer):
+    class Meta:
+        model = Cafeteria
+        fields = ['id', 'name', 'description', 'sub_description', 'longitude', 'latitude', 'capacity']
diff --git a/django-server/server/api/tests.py b/django-server/server/api/tests.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7ce503c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django-server/server/api/tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from django.test import TestCase
+
+# Create your tests here.
diff --git a/django-server/server/api/urls.py b/django-server/server/api/urls.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb764f70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django-server/server/api/urls.py
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+from django.urls import include, path
+from rest_framework import routers
+from . import views
+
+router = routers.DefaultRouter()
+router.register(r'cafeteria', views.CafeteriaViewSet)
+
+urlpatterns = [
+    path('', include(router.urls))
+]
diff --git a/django-server/server/api/views.py b/django-server/server/api/views.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3d6f0e4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django-server/server/api/views.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+from rest_framework import viewsets
+
+from .serializers import CafeteriaSerializer
+
+from .models import Cafeteria
+
+
+# TODO: handle different roles for API views
+
+class CafeteriaViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
+    queryset = Cafeteria.objects.all().order_by('id')
+    serializer_class = CafeteriaSerializer
diff --git a/django-server/server/server/settings.py b/django-server/server/server/settings.py
index 99cf7b02..39c7fd6a 100644
--- a/django-server/server/server/settings.py
+++ b/django-server/server/server/settings.py
@@ -43,10 +43,12 @@
     'django.contrib.sessions',
     'django.contrib.messages',
     'django.contrib.staticfiles',
+    'rest_framework',
+    'api.apps.ApiConfig',                                   # API app
 ]
 
 MIDDLEWARE = [
-    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
+    'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',           # for static files handling on deploy
     'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
@@ -76,12 +78,23 @@
 WSGI_APPLICATION = 'server.wsgi.application'
 
 
+# Configuration for rest_framework to get only the json data
+# from the api calls to specified urls as default
+
+REST_FRAMEWORK = {
+    'DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES': [
+        'rest_framework.renderers.JSONRenderer',
+        # Uncomment to get the API renderer for browser view
+        # 'rest_framework.renderers.BrowsableAPIRenderer',
+    ]
+}
+
+
 # Database
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.0/ref/settings/#databases
 
-
 def select_database():
-    if env.bool('USE_POSTGRES', default=False):
+    if env.bool('DB_DEPLOY', default=False):
         return env.db()
     return {
         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
@@ -127,7 +140,9 @@ def select_database():
 USE_TZ = True
 
 
-# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
-# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.0/howto/static-files/
+# Heroku static files configuration to get it working on deploy
 
+STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')
 STATIC_URL = '/static/'
+STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage'
+os.makedirs(STATIC_ROOT, exist_ok=True)
diff --git a/django-server/server/server/urls.py b/django-server/server/server/urls.py
index e729eb60..5d6d7d0c 100644
--- a/django-server/server/server/urls.py
+++ b/django-server/server/server/urls.py
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@
 from django.contrib import admin
 from django.urls import include, path
 
+
 urlpatterns = [
     path('', include('home.urls')),
     path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
+    path('api/beta/', include('api.urls')),
 ]