The Uniontown Opera House, seen here before its second story was removed in the 1960s, is now home to a new restaurant, Jacobs Uniontown.
UNIONTOWN — The best thing so far about Uniontown’s new restaurant, now occupying the old Sage Baking Company space, is that the amazing scones and pastries of the latter are back.
One of the chefs behind the scenes at the new restaurant, Elio “Al” Flores, worked at Sage. Those scones carried me through three pregnancies. I’m so glad they’ve returned.But pastries are a small part of plans for Jacobs Uniontown, a bakery and bistro owned by Leslie Davis and Bob Ferbe. The two moved to the area recently from Tucson, Ariz., and their restaurant serves simple dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner — think quiche, cold sandwiches and hot soups. On another level, two Saturdays a month they prepare a reservation only, five-course, Farm to Table Dinner. These dinners feature an area producer talking about his or her work.
Jacobs Uniontown opened Saturday and my friend broke one of her rules to join me for lunch there Tuesday. The rule is: Do not eat somewhere new until it has been open two months. This gives the owners time to work out the bugs. Bugs were encountered — slow service, a slightly frenzied atmosphere, a malfunctioning cash register — but we knew what we were getting into.
The lemon tart at Jacobs Uniontown hearkens back to the days of Sage Baking Company. (Photo Jennifer Bauer)
Breakfast and lunch items are choices like toast, granola, omelettes, cold and hot sandwiches, along with a soup and a chili of the day. This day it was lentil with shredded pork and a cornmeal muffin ($6.50). My friend had the roasted red pepper vegetarian wrap ($7.99). Dessert was the best part, a lemon tart with a crisp cookie crust and custard filling topped with raspberry jam.
The regular dinner menu is much like the lunch menu, except for the addition of pizza and rotating entrees. The owners plan to offer a “grab and go” entree for four that can be ordered ahead of time and picked up to heat at home.
The restaurant’s name is taken from its building’s history. When the brick structure was erected in 1893 by Peter Jacobs, it housed a saloon on the ground floor and an opera house on the second floor. The second story was removed in the 1960s to salvage the bricks. By 1999 the building was condemned, but the nonprofit Uniontown Community Development Association restored the structure and Sage Baking Company operated there from 2002 to 2017.
Jacobs Uniontown, 111 S. Montgomery St., Uniontown, (520) 278-8016
One Comment
Justin Townsend
Came in today, have been fairly regular since they opened. I know Leslie and Bob both pretty well and am working to help them a bit as they build this restaurant. Be that as it is, I have to say I am constantly impressed with the quality of the food that they make here. While it is pretty standard stuff – soups, sandwiches, pastries, etc. ALL of them are easily of a higher caliber than you’d imagine and at prices that are extremely competitive for this area. Leslie has not made, for me, a single meal that did not impress me or give me something to talk about to her. I consider myself an, at best, amateur “foodie” – I don’t really like to put on airs about such things. But I have lived in this area for most of my life, with some exposure to larger venues like Chicago, Seattle, London, etc. and I actively hunt for those “gems in the rough” that exist out here within a days drive; it’s so much fun and worth the trip and experience. Jacob’s is definitely establishing itself as a very high quality gem in that stripe, and I highly recommend that you give it a try if you’re in the area. I believe you will be quite glad you did 🙂