Sewickley Tavern originally planned a grand opening celebration on March 17, but the pandemic changed their plans. Two days after hosting a soft opening, owner Courtney Yates and Chef Dave Devoss made the decision to postpone the restaurant’s official opening, as the state grappled with new health and safety policies and stay-at-home orders.
But now the restaurant, located on Beaver Street in Sewickley, is officially open (with limited seating), serving their menu of modern, tavern-style dishes, like crab cake sliders, spaghetti and meatballs, and meatloaf with mashed potatoes.
And with the restaurant opening, Pittsburghers are now able to experience one of the city’s most environmentally-sustainable restaurant spaces.
Renovated from the ground up, the building that houses Sewickley Tavern is leading the way in sustainability efforts in the restaurant industry. Led by Studio St. Germain, a Sewickley-based firm specializing in high-performance sustainable buildings, the architectural design of the restaurant was developed to ensure not only the health and comfort of restaurant employees and customers, but also to help generate some of the best air quality of any restaurant in the nation.
Sewickley Tavern is the first restaurant in the United States designed for RESET Air certification, an internationally-recognized standard for indoor air quality that sets limits for carbon dioxide, temperature, and particulate matter through sensors that monitor output in real time. RESET Air certification is the keystone of an ultra-sustainable renovation of the building through Studio St. Germain’s High Performance Program. The firm developed the program to help building owners identify and achieve building environment goals that align with their sustainability values.
Additional sustainability efforts at the restaurant include solar panels on the roof, air quality monitors, acoustic ceiling materials, antibacterial bathroom stalls, and smart building infrastructure that manages and optimizes health factors.
Plus, noise sensors have been placed in the dining room and kitchen, helping to ensure the restaurant’s high level of sound absorption.
In a release, Yates, who previously owned Sewickley restaurant Cocothé, says that the ultimate goal was to create a restaurant that would surprise and delight customers. “At Cocothé we did that in a sophisticated, small setting,” she says. “Now we’re doing it in a larger and more accessible environment so that more people can have the experience of eating well every day.”
Sewickley Tavern is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 4-10 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 5-11 p.m.
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