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Tavern on the Square, New Wilmington, PA
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This is a bar blog and it would not be right for me to characterize the Tavern on the Square as an old bar. Indeed, as far as selling liquor -- at least legally -- it has only been a bar since
January 11, 2020. This was after the borough locals voted to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages after being a dry town since around 1920.
But it is in a great old building, constructed in 1849, and it's been a locally legendary restaurant since 1931. It's also been known as "The Tavern on the Square," or just "The Tavern" that entire time -- perhaps trading on the generally broader use of the term in the up through the 18th century. And it's recently re-opened after a three year closure, with some ambitious remodeling, and with a top notch kitchen and nice cocktail program -- things rarely seen in a community of 2,500 people, particularly one on the edges of a large Old Order Amish farming community.
New Wilmington was established in 1797–1798, with the first house was built in 1824. Some 25 years later a home was added by Dr. Seth Poppino, founder of the local Methodist church. Seth and his wife Mary were abolitionists, and would later use a secret stairwell to make the house a stop on the underground railroad, shuttling enslave people to freedom.
In 1931, Cora and Ernst Durrast moved their restaurant, The Tavern into the old home, renaming their business "The Tavern on the Square." Cora would maintain the restaurant for the next 66 years. For many years Cora rented out the side building of the structure, originally built by a doctor, to Dr. Hugh Hart, where he held office as a General Practitioner.
The restaurant was fairly upscale for most of all of its time here, with many locals and ex-locals having stories about traveling there from many miles away for special occasions. Over the years since Cora, the Tavern has been maintained by a number of different owners, including Jay and Jenny Behm, who did a huge renovation and brought in artist
Gib McGill to paint the murals still there today; Susan and Joe Hougelman, who
purchased it 2008 and scraped to pull together further upgrades; and Todd and Alma Ulicny, who took over in 2017/2018, and helped propel the
legislation to allow alcohol sales after 99 years of dryness. But by October of 2020, the business had
closed again -- this time with the influence of COVID -- and again sat "permanently closed," with a very uncertain future.
Now stepped in Matt and Maggie Noble. Maggie grew up in Sewickley, just a few miles down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, and had memories of her parents driving over an hour to the Tavern to celebrate their anniversary. She met Matt in culinary school, and they relocated to New Wilmington, and heard more stories about the treasured old Tavern. They eventually acquired it from the Nobles in 2022, and dived in with the most ambitious goals for restoring and upgrading the building, and establishing a destination restaurant, bar and community gathering place. One could only marvel as they documented the extensive task list on their
web site and especially their
Facebook page.
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New mural by Gib McGill Tavern on the Square, New Wilmington, PA
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But while the vision was expansive, the sourcing has been hyper local -- to an extent one would not have imagined possible in such a small community and rural area. This includes not just the produce, from places like
Apple Castle, a multi-generation family farm in operation since 1861, and the grass-fed beef from the
Chuck Moose's farm, beef that's made its way to upscale restaurants in New York City as well as the Tavern's nose-to-tail menu. It also seems to include virtually every piece of the refashioned business. This includes the bar fashioned from felled sassafras timber by local Loreno Woodworking, the large "Listening to the Orioles" painting in the entry by local landscape artist
Thomas McNickle, the custom booths from
East Coast Chair & Barstool in nearby Mercer, and the custom 10-foot benches by Amish woodworker Jake Kurtz. They even brought back Gib McGill to update and expand upon the murals he painted here a couple decades ago.
All this has boiled down to a highly pleasant dining and/or drinking experience, which finally had their ribbon cutting in May 2024. I was there for lunch and had the Tavern Burger with two refreshing Summer cocktails, the Cucumber St. Germain Spritz (St. Germain, Ketel Vodka, lime, cucumber & Prosecco) and the Strawberry Basil Smash (Bulleit bourbon, local strawberries, fresh lemon juice & basil). These were a divergence from my usual brown spirit preferences, but with a scorching sun outside and all the fresh herbs and fruit at the bar, they seemed like optimal choices.
I compared notes with bartender Augustine (who lived for a bit in Seattle), and he directed me to the small space upstairs, hidden behind what appears to be a large armoire, where a "speakeasy" is being added. I wandered all three floors, took a look at the upper deck, and bought a couple souvenirs at the mercantile that now occupies that out building where Dr. Hart once ministered to the afflicted. Now I'll be looking for an opportunity to come back, preferably for dinner, with the wife, and perhaps when the speakeasy is operating. In my ongoing project to have a drink in every (non-dry) municipality in Western Pennsylvania, checking New Wilmington off the list was a particularly pleasant stop.
(Note: The history above depends heavily on the Tavern's Facebook and web site, with a few additional links that are included in the blog post text.)