Whitney Filloon | 8.15.14
Here's a look inside Jacoby's Restaurant and Mercantile, opening August 20 on East Cesar Chavez with river views and "ranch-style cuisine" that includes everything from chicken-fried steak and deviled eggs to housemade charcuterie and ribeye carpaccio (scope out the menu here). Meanwhile, the mercantile half of the space will sell farm fresh eggs, cheese, meats, fresh produce, stocked picnic baskets and more; a massive outdoor area overlooks the Colorado River, with plenty of space for patio tables, a picnic area and even backyard chicken coops.
http://austin.eater.com/archives/2014/08/15/eater-inside-jacobys-restaurant-mercantile.php
Opening Alert
Jacoby's Restaurant & Mercantile opens next week in East Austin
Arden W. | 8.15.14
The booming east side is readying itself for a new rustic retreat. Highly anticipated Jacoby's Restaurant & Mercantile, located on East Cesar Chavez, opens its doors next week.
The rustic-meets-urban space takes inspiration from Melvin, Texas where the Jacoby family has operated Jacoby's Cafe since 1981. But the new Jacoby's plans to meld city comforts and small-town vibes, serving up ranch-style cuisine in a refined (but still down-home) setting.
Inside the dining room, Chef Phillip Anderson's menu includes signature items from the cafe as well as new dishes. "We really wanted to stay true to Jacoby’s original concept with the menu, but we wanted it to be Austin at the same time," Anderson said in a release. Southern fare (think chicken fried steak and onion rings) mingles with housemade charcuterie, fresh vegetables and seasonal items. But the real star is the beef from the Jacoby family ranch. (Jacoby's is the only place in Austin that features the humanely raised beef.)
If you want to sit and stay a while, head out to the cocktail porch and deck where sweeping views of the Colorado River are plentiful. Adjacent to the restaurant is a mercantile selling artisan jams, jellies and meats so that you can take the Jacoby's experience back to your own home.
Jacoby's Restaurant & Mercantile, located at 3235 E. Cesar Chavez, officially opens to the public on Wednesday, August 20.
By Whitney Filloon | August 14, 2014
Jacoby's Restaurant and Mercantile has announced its opening date: The riverside restaurant on East Cesar Chavez will officially debut next Wednesday, August 20. Owner Adam Jacoby grew up on his family's ranch, and in their popular restaurant Jacoby's Cafe in Melvin, TX. Rounding out the Jacoby's team is Adam's partner and designer, Kris Swift, and executive chef Phillip Anderson. The restaurant will serve beef from the family ranch as part of a menu of 'Ranch-style cuisine with a Southern and rustic influence,' which translates to everything from chicken-fried steak and onion rings to a housemade charcuterie plate with wild boar terrine and a smoked gouda pimiento cheese sandwich.
The mercantile half of the space — which formerly housed an electric plant — will sell farm eggs, cheeses and meats, fresh flowers and produce, stocked picnic baskets and more. A huge back patio and picnic area will overlook the Colorado River, and Jacoby's will even have chicken coops. Stay tuned for a look at the finished space.
http://austin.eater.com/archives/2014/08/14/jacobys-to-debut-ranchstyle-cuisine-and-river-views-august- 20.php
The new Jacoby’s Restaurant & Mercantile in East Austin lies beneath a roof of weathered, corrugated tin. A fence of gnarled, rough cedar posts flanks its entrance. Barn wood in an artistic, puzzle-like pattern covers the ceiling of the main dining room, where one wall is lined with pale red bricks.
All of these materials were salvaged from a family ranch and its environs in the small town of Melvin, Texas. The ranch belongs to Jason and Kelli Jacoby who, in addition to raising cattle and sheep and selling animal feed, have run the bustling Jacoby’s Café since 1981.
The underlying idea for the new location was to meld together Melvin and Austin, the rustic and the urban, and to create the same kind of community gathering place as the original.
“We’re using wood from at least three Jacoby barns and another old barn in the area.”
The bricks on the wall came from an old bank and mercantile on the main square in Melvin, and an old neon sign from that same building forms the base of a new neon “Jacoby’s” sign gracing the front of the Austin restaurant.
The Jacobys settled on Austin for a location when Adam attended The University of Texas. After graduating, he worked several restaurant openings in Austin to learn the ins and outs of that process. In 2012, he met Kris Swift, an interior designer with a passion for food, and they began designing the place together.
“We wanted the character of the property to, in some way, reflect Melvin,” says Adam. “We must have looked at 25 to 30 properties. My dad would drive all the way here, we’d go look at a place and he’d say, ‘No, it doesn’t’ feel like Jacoby’s.’ I’ll admit it got a little frustrating.”
Then they walked into 3235 E. Cesar Chavez. The main building had a small apartment upstairs and offices downstairs, with a large storage building behind it. It had been an electrical supply business run by a family for multiple generations, similar to the Jacoby family ranch and feed business.
Working with salvaged materials can be difficult and time consuming, but Adam notes that using these pieces of history provide a certain sense of satisfaction. It’s as if the people of Melvin are part of something bigger, he says. It is also, Swift adds, a thrill to repurpose something in a respectful and unique way.
In addition to reflecting the original café’s history, the design of the new restaurant blends in elements of Austin. In front of the bar, hexagonal floor tiles undulate like flowing water, homage to the Colorado River running behind the restaurant. Outdoor sections take advantage of the river frontage. A chicken coop is a nod to the popularity of backyard chickens in the city.
A chevron pattern on one wall of the café in Melvin repeats on the Austin location’s wooden outdoor deck, and reclaimed railroad ties from Melvin (one of the family businesses there is a rail center) edge a shady granite patio. Large rocks and cattle pen wire fencing, both brought from Melvin, separate an adjacent grassy picnic area.
The two places blend on the Austin menu as well, with some items directly from the Melvin menu, others that reflect a new twist on old favorites, and new dishes particular to the Austin location. All the beef served is Jacoby beef — and this is the only place in Austin you can get it. There will also be Jacoby lamb in season, and wild boar as available.
“It’s not like picking up Jacoby’s in Melvin and moving it here,” Swift stresses. “It’s more like taking a seed from Melvin and planting it here to grow in a way that reflects this place.”
Jacoby’s Restaurant is a true labor of love for the entire family, and that, they all believe, will be reflected in the final product when it opens later this summer.
Read the Eater Article on their website.
A new restaurant overlooking the Colorado River is coming soon to East Cesar Chavez. Jacoby's Restaurant and Mercantile will serve up beef from the family's Melvin ranch and "southern influenced" cuisine paired with a market that will sell the Jacoby family beef and other artisan food products.
Owner Adam Jacoby grew up on his family's ranch, and in their popular restaurant Jacoby's Cafe in Melvin, TX. Along with his partner, designer Kris Swift, and chef Phillip Anderson, Jacoby has developed an Austin version of the concept, which will feature his family's beef. Take a look around the in-progress site, and check out all the details below.
The space, formerly an electrical plant, will be transformed into a 56 seat restaurant and market, with a massive back patio and a "picnic area" overlooking the Colorado River. An additional building with serve as a catering kitchen, and there's even a chicken coop in the works. The team envisions happy hour on their porch and kids romping in the open picnic green.
Jacoby's construction is on schedule, though they still have to go through the final permitting process. The restaurant aims to open by late summer, first with dinner service and adding brunch and lunch soon after. They will also have a full liquor license, with craft beer and an approachable cocktail menu.
