A new restaurant has opened in the historic Coe Cabin on the corner of King and Pearl Streets.
Coe Tavern, owned and operated by Colin Flory, opened its doors two weeks ago, offering an elevated pub experience to diners looking for a new place to enjoy happy hour and dinner service. With a bar, dining room seating or an al fresco option on a lovely patio tucked away alongside Pearl Street, there are plenty of spots to tuck into.
The inside décor hasn’t changed drastically from the previous restaurant, Coelette, but there are a few new dining room tables and high-top tables lining the bar. The bar area offers a speakeasy feel, with dark leather chairs, wooden walls and ceiling and unique fixtures. Happy Hour is offered daily in the bar from 5-6 p.m., with $2 oysters and half off wine and bubbles. A specialty cocktail list is also offered, featuring a new spin on a French 75 called Pillow Jets, and the Pressure Drop, with a dehydrated strawberry salt rim.
The menu is approachable, offering modern spins on pub classics, including entrees such as a polish sausage with spätzle entrée, a cider braised pork chop and Dover sole served with a crabcake. The starters are a perfect way to start off your Coe Tavern experience or to share over cocktails with a few friends. The lamb tartare topped with an egg is served alongside house made chips (delicious!), provides a little something different from the norm. Another honorable mention, the frickles, are served with a lemon aioli and tempura fried, and are a lighter version of a classic pub favorite. If you’re looking for something summery, the grilled watermelon salad with heirloom tomatoes and avocado is the type of salad that you can’t stop eating until it’s gone… and then you’ll want another one.
We asked Flory for his top choices on Coe Tavern’s menu and he suggests a dirty martini with oysters to start, followed by a grilled watermelon salad, and either the New York strip steak au poivre or beef cheek gnocchi as his entrée selection. He also included that the jumbo tater tots should be on everyone’s list to try, and the seven-layer cake is his favorite of their three dessert offerings.
Coe Tavern is open daily at 5 p.m. and reservations can be made via resy.com.
A Little Coe Cabin History
The Coe Cabin, at the corner of King and Pearl in downtown Jackson, was originally built by Martha and Clarence Dow in 1915. Later it became the residence for Ed and Emily Coe, who operated a blacksmith shop out of one of the other two structures on the property. The current population of Jackson knew the building as the Sweetwater Restaurant, which operated for more than 40 years.
Fortunately, when the restaurant closed in 2017, the cabin, along with the other two buildings, were purchased by a local preservationist willing to restore the log structures rather. Dubbe Moulder Architects were hired to rehabilitate the original 2,100-square feet, and to design a 600-square foot addition to be used as a bar complete with a rooftop dining deck overlooking Snow King Mountain.
Coe Cabin was most recently occupied by Coelette restaurant, which closed last spring.
