ASHLAND — Uniontown Brewing Company is pouring new life into Ashland’s downtown scene with the opening of its whiskey and cocktail bar: The Third Place.
The Third place, located at 105 W. Main St., will be open to the public starting Nov. 14. at 4 p.m. The regular hours will be Thursdays from 4 to 9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 10 p.m., owner Anna Reynolds said. But the hours could change in the future.
The Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce helped owners Anna and Doug Reynolds celebrate with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.
“The thing that I love about this town is that people from Ashland support Ashland and people from Ashland invest in Ashland, and you guys are a testament to that,” Chamber of Commerce President Amy Daubenspeck said.Â
“The fact that you put your blood, sweat, tears, your dreams into this building and continue to do that is just an amazing thing.”
How did the space come to be?
Adjacent to the existing restaurant, The Third Place comes nearly eight years after Uniontown Brewing Company opened its doors in Ashland. The fun part for the community was watching the restoration of a 175-year-old building, which was the former Gilbert’s Furniture Company.
But owners Anna and Doug Reynolds always wanted to incorporate a whiskey and cocktail lounge.
“Back in 2018, 2019, I ripped out the ceiling in this room, we painted the ceiling, installed all this work and were getting ready to start working on this, and then COVID-19 hit,” Doug said. “Then we ended up using this space as extra seating because everything had to be six feet apart.”
In 2023, Doug decided it was time to make their vision come true.
“When we first opened up in 2017, there was a man that used to come in and he would sit back on our couch area, and I never knew him. And then I started talking to him and he goes, ‘This is my third place.’ What do you mean the third place? And he said, ‘This is my place where I go when I’m not at home and work,” Doug said.
The man inspired the name for the space, and some atmospheric elements such as the couches and comfortable, open seating.
As one of the few restaurants on downtown Ashland’s Main Street, Doug said wait times and customer populations have grown. He hopes that on the weekends, The Third Place can be a space where people wait comfortably, or even come to enjoy separately.
The drink menu is short and classic, featuring staple drinks such as the Old Fashioned, Negroni, Manhattan and martinis. The seasonal menu offers more creative twists, such as the lavender elderflower martini and brown sugar espresso martini.
“This is something we’ve been working on, thinking about, talking about, envisioning for quite some time. I can’t believe we’re here. I’m really thankful for everything that this community has supported us with,” Anna told the packed bar.
The environment still holds one of the Reynolds’ most important values: being present with friends, family and even strangers.
“You’re always at your best when you’re with your friends and your family hanging out. And that’s what we wanted to create over there and that’s what we want to create here.”
Doug Reynolds
The Third Place will eventually feature its own food menu with appetizers and other bar snacks, but Uniontown Brewing Company will not serve food in the area, however the 18 beers are available on tap.
Doug encouraged people interested in following along with The Third Place’s evolution, to check Uniontown Brewing Company’s website and social media pages.
