Sweetwaters is making a comeback. David Melincoff, owner of the downtown Burlington fixture for half of its 41-year tenure, said he is working with several investors and hands-on partners to reopen the 120 Church Street restaurant. Former executive chef Jessee Lawyer is among those who will return, now as a co-owner and managing partner. The team aims to open what Melincoff described as “a new Sweetwaters with a twist” by late April.
Sweetwaters closed in September 2022 to make way for Pascolo Ristorante, which relocated from 83 Church Street to the larger space. After a three-year run, Pascolo owner Jed Davis returned his downtown Italian restaurant to its original home, leaving the lower Church Street restaurant empty.
The long-term lease reverted to Melincoff, 68. At the time, he told Seven Days, “All ideas are on the table — including the possibility of bringing back Sweetwaters in some form.”
Melincoff described his role in the new iteration of Sweetwaters as more that of a “guiding light” than a hands-on presence. “It needs new blood,” he said. He is working with Lawyer and other team members on minor renovations to elements of the 150-seat restaurant such as the seating layout and lighting.
Lawyer, 38, cooked at Sweetwaters for nine years before it closed. Employed for the past year and a half at Edelweiss Mountain Deli in Stowe, he said he’s missed the energy and immediate feedback of a full-service restaurant. The chef plans to tighten the lunch and dinner menus, keeping fan favorites such as the cornflake-and-almond-crusted chicken fingers and the Shirt Sleeve wrap in which they figure.
“It screams 1980s, but people love them,” Lawyer said. He will also bring back a smoker for chicken wings, pulled pork and brisket.
“Sweetwaters always felt like my home,” Lawyer said. “I’m excited to come back home.”
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