The Hotel and Rosa’s Cantina is Old West homage
He started washing glasses and plates as a little kid in his family’s bar in Donora, and for 20 years was the undisputed king of Pittsburgh nightclubs before settling into a second act as a restaurateur. In a hospitality career that’s now spanned parts of seven decades, Robin Fernandez has done nearly everything.
So as he sat at a table at his latest — and final — project, his sentiment was appropriate for a tavern dedicated to the American west.
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” he said. “But it is my last rodeo.”
Fernandez opened The Hotel and Rosa’s Cantina on June 1 on the main drag of Sewickley. The building was the longtime home of the Sewickley Hotel, which closed in late 2019.
It was built in the 1890s first as a respite for those traveling along the Ohio River and later as a gathering spot for Pittsburgh’s industrial titans who kept summer homes in Sewickley. Since the 1950s, the spot at 509 Beaver St. was the place for Sewickley residents to see and be seen and was known for, among other things, its turtle soup.
“This is an historic place. It can’t be closed. ... It’s a legendary place in town. Everybody used to come here,” he said.
He worked out a deal with the building owner and took over the space in early 2020.
“That was three weeks before the pandemic hit. I should’ve just retired instead,” the 66- year old said, laughing. “But I really love this business. I’ve been in it since I was a child.”
He used the down time of the past year to develop the concept, which pays tasteful homage to both Native Americans and cowboy culture.
“I wanted to do something that was original, something a little different. I’ve always been enamored with the West, and my last name is Fernandez so obviously I love Latin culture. I wanted to blend the two together and so we did an Americana thing inside and a Tex- Mex thing outside.”
He has Hopi symbols tattooed on his forearm. “The back wall is dedicated to the great chiefs, the Buffalo Soldiers and the Trail of Tears — everything that I felt was important to educate.”
Native headdresses adorn the walls and so do saddles and lariats, as well as 12 brightly colored original watercolors by Don Weller, an octogenarian cowboy in Utah whose artwork has been used for postage stamps.
Outside is an expansive patio with a second full bar and an open kitchen station called “Rosa’s Cantina,” a reference to the 1959 Marty Robbins western ballad “El Paso” famously covered by the Grateful Dead.
“The idea is to have the best of both worlds, serving everything from quesadillas and burritos and taco to porterhouse, filet and salmon,” he said.
At present, the menu is primarily limited to salads ($12) sandwiches ($8-12) quesadillas ($ 14- 15) and hamburgers made with a 50/50 ground beef/brisket blend ($ 12- 15). Rotating weekly specials include a 12-ounce ribeye, chicken saltimbocca and mapleglazed salmon ($18-24).
Like many places locally and nationwide, Fernandez is short-staffed at the moment, citing what he sees as a mass exodus of labor from the restaurant industry.
“I think [workers] found other outlets and other opportunities because the business can be so volatile at times. They just decided, ‘I just can’t do this anymore. I’m gonna find something that’s steady.’
“It’s gonna be hard for us to get them back,” he said. “It’s gonna change our industry — hours, days, wages, menu prices — everything is tied together and it’s gonna be a while before we all fully recover.”
This is the fourth restaurant he’s developed in Sewickley after years as a nightlife impresario in Pittsburgh. From the mid1980s to the mid-2000s, he opened Confetti at Parkway Center Mall; Studebaker’s, Heaven, and Bossa Nova, Downtown; and Metropol and its Strip District sibling establishment Rosebud, where everyone from the Black Crowes, Smashing Pumpkins, Warren Zevon and a young Eminem graced the stage.
“We’ve had a lot of fun. The community has been good to us, both Pittsburgh and Sewickley.”
His first job was helping to wash glassware and dishes at his family’s bar and restaurant, The Spanish Grill, so named because his family emigrated there from Gijon, Spain. He studied hotel and restaurant management at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and ran high-end establishments in Texas before returning home.
“It’s been ingrained in me my whole life. That’s where I got the taste for it,” he said. “It’s all I’ve ever done and I really love it.”