Our Story
Three decades in Moab's first county courthouse
A Building With Character
Our historic home was the first county courthouse of Grand County, Utah. Built around 1885 as a private residence, it was sold to the county in 1892 and served as the courthouse for the next decade. Adjoining our kitchen is a small room with two-foot-thick adobe walls where prisoners are thought to have been held during those early days.
Because of this history, locals have long referred to the building as "the jailhouse" — and the name stuck when we opened our doors in 1992.
From Courthouse to Cafe
Following its time as a courthouse, the building served as a U.S. post office, a dry goods store, business offices, and during the 1970's, as the Jailhouse Gallery. During the 1980's it lay empty and crumbling while Moab's uranium-based economy went severely bust.
Finally in 1992, the building was bought and lovingly renovated to become the Jailhouse Cafe — and has been under the same local management ever since.
During our three decades in business, we've closed our doors to the public only once for a private event. That was in 1995 when we had the honor of hosting the late physicist Stephen Hawking and his team for a special luncheon. Dr. Hawking told us that his visit to Moab had allowed him to experience the wonder of truly dark night skies for the first — and only — time in his life.