Pivotal to open Newport location

Brew pub at site of former Salvation Cafe will include tap room, beer garden, and food

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 1/16/25

A little over 3 years since opening their flagship location at Unity Park, Rebecca Ernst and Todd Nicholson are expanding their Pivotal brand to Newport, taking over the Broadway location of the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Pivotal to open Newport location

Brew pub at site of former Salvation Cafe will include tap room, beer garden, and food

Posted

A little over 3 years since opening their flagship location at Unity Park, Rebecca Ernst and Todd Nicholson are expanding their Pivotal brand to Newport, taking over the Broadway location of the former Salvation Cafe.

“It’s going to be a brew pub with a full tap room and food, a full kitchen, events, a beer garden, and a lot of really great space,” said Ernst. “It will have a similar vibe to Bristol with vintage furniture, and much the same aesthetic.”

The partners anticipate the Broadway location will see a great mix of traffic between summer tourists and year-round local patrons. “It’s a tourism hub, but based on conversations with locals who spend time on Broadway, it will be a win-win year-round,” said Nicholson. “It’s a great community, and people seem genuinely excited,” said Ernst.

They are still working on securing a food vendor, and hope to have that lined up in the next couple of weeks. “Our goal is to partner with a purveyor that aligns with our brand, while creating an experience unique to Newport,” said Nicholson.

They noted that the new Pivotal location will be right across the street from Chomp, a favorite Warren burger restaurant that first expanded to Providence, and will soon be opening in Newport. With lots of fan crossover, Ernst and Nicholson think there could be great reciprocal opportunities.

The new location does have a small brewing system that will enable the team to create some pilot batches on site, but the bulk of Pivotal’s product will continue to be brewed in Bristol.

Though Ernst and Nicholson would love to be able to hold a soft opening by St. Patrick’s Day, they admit that an opening slightly later in spring might be more realistic.

“This is going to be a great spot for us to drop into,” said Ernst. “We will have the space to host smaller, more intimate events in Newport, and continue to hold larger ones in Bristol. We will have great flexibility with both locations.”

“It’s a great growth opportunity and the next step for the Pivotal Brewing Company,” said Nicholson.

Pivotal Brewing Company

2025 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.