Cicero's Shawn Edward Jacobs was born in St. Louis in 1942. His father operated a kosher market and as a kid Jacobs helped him cut meat.
In 1972, Jacobs opened his own kosher style
restaurant and deli at 1910 McKelvey, which he called The Pampered
Palate. It offered late night hours, late night entertainment and
attracted nationally known celebrities. But by the end of 1974, The
Pampered Palate
had closed.
In 1974, Jacobs was partners in another short lived venture, the Venus Health Spa in St. Charles. It also offered late night entertainment; it was raided by St. Charles sheriff deputies after the St. Charles Bible Church lodged a complaint. Jacobs and his partners were charged with operating a bawdy house. They closed their massage parlor and were granted probation. * * * * * In August of 1977, the Maryland Cafe in University City closed. The restaurant had been a fixture on the southeast corner of Delmar and Melville for over 35 years. An August 12, 1977 article about the closure included the following:
Shawn Jacobs opened his Italian restaurant at 6510
Delmar towards the end of 1977. His neighbor to the east was Joe Edwards, whose Blueberry Hill had opened in the
6504 space in 1972.
Jacobs called his new restaurant Cicero's. He lamented naming his deli The Pampered Palate — a name that baffled diners.
When Cicero's first opened, it featured pizza and beer and Jacobs in the kitchen cooking. Mike Lipel, who worked for the Riverfront Times, recalled, "He ran the place, he did dishes, he did it all. Somehow he came up with all the recipes. I don't think he was a cook by trade, but he was a cook by necessity."
Jacobs advertised Cicero's as the "Late, Late
Dining Spot" — it was open until 3 a.m. on weekends. Early on, he
made some key hires, including a cook from Talayna’s who shared the
restaurant’s famed pizza dough recipe. But the key to Jacobs' early
success was not his food.
Karen McVicker started working at Cicero's not long after it opened. In 1984, then a 17-year-old waitress, she convinced Jacobs to open a music venue in the restaurant's basement. "When we started, we just had music on Fridays and Saturdays," said McVicker. "The longer we stuck with it, the-better the caliber of talent became. We kept adding days to our music program." Eventually, there was live music seven nights a week. McVicker became the manager of Cicero's Basement Bar. The cramped, low-ceilinged space, with its sweating pipes and perpetual stench of cigarette smoke, possessed the charm of a war bunker. Its walls were plastered with posters and bumper stickers of the bands that played there. But the ambience was part of the draw. Cicero's hosted alternative rock’s most important acts. It was a linchpin in the local rock scene, with a stellar national reputation. Bands longed for the opportunity to play in the cramped basement — and a chance to knock back a free Cicero's pizza. The Basement Bar was open for a few years when Jacobs added a stage — a six-inch high, carpeted riser that offered the crowd a slightly better view but forced singers to duck beneath the ceiling beams.
"I was so proud of that little stage," McVicker
said. "I was showing it to Alex Chilton (the first performer to use
it) when he stubbed out his cigarette on it. I was just crushed. Of
course, by the end of the week there were cigarette burns all over
it."
In January of 1996, owners Paul and Suzanne Schoomer announced that Paul's Books, a mainstay at the intersection of Kingsland and Delmar in the University City Loop since 1973, would be closing.
On April 28, 1997, Shawn Jacobs opened Cicero's Restaurant and
Entertainment Plex in the Paul's Books space, relocating his
restaurant two blocks west of its original location.
Jacobs' new venue was a rambling, 7,000-square-foot space (roughly double the former site's size) that included a dining room with an open kitchen, a game area with four pool tables, two full-sized bars and a carpeted music room with 12-foot ceilings, a raised stage and a state-of-the-art lighting system.
Cicero's menu
expanded along with its space. In addition to pizzas and burgers,
the new menu included multiple chicken, beef and seafood entrees,
along with extensive pasta offerings. The
cheese baked alamara was one of the most popular pastas on its
menu. The
salmon wrap was also a favorite.
Cicero’s also had a new dessert
display case. Jacobs loved dessert. His display case was the envy of
his neighbors — and a commercial
success. The
apple rum raisin bread pudding was a best seller.
In March of 2001, a fired destroyed Cicero's kitchen and caused water damage to the dining and bar areas. Authorities blamed faulty wiring in an electric meat slicer. After repairs, the restaurant reopened in August of 2001. The remodeling brought about changes, including color. It was everywhere — purple ceilings; yellow, melon and aqua walls. The pool tables were pink.
"Let's go for some wild colors," Jacobs said.
"Otherwise, people won’t notice that there is anything different."
Cicero’s distinguished itself as home to the region’s best beer selection. It served 53 draft beers and 149 varieties of bottled beer. Every Wednesday, beer lovers attended a free beer school, where brewers explain the nuances of their pilsners, stouts and ales. Jacobs was just as happy with iced tea.
Shawn Jacobs died on June 10, 2016 at the age of 73. Blueberry Hill owner Joe Edwards remembered Jacobs as "an integral part of the Loop."
Jacobs' children, Chad and Trisha, took over ownership of Cicero's after his death. On June 20, 2017, they announced that Cicero's was closing.
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