Building the Valley: Gourmet and bar food meet at Lock 5 Tavern in Freeport
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Lock 5 Tavern, formerly the Upper Deck Sports Bar along Fifth Avenue in Freeport, might look old, but it is far from tired.
Owner Matt Vogan, 40, has bumped up the pub’s offerings with gourmet bar food in a commercial building from the late 1800s only a few blocks from the Allegheny River and Riverside Park.
Vogan was a longtime bartender at the Upper Deck, and eventually the owners wanted to sell.
“What better way to get a piece of my pie,” Vogan said.
Since he opened in 2021, Vogan has been pleasantly surprised to see patrons lap up his tomahawk steak and lobster tail specials for $40 to $50 with as much gusto as his $10 hamburgers.
It’s all on the chalkboard — the most notable new addition to the old bar — that lists the daily or weekend specials: G-Honey Chicken Sammie, Wine’O Smash Burger, Pork Schnitzel, Shrimp Stuffed Portobello and a Salmon and Scallop dish with seafood cream sauce.
Mayor Zack Gent said he has visited the old-time bar and former pizza joint often since he was a kid. When Gent moved back to Freeport in 2020 and Vogan bought the bar, Gent would stop in and treat himself to dinner before the occasional borough council meeting.
For Gent, Lock 5 offers upscale dining in a casual environment.
“What makes it special is it allows a creative dining experience with fresh food without having to travel into the city or a more highly populated area,” he said.
Because Lock 5 offers a rotating menu, there often are new meals to try.
“It’s a foodie’s delight with pricing that won’t break the bank,” Gent said.
The availability of high-quality fish, meat and produce at the best price drives the selection of gastronomic delights. Vogan buys and cooks only enough for a night or two, preferring to sell out and make a clean break for shopping for his next special.
“I try to get things on discount and pass off the savings to customers to stay competitive in a market that is getting crushed by labor needs and the costs of goods,” he said.
Vogan credits his loyal crew of workers for the staying power of the pub.
The time is right to be opening a business in Freeport, he said. There is only a storefront or two without any business, he noted.
“Five years ago, the town was desolate,” Vogan said. “The direction of the town is going the right way.”
Born and raised in Grove City, Vogan has lived in Freeport for almost 20 years.
“I had a vision for this place and worked my dangest to get there,” he said.
Vogan felt a name change was necessary when he tweaked the bar’s focus to more food and switched the bar to a nonsmoking establishment.
“I think the town needed it,” he said. “I wanted to offer unique food just to be different from other restaurants and to put my spin on it.”
Focusing on the food was the way to go for Vogan, who has cooked at the former Bonello’s and the Mirror Room in the Marconi Club, both in Leechburg, and at Narcisi Winery in West Deer.
Plus, he said, “working in bars over the years, I saw my fair share of troubles.”
Vogan changed the bar’s name to Lock 5, which refers to the nautical chamber for boats to reach the next river pool north of Schenley and upstream from Freeport.
The Lock 5 name is a natural, given the boating crowd that spans the Allegheny and Kiski rivers and frequents the tavern and the town. The community dock at Freeport Riverside Park offers free slips for mariners to stop into town.
“Boaters have been a great crowd,” he said. “The community on the river doubles the foot traffic in town in the summer.”
Because of Lock 5’s gourmet food, it’s another business that helps make Freeport a destination, Gent said. The bike trail and the river already is bringing people into town, he added.
“The tavern will bring people who are foodies, keep people in town and will encourage them to frequent other businesses in the area,” Gent said. “It’s a hidden gem.”