The Best of Times

Cleveland's Pickwick & Frolic Is All About Hearty Feasting, Good Humor and Good Company


By Deidra Jackson


The cavernous two-story, 27,000-square-foot entertainment complex situated in downtown Cleveland's historic Gateway neighborhood belies its genuine intimacy. At Pickwick & Frolic Restaurant & Bar — where company policy mandates that employees promote "conviviality"— four different on-site venues promise fun-loving guests a downright delightful time.


In an average week, as many as 4,000 visitors in search of high spirits stream through the comedy club, eatery, cabaret, and Martini bar, all of which are housed under one roof on the former site of the city's Euclid Avenue Opera House. With such a variety of spaces to see and be seen in, guests, remarkably, stay an average of five-and-a-half hours during each visit, club surveys reveal.


Not Just Another Corner Bar

Owner Nick Kostis, an entrepreneur from Brooklyn, N.Y., whose adoration for Victorian author and comic artist Charles Dickens led him to name the place after Dickens' witty novel series, “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club,” says his goal was to design an atmosphere that couldn't be duplicated in the suburbs. And in an eastern city where nightlife attractions are mainly found within the dozens of suburban communities surrounding metropolitan locales, enticing paying customers to venture downtown for a good time is vital.


“In this market, you have to give them a reason to come downtown,” says Kostis, who studied English literature at the University of Rio Grande in Ohio. “We had to create not another restaurant, but another event. We couldn't be perceived as just another corner bar or restaurant. We had to create an experience that was memorable enough for patrons to want to come into the city.”


When they do come in to the city, suburbanites flock to the comedy club. Anchoring the exciting compound is the 400-seat Hilarities 4th Street Theatre, which is billed as one of the largest made-for-comedy-only theatres in the country. With shows seven nights a week, Hilarities has featured a steady roster of nationally known talent, such as Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Paul Reiser, Sinbad, Kevin Pollack and Louis Anderson, and has successfully launched the careers of local Clevelanders who have gone on to find fame around the country.


“Comedy is our core entertainment,” says Kostis, who opened the $5.5 million complex in the fall of 2002 with the majority of funds from private investors.


The showroom features custom-built booths, in addition to intimate booths for two, mezzanine skyboxes, which seat as many as 12, and a balcony seating for 100.


“You can experience any part of Pickwick & Frolic every day,” says John Lorince, director of marketing for the nightlife complex. “There's no place like it in the country.”


My Way

After the laughs, guests may choose to stroll down one level to the comfortably swank Kevin Clinton's Martini Lounge, where the free Midnight Martini Show every Friday and Saturday night offers Vegas-style entertainment Sinatra fans would find irresistible.


Martinis inside this red-and-white room start at $7.50. As patrons enjoy their fine spirits, two guys in tuxedos and a woman in sparkly evening wear belt classic Sinatra covers. Here, guests sporting cigars, if they so choose, can imbibe specialty high-end scotches, blended whiskeys and a stunning array of signature and popular Martinis in a cozy environment.

Designed to resemble a posh 1960s sitting room, Kevin Clinton's Martini Lounge exudes a sexy ambiance that provides distinction to special evenings or hosted affairs.


“The greatest and most satisfying aspect is not the physical trappings of the place, but the physical nature of the place,” Kostis says. “That really conveys and exudes something more heartfelt.


“You can have the greatest finishes, the greatest paintings and tapestries, faux finishes, etc., and can be dressed and pretty, but if you're no fun to be with, it just doesn't matter.”


Rabbit in a Hat

Separate from the comedy showroom and Martini bar is Pickwick & Frolic's Cabaret, which offers a nightly dinner show/buffet, one to two featured performers a week, and unique tableside entertainment Thursday through Saturday. Magicians perform their shows within an arm's reach of guests, complementing their dinners, which start at $29.95. An in-house company of vocalists, including the complex's Divas of Rock, punctuate the evening out with Cabaret's signature brand of peppy productions that pay tribute to Rock ‘n' Roll.


“There's nothing more spiritual to me than a room full of people concentrating on one source and sharing the most human thing,” Kostis says. “To see and experience a roomful of strangers sharing laughter in the common form is moving.”


On any given day, Pickwick & Frolic Restaurant, which features hearty portions of American rustic cuisine, offers some 50 to 60 items on its menu, which changes every three to four months, says Felicia Hengle, the complex's director of operations. All items in the 185-seat restaurant are made from scratch in an open kitchen, which houses a wood stone hearth oven and two wood fired rotisserie char broilers. Among the most popular fare are herb-encrusted, wood-fired and spit-roasted prime rib, rotisserie chicken and double bone-in pork chops.


“The food is identifiable. Although it's not fine dining, it would exceed you expectations,” Hengle says.


A popular Sunday Jazz brunch, co-sponsored by a local radio station, features entertainment by various recording artists and a massive buffet line, which includes a dessert station.


“It's a lot of fun. There's a lot to offer everyone,” Hengle says. “We plan to stay true to our own concept and what's gotten us here this far.”