Opening in September 6, 2002, Pickwick & Frolic Restaurant and Club, "Home to Hilarities 4th Street Theatre" is Cleveland's most unique dining and entertainment venue featuring; a 185 seat Restaurant offering American rustic cuisine made from scratch; a 125 seat Cabaret hosting dinner and show packages, table-side magic, and rock-n-roll performances; Kevin’s an intimate Martini Bar featuring the latest and most innovative martinis in town; and the 425 seat Hilarities 4th Street Theatre presenting the best in live, national, stand-up comedy.

Over the past two year’s, Pickwick & Frolic has been honored will numerous awards and accomplishments.

¨ The Plain Dealer Rated our food an A-
¨ Voted “One of Cleveland’s Best New Restaurants” …. Cleveland Magazine
¨ Kevin’s Martini Bar “Best of Cleveland”…. Cleveland Magazine
¨ Kevin’s Martini Bar voted “Best Bar” ….. Northern Ohio Live
¨ Voted, “Best Place to Have a Martini” …. Editorial Winner, Scene Magazine
¨ Guinness World Record holder for “The Longest Running Comedy Show” 52 hours non- stop!
¨ Northeast Ohio Chapter of NAIOP “Community Development of the Year”
¨ Voted “Best Restaurant” ….Readers poll Scene Magazine
¨ Lisa Horner, Kevin’s Martini Bar Bartender voted “Best Loved Bartender” … Northern Ohio Live
¨ Pickwick & Frolic Restaurant. Four Stars… The News Herald
¨ Recognized for “Storefront Renovation Program” … The City of Cleveland
¨ Downtown Development Award…. Downtown Cleveland Partnership

As with all aspects of this exciting complex, no expense was spared to ensure the highest level of guest comfort. Everything from its unique décor, custom made seating, and select lighting, to the air circulation have been developed with guest comfort in mind. Pickwick & Frolic is a unique experience that you will not find anywhere in Cleveland, and perhaps, in the country. It is a one-stop entertainment experience. You can spend any part of an entire evening inside. You can move about the building experiencing multiple areas, fantastic food and entertainment and feel like you have visited several different places but you will have never left the building.

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Thursday 11am - Close
Friday 11am - 2am
Saturday 4pm - 2am
Sunday 11am 2pm (Brunch) and 2pm - Close

History and Inspiration:

Our Name……
Charles Dickens, a wonderfully inventive comic artist, won his first literary fame with The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Published in serial form, the monthly installments described the humorous adventures and misadventures involving a gallery of eccentric characters. In it’s day, The Pickwick episodes were described as having made the commonplace uncommon. Today, in much the same way, the Seinfeld episodes are described as “Much Ado About Nothing.” A little known fact is that Dickens journeyed to America in the 1800’s and on one of those occasions visited Cleveland. We like to think that when Dickens is in town, he visits Pickwick & Frolic.

Pickwick & Frolic stands on the site of what was once The Euclid Avenue Opera House, built in the 1800’s. For Cleveland, the landmark was the grand marvel of its day, frequented by thousands from across the region and beyond. Demolished in 1922, the S.S. Kresge Building was constructed on the site. Pickwick & Frolic, now located in this historic building, still boasts the original sandstone foundation of the Euclid Avenue Opera House that remains preserved along the left stage in Hilarities 4th Street Theatre inside Pickwick & Frolic. We consider this sacred ground’s providing live entertainment again on a site that once boasted some of the world’s best opera singers.

Ironically, Pickwick & Frolic Restaurant and Club opened on September 6, 2002; exactly 127 years to the day the historic Euclid Avenue Opera House opened in 1875.

Short Vincent, a street one block in length (like E. 4th today) between E. 9th and E. 6th streets, was once a colorful center of downtown Cleveland nightlife. The street was filled with restaurants and taverns. By the late 1920’s, the local saloons, restaurants and other businesses became a gathering place for gamblers, sports figures, racketeers, lawyers and newspaperman. Short Vincent offered good food, underworld gossip and the odds on anything. It was home to such historical Cleveland landmarks as the Theatrical, the Taystee Barbeque, Frank Ciccia’s Barbershop, The Frolic Show Bar and Pickwick Restaurant.

With all this history in mind, owner Nick Kostis liked the rhyming nature of the name Pickwick and Frolic. Remembering the history of Short Vincent, East 4th Street was the last location in Cleveland that could recreate the colorful live entertainment district from Cleveland’s past. Adopting the historic names of former Short Vincent restaurants and clubs, and the fact the Dickens visited Cleveland, Nick decided that Pickwick would become known as our Restaurant and Frolic is what you do inside.