Jekyll & Hyde Club

Facade of former Times Square location

The Jekyll & Hyde Club is a theme restaurant owned by Eerie World Entertainment[1] in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. The name and theme derive from Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 Victorian gothic novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.[2]

Background

The Jekyll & Hyde restaurants' theme is spooky horror with an emphasis on English Gothic themes, with detailed decorations, set pieces, and actors who roam the restaurant and entertain patrons.[2] Characters include Mr. Aloysius Goole, the wacky chief mortician, Jervis, the hyperactive and high-pitched French butler, and the charmingly manic Gertrude K. Boom, club demolitions expert.[2] These characters are the guest's link to all of the details of the club's history, and perform membership inductions table side.[2]

The still-standing facade of the former location on 6th Avenue

In addition to the live characters, there are a number of animatronic props, sounds, and special effects which contribute to the overall atmosphere of the club.[2] The animatronic creatures (either pre-recorded or voiced live by the same actors that walk about the restaurant) animate periodically to entertain the guests and wish happy birthdays.[2]

Facade of Greenwich Village location

The main location, The Jekyll & Hyde Club, was originally located on the Avenue of the Americas in Midtown near 57th street before it moved to a Times Square location in March 2012 and closed March 2015. The smaller location originally known as the Jekyll & Hyde Pub was the first to be opened and is located in Greenwich Village, on 7th Avenue near Bleecker Street, and remains open as the only operating Jekyll & Hyde Club.[2] Other locations had been opened in Chicago and Grapevine, Texas (near DFW Airport), but closed due to poor business and the high operating costs of the restaurant.[2]

Eerie World Entertainment opened several New York pilot restaurants in order to decide which theme restaurant concept to further develop. In addition to the downtown Jekyll and Hyde, they operate the nearby Slaughtered Lamb Pub, based on the movie American Werewolf in London[1] as well as Jack the Ripper (at 228 West 4th Street), and the Night Gallery Café (at 117 7th Avenue South) which closed.[3]

In popular culture

In the 12th episode of the first season of reality show The Girls Next Door, Hugh Hefner and his girlfriends are shown having dinner at one of the Jekyll & Hyde restaurants. There is an entertainer at the Jekyll and Hyde club named Dr. Mange, who is known to dance to popular music such as Love Shack during the dinner service on Wednesdays.

References

  1. 1 2 "Eerie World Entertainment". Official site. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Jekyll & Hyde Club". Official site. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  3. ↑ http://www.murphguide.com/close.htm NYC bar graveyard at Murph's guide to NY Bars

Coordinates: 40°43′58.15″N 74°0′10.85″W / 40.7328194°N 74.0030139°W / 40.7328194; -74.0030139

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