The average lifespan of an independently owned restaurant in the U.S. is a mere five years. That’s according to a restaurant management organization. But if an establishment gets past that five-year mark, the odds of lasting 10 years or more go way up.
Of course, a great many factors contribute to a restaurant’s longevity, not the least of which is “location, location, location,” as the saying goes. The middle of a bustling block on Walnut Street across from the area’s most modern performing arts venue seems like a no-lose spot, but it wasn’t at all the same story 20 years ago, when Nicholson’s Pub opened its doors.
Nick Sanders was already established in the restaurant business when the opportunity arose in the mid-1990s to take a chance on a new development in downtown Cincinnati. His Maysville, Ky. restaurant, deSha’s, was doing well when he got wind of the newly christened “backstage area” to be built around the forthcoming performing arts showcase, the Aronoff Center.
The center would have no parking or restaurant facilities but city planners hoped it would encourage ancillary development in that part of downtown, according to David Ginsburg, president and CEO of Downtown Cincinnati, Inc. (DCI).
“Nick was a pioneer,” Ginsberg says. “And 20 years later, Nicholson’s is a fixture and a great favorite down here.”
Nicholson’s opened in December 1997, and for the past month they’ve been celebrating their anniversary with special events and giveaways, culminating on Jan. 25 with a grand party.
Sanders, whose full name is Wallace Nicholson Sanders, traces his Scottish ancestry back for many generations. When the backstage opportunity came along, he knew he wanted to recreate an authentic bit of Scotland in Cincinnati. He traveled to Scotland and Ireland with the restaurant’s architect and management staff for extensive fieldwork in both big city and small-town pubs and restaurants.
“We tried to be authentic,” Sanders says, “striking a balance between Scottish (food and drink) but also offering plenty for American tastes.”
Erin Fowler, who has worked with Sanders since beginning as a server at deSha’s in 1990, says she thought the concept and feel of Nicholson’s was “intrinsically special” from opening day. “A lot of people think we’re Irish, but we’re modeled after a bar in Edinburgh called Café Royal,” she says.
Fowler is now event manager at a relatively new addition to the Nicholson’s complex, an upstairs event center for private parties. The company also opened Horse & Barrel Bourbon House at street level next to Nicholson’s a couple of years ago.
Sanders, who has no living relatives in Scotland, began visiting the country on golf trips 35 years ago. He found a place of great beauty, friendliness and hospitality. “I wanted to bring a bit of that back to the States,” he says.
Although much about downtown has changed over the 20 years since Nicholson’s opened, the place remains vital even while areas such as The Banks and Over-the-Rhine have grown.
One of Nicholson’s yearly events honors Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns, whose legacy is celebrated on Burns Day each Jan. 25. It’s a national holiday in Scotland, and Sanders has made Burns Night an annual fête at Nicholson’s, with members of the Caledonian Society of Cincinnati always enthusiastic participants.
This year, Burns Night will be extra special thanks to the 20th-anniversary tie-in. Nicholson’s and Horse & Barrel will be open to the public and a premium ticketed event will happen concurrently in the Backstage Event Center. Tickets to the upstairs party includes a welcome cocktail, Scottish buffet and souvenir gift. Both venues will also feature Celtic music, Highland dancers, Scotch tastings, bagpipers, drummers and a “toast to the haggis.”
Beyond this party, Nicholson’s will carry on with its mix of Scottish favorites — such as the largest selection of single-malt Scotch whiskeys in the area — and decidedly Stateside fare, including the popular duck-fat fries that Sanders says is one of the most-requested items on the menu.
“Nick really took a chance when he opened this restaurant,” says Ginsburg. “He’s renovated a couple of times, kept the place up-to-date and been enormously successful.”
Burns Night takes place Jan. 25 at Nicholson’s (625 Walnut St., Downtown). For more information, visit nicholsonspub.com.
