Down the dark alley of East 6th Street in New York, lives a hidden 4-star bar and dinner venue that holds and brings to life death; along with all things eerie, haunting and Halloween.
Beetle House, the Tim Burton themed restaurant has created an entertainment factor like no other, combining the spooky and twisted factors of Tim Burton films along with high-end dining and drinking. Whether you share a meal with Jack Skellington of The Nightmare Before Christmas movie or Beetlejuice from movie title, each guest is transported to a chilling, yet exciting, Halloween world of their own, no matter the time of year.
Zach Neil (39), the venue’s owner and co-creator explains where the idea for Beetle House came from saying, “When I was old enough to start doing what I wanted to do, I started getting really into Halloween…I was kind of always really obsessed with it secretly.”
Growing up in a deeply religious family, Neil says he was never able to celebrate the holiday. He had to sneak around.
“When I was a kid, I snuck in the movie theater to see Beetlejuice and that was a big no no. My family was super upset,” Neil said, continuing, “That kind of started my whole journey.”
In April 2016, after consulting with a business partner, Neil decided to create Beetle House; a place centered around what he loves, Halloween.
He says, “I wanted to open up a place where it was holiday year round.”
In order to create the spooky and ominous atmosphere Neil had envisioned for Beetle House, he decided the building that hosted the restaurant should reflect its beautiful horror.
By simply checking craigslist ads, Neil was able to stumble upon just the right venue.
“There are a lot of rumors that this place had been a bar or a pub since the 1800s. There was a shootout in it, a couple of murders, and some suicides. The place was kind of small and kind of creepy,” he stated.
Having such a niche theme, Neil was not sure how well the restaurant would do. However, within a month of its spring opening reservations were booked solid until Christmas.
“I think that a lot more people than I even thought kinda shared my same vision for just things that are a little bit more macabre or dark,” Neil says.
Not only was there an active culture interested in visiting and experiencing the restaurant there is also an active group of actors hoping to work at the venue, and Neil finds a way to employ them.
“I’ve always wanted Beetle House to be a place where the creators, actors, and musicians, the artist people of the world to go and to be a person who can provide employment for those people,” Neil states.
In fact, many of the actors employed at Beetle House are recruited from the local theater and performing arts schools nearby such as NYU.
“We try to get all of our people from the local acting community, the young and upcoming people that need money… this is a steady gig for them. They can work two to three days a week, they get paid well, and it helps them kind of pursue their bigger dreams,” says Neil.
One actress, Charlotte Smart (23), who plays Victor, the main character from Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride, as well as Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd, says, “I am a long time Tim Burton Fan. I’m talking when I was a baby; [I loved] James and the Giant Peach, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, and Sweeney Todd.”
Smart says her job is to, “Give them a show, try to visit as many tables as possible.” However, she says, “The fourth wall is gone, there is no fourth wall.”
Indeed, patrons are warned ahead of time that the actors will get in their personal space.
“If you are going into the restaurant you are consenting to an interactive environment,” Smart said, adding, “For the most part, we get a lot of positive feedback because there are people going in accepting and expecting this very in your face, interactive [environment].”
Since its opening in April of 2016, Beetle House has been highly successful and has since expanded to include a Los Angeles branch that includes a larger space and even more dinner-theater action.
According to Neil and business partner Gia Farrell, the franchise is planning on expanding on the global scale in the near future, however, Neil says he doesn’t want to expand beyond his means.
“I’m never going to franchise at the level that most franchisers do because I always want Beetle House to be special,” Neil says.
— Find more online at www.beetlehousenyc.com
