Madrick’s Tavern is a tribute to U.S. armed forces, a touchstone to World War II and resembles an English pub.
Madrick’s Tavern is a tribute to U.S. armed forces, a touchstone to World War II and resembles an English pub.
But owner Leah Frederick has no illusions about her lovingly-designed addition to Newbury Township’s dining options.
“This is a bar,” she said, sitting on a comfy stool at the U-shaped bar. “It’s a place where you can get beverages and food and not have to scream over people talking.”
But it’s a radical change from the original occupant of the corner of Teague Shopping Center on Kinsman Road. The former Newbury Pharmacy space next to the U.S. Post Office only provided the square footage needed for Frederick’s concept of a friendly neighborhood tavern.
The rest — from the military-service flags fluttering over the sidewalk to the home-cooking-from-scratch kitchen and spacious restrooms — took her imagination and some serious excavation to achieve.
“We had to tear everything out. We were digging ditches in here,” she recalls of the construction that began Nov. 1, 2018.
Installing a bar and restrooms meant running water lines below the concrete floor, Frederick said.
While that was gearing up, she and her husband, Blake Frederick, decided the best path was to take the interior down to the cinder block walls and start over. Huge dumpsters were parked outside for months while the demo work commenced as her plan took shape.
“Ninety-five percent of what you see came out of my head,” Frederick said.
She had drawn up the blueprints before hiring an architect. But business-oriented friends questioned her determination to have commodious restrooms.
“There’s nothing worse than standing in line,” she said, adding lines of people waiting in the aisle would distract from her idea of a comfortable atmosphere.
“I wanted it to be more like home than home,” she said.
Frederick is no stranger to business. She and her husband own and operate Sherwin Shooting Sports in Eastlake and First Strike indoor shooting range in Newbury Township.
Frederick’s shift from target practice to tending bar was her desire to spend her time doing something she enjoys more.
“I’ll still teach concealed-carry in the winter, but this is my baby,” she said, confident in her ability to manage the operation. “I’ve never owned an establishment of this nature, but a business is a business.”
Separate from the bar is the dining room with space for about 20 diners at colorful square tables Frederick painted in artistic swirls and coated with thick plastic.
In an alcove just inside the doors is a snug arrangement of inviting chair and a sofa around an electric fireplace. On the mantle are pictures of Frederick’s daughter, Gloria, and son, Joshua, in their U.S. Air Force uniforms. Prints of WWII battles with the actions’ histories decorate the walls.
The main concession to modern culture is the three huge television screens hanging over the bar that are usually tuned to the current season’s sports, Frederick said, adding there is a Facebook menu she updates daily, as specials change.
Fried bologna sandwiches and cheeseburgers are always at the top of the menu, but when the kitchen produces meatloaf, it goes quickly, she said.
“We don’t have anything frozen. Everything is made fresh and from scratch,” Frederick said, adding the only exception is the veggie burger.
She created the menu starting with her family recipes, but her three cooks have input on components and they are always looking to make offerings better.
Frederick and her staff of six or seven bartenders also take care of the diners and she remembers the first day they served strangers with the meals she’d always made for her family.
“It was surreal,” she said.
Frederick said she feels like she was born in the wrong decade and would prefer to live “when men were gentlemen and women were ladies,” and everyone worked together motivated by the war effort.
Her favorite character, Rosie the Riveter, is tattooed on her right shoulder. The names of her son and daughter, in Morris Code, are tattooed on her left arm.
Since Madrick’s Tavern opened in July, the afternoons and evenings have been busy. Frederick said Phase II will be the grand opening, when she receives her Sunday liquor license. Phase III will expand to include breakfast.
Expansion of the tavern is also on the menu. Phase IV will include patio dining, Sunday brunch and a Bloody Mary bar, Frederick said. Phase V – still unpenned.
“You’ve got to grow into your shoes,” she said.
