Rick's Cabaret to launch sports bar conceptRick's Cabaret to launch sports bar concept

Ron Ruggless

Tootsie’s Cabaret in Miami, one of the gentlemen's clubs owned by Rick’s Cabaret International Inc., plans to open a sports bar and grill called Knockers.

The 8,000-square-foot restaurant, which opens Sept. 2, will be located inside the 74,000-square-foot Tootsie’s Club. In addition to a menu of typical sports-bar fare, Knockers will feature six plasma screens, six pool tables, dartboards and video games, Rick's said.

Allan Priaulx, head of investor and media relations for Rick’s Cabaret, said the company would consider expanding the Knockers concepts to other clubs within its portfolio, which includes 21 venues under the Rick’s Cabaret, Tootsie's, Jaguars, XTC and Club Onyx names.

Rick’s, while offering adult entertainment, has developed a reputation for attending to the culinary side of the business. Its New York City location, for example, has a chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and its $10 three-course lunch has earned praised from Time Out New York.

In the quarter ended June, Rick’s Cabaret reported $8.1 million in alcoholic beverage sales, down slightly from the same period last year, but food and merchandise sales were up 2.8 percent, to $1.7 million from $1.65 million in the year-ago period.

The Knockers debut comes amid growth in the so-called “breastaurant” segment of sports-bar casual dining, which includes such established players as Hooters and a number of newcomers: Twin Peaks and Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke, both of Addison, Texas; The Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery out of Tempe, Ariz.; and Brick House Tavern Tap, which was created by the Joe’s Crab Shack crew of Houston.

Knockers plans to reach out to sports fans by airing local and national sporting events and offering a “Tailgate Special” on Sundays during NFL games with $1 hamburgers, hotdogs and tacos and $3 price points on six wings or six Buffalo shrimp.

“We see Knockers as one more reason for guys to come to the club and one more reason for them not to leave,” Priaulx said.

In addition to its gentlemen's clubs, Houston-based Rick's also has media holdings and adult websites.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].