East Toledo club still a music mecca after decades of live music
TOLEDO – Country. Hip-hop. Heavy metal. No matter the genre, Frankie’s is open to any and all musical styles.
“I love all sorts of music. I love providing a stage for live music,” said Broc Curry, who has owned the East Toledo club since 2020. “I don’t care if it’s country or metal or hip-hop, if it’s good it’s good.”
Frankie’s first opened as a family-owned Italian restaurant in 1945 on Adams Street, named after its original owner, Frankie Andriaccio. The restaurant moved to its current location at 308 East Main St. around 1953.
“Back in the day they did live music acts, in the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Curry said. “It’s amazing it’s been in the same location for so long.
In the mid-1980s, family member Robert Croak took over the restaurant and began booking bands, mostly punk and alternative rock groups.
“It became more of a bar for live music than a restaurant and gradually the Italian restaurant kind of phased itself out,” Curry said.
The club, which has a capacity of around 200 patrons, became a mecca for touring bands as they crisscrossed the Midwest.
“Some of them became really big artists, and some vanished into obscurity. Rob (Croak) was on the cutting edge of that scene. Frankie’s since that timeframe has been known as a good place to stop and play,” Curry said.
Jon Stainbrook was helping Croak find and book bands in the 1980s and ‘90s that were talented but not too big to play a 200-person venue. Stainbrook also performed at Frankie’s numerous times with his punk band, the Stain.
“It was a happening place,” Stainbrook said. “The touring bands loved to play Frankie’s and a lot of local bands got their start there.”
Curry said he has been booking shows at Frankie’s for over 25 years now.”
“It’s just kind of a spot the bands and their managers know is there and they enjoy playing it. It is a smaller room, but to me, I’ve always enjoyed that – the intimacy and the vibe of a small room. You can see some of your favorite bands up close and personal. It’s really a good time, rubbing shoulder with the other fans and with the musicians and just loving the music.”
Artists that played Frankie’s early in their careers and later went on to stardom include the White Stripes, Jelly Roll, Limp Bizkit, X, Smashing Pumpkins, the Black Keys, Idina Menzel, and the Lemonheads.
The club was forced to shut down in March 2020 when the COVID pandemic hit, and Curry said the pandemic was unfortunate but the timing actually worked out well for him. He had been booking about 150 shows a year at Frankie’s and another 350 events at other local venues and was on the verge of feeling burned out.
“I’m not happy there was a pandemic or anything but at the time we were looking to step back. We had been doing 500 events a year and there were some weeks we’d have like 20 events in a week and then 30 days of nonstop shows.
“We have a small staff and that meant that those people who worked for us worked 30 days in a row, in the office during the day and then at the clubs at night until 3, then getting up and getting back in the office at 10 a.m. It was a grind but we love music and we love Toledo. We felt like we were doing something important.”
At the time the pandemic hit, Frankie’s owner Robert Croak was running multiple businesses and was no longer based in Toledo.
Curry said he had a chance to “refocus my energies” and thought it would be a good time to try to buy the club.
“I spent more time in that building over my entire life than anywhere else. I didn’t want to see it fade into obscurity or topple over,” he said.
Curry ended up buying the building and renovating it from top to bottom, putting in a new roof, new electrical and plumbing systems, new HVAC, and more.
“My other businesses were doing well and I had money to put into Frankie’s so we spent a year of actually revamping the club and doing all the stuff that needed to be done.”
The refreshed and renovated Frankie’s reopened in July 2023 and Curry and staff are being selective about what artists they book and how many shows they put on.
The priority is to help local musicians have a place to play.
“Now I know that Frankie’s will be here well past when I’m gone and some other whippersnapper can take it over. It’s real important for me to set it up for success for the future,” Curry said.
