Dine at this restaurant and you will definitely walk away with history.
The sound of clinking drinks and the haze of neon lights led me down a dark passage and inside superfrico, a restaurant at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. I locked eyes with an astronaut blinking one big eye before noticing the purple and pink hues of neon bouncing off large hanging disco balls. Directly ahead was the backstage area of OPIUM, an adults-only space-inspired show from Spiegelworld.
The host led us to the left and we entered the main bar, called the Studio. To the right was a long, gleaming gold-lit bar where patrons ordered cocktails. Between a row of booths on the opposite side, a woman was going through a crate of vinyl albums, looking for the next funky, rocking beat to play. Later, I would learn that Superfrico is home to the only female DJ crew on the Strip.
We continued our journey to the left and into a dining room called The Artery, which resembled my childhood obsession with Lisa Frank. Whether seated in a booth or at a table, guests could enjoy colorful artwork and neon signs adorning the walls from top to bottom. Upon closer inspection, patterns of penguins, a mascot of the Superfrico brand, roamed the unique paintings and designs. I followed the flightless bird around the visually dizzying spaces and became a character in the experiential narrative offered by Superfrico on a nightly basis.
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The Las Vegas Strip is known to have some of the ugliest theater shows such as those created by the Spiegelword entertainment company, such as Absinthe, the Atomic Saloon Showand OPIUM. But such shows were not enough for the company that made a name for themselves as unique storytellers of the stage and in September 2021 they opened their first restaurant, Superfrico.
The restaurant is what the brand names “A very reasonable overloaded dining experience.” Food, drink, design, music and occasional live performances come together at Superfrico to create something different from the typical Las Vegas genres of dinner theaters and nightclubs. A visit to Superfrico is more like stepping into a story—a story that is spontaneous, mutable, outrageous, and changes night after night. And for a writer like myself, I was glad to write in it.
After we were seated at our table in Arteria, a waiter arrived and we ordered a cocktail from a menu created by James Beard Award-winning Principal Pourer, Leo Robicek. The menu changes seasonally, but there are frequent twists on classic drinks, such as the Cosmonaut of Las Vegas, a cosmopolitan with added ingredients of sweet vermouth, amontillado sherry, chai tea and plain milk.
Robicek said so “Every cocktail has its own psychedelic edge,” and perhaps none more so than the Pizza Pie Negroni, made with beefeater gin, Campari, sweet vermouth, Roma tomato, basil and Castelvetrano. It's a fitting drink for a restaurant whose food is billed as “Italian American Psychedelic.” Chef Anthony Falco, the “Pizza Czar” of the menu, he took traditional Italian cuisine and infused it with global ingredients to create something new.
Spiegelworld
As we waited for our Hearts of Palm salads, two men approached the table holding a box. Wearing white gloves, they opened the lid and revealed a collection of quirky forks before placing a contract in my friend's hands. The “fork sellers” set out their cutlery, some with curled tines, some incredibly tiny or outrageously large. One of the forks could be ours if we signed the contract with strange terms that even Rumpelstiltskin would balk at.
We got swept up in the story, so my table “bought” the giant fork and signed our lives away. I used it to enjoy the Lamb Ragu Babbaluci, a pasta dish with lamb sausage, tomato, mint, parsley, lemon labneh and za'atar.
Soon after, my favorite dish on the menu was served: pan-sized square pizzas called the Ultimate Pepperoni, Pistachio Mortadella, Pineapple Bacon, and the OG Square. Topped with pistachio pesto, mozzarella, mortadella, house Stracciatella, parmigiano Reggiano and pistachio, the Pistachio Mortadella made for a delicious pizza. Like all pizzas, the crust was thick, crispy and covered in cheese – a combination that sends diners into orgasms. At least it did with a couple who sat next to us.
They moaned and groaned as they shoved square pizzas into each other's mouths. Strings of cheese and tomato sauce covered their faces as they stumbled upon the psychedelic ingredients. They were disgustingly loud and the entire dining room watched as they fell under the pizza's spell, kissing and stripping halfway before running out of the room hand in hand.
The couple and the fork sellers weren't the only surprises of the dining capital. A woman juggled balls of lights with a pink space-inspired ornament on a wall separating The Artery and The Studio. A few tables over, a man in a top hat put on a dazzling display of bubble magic for another set of diners. At one point, a topless acrobat appeared at the top of a booth and bent her body into strange shapes as people with furry creatures passed by.
After dinner, my friends and I wandered the halls, passing it by Bottle-O Store, which sells mixed cocktails on the spot or to go, and a hidden bar designed as an après ski bar. Known as the Ski Lodge, the heavy wood abode was dimly lit with a digital view of a snowy landscape covering the entire back of the bar. I grabbed a drink and reclined in chairs covered in fur blankets by a roaring fire, talking to other characters who had entered this subplot of Superfrico's story.
Later, we made our way to a demo of OPIUM. After all, the crazy space show with acrobats, crass jokes and weird talent was on the other side of the main bar. After the comedy show, we mingled and mingled with performers, diners and guests dancing to vinyl beats between The Studio, Ski Lodge, The Artery and backstage at OPIUM.
At one point, we stumbled upon a hidden chapter, a tiny room hidden behind panels of curtains. Not advertised in most restaurants, we had walked into a library of Spiegelworld history. Signs, books, artwork, tickets, photos and vinyl records from various Spiegelworld shows and events covered shelves and walls and littered the floor like footnotes to the larger tale. Next to a spiral staircase in the room was a tub of beer. We grabbed a few bottles and went back to the main story.
The night continued with dancing, laughter and glasses of champagne sparkling under the neon lights. Superfrico captured each of our individual experiences that night until they came together in a narrative that meandered, cycled and evolved into something special. You can try reading it the front page of their website.
In the wee hours of the morning, I emerged from the never-ending story and made my way to my room on the upper floors of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. As I crawled into bed, I realized that the fantastic story of the evening would be much more boring when I retold it to others. Despite being an award-winning writer and author, I am a mere mortal and the true story of Superfrico cannot be read – it must be lived.
