Flex Space
By Naperville Magazine
Appears in the October 2025 issue.
By Peter Gianopulos
Dough and The Backyard prove to be versatile hangouts
There isn’t enough room on Eric Schlickman’s LinkedIn page to capture all of his eclectic skills and talents. He’s a University of Kansas–trained architect. A serial entrepreneur. A restaurant owner. An amateur pizzaiola. And a relentless scout of stately buildings in need of some tough and tender love.
That last talent is part gift, part obsession, which, at times, can drive his family batty. He’ll be driving along and spot some boarded-up warehouse or parcel of land off the highway and suddenly swerve in its direction. He once pulled into a quiet meadow, intent on dreaming up a way to create an outdoor dining venue inspired by the extended walk visitors take from the parking lot into Disney World.
So when he toured the former Carlson art store in his hometown of Wheaton two years ago, he experienced an epiphany. The bow truss ceilings. That glorious skylight hidden hiding behind worn old planks of wood. All that stately brickwork hiding in the walls. He needed to act on his gut instincts.
Ideas starting firing: If he demolished one of the walls dividing the space and ripped out some of the detritus, it would look as gorgeous as a sprawling SoHo loft. Then he could launch a new concept: An expansive multipurpose indoor-outdoor restaurant and entertainment space, which he’d eventually name The Backyard.
Schlickman envisioned a place that was in constant flux, transforming every season, every week, and sometimes every other day. It would house a sprawling sports bar. He’d mount more than 20 TVs, so locals could watch every NFL game on Sundays, and he’d draw in those interested in watching March Madness, the Masters, and the NBA, MLB, and NHL playoffs with a crowd. He’d also erect a stage, turning part of the building into an intimate concert and performance space. Then he’d fill the remainder of the place with unconventional sports offering: a cornhole tournament one day and then team-based puzzle and retro video game competitions the next.
He wanted his Backyard to feel like the most-welcoming open house imaginable, complete with a garage that opened onto a large outdoor patio. And in the front, he’d operate a pizzeria called Dough, which would sell wings, salads, sandwiches, and two types of pizzas no one could find in Wheaton: Detroit-style pies, thick and pillowy as focaccia, and East Coast pizzas, a New York and New Haven hybrid. (While the Dough is open to everyone, the Backyard is for guests 16 and older.)
Schlickman bought the place and got to work, building his “fun house” from the studs up. The amateur interior designer in him surfaced when he negotiated the loan of a nine-foot-tall, six-foot-wide Cock Robin sign, a beloved relic of the old hamburger and ice cream local spots, from a friend named PJ Murphy. And then, for good measure, he installed a Tuscan-style wine portal, where servers could hand guests a glass of wine through a tiny wood door.
When The Backyard (111 E. Front St.) opened this past March, it was just as Schlickman envisioned it. He collaborated with his friend, Erik Heavey, a.k.a. the “food scientist,” to perfect his pizza doughs, which are topped with everything from sopressata and honey to bacon and pineapple. “I love this community,” says Schlickman. “So what I’ve tried to build is a place that lets people connect and reconnect in a number of interesting and fun ways.”
Photos: Eric Schlickman
