Coyote Ugly Saloon

153 First Ave., between 9th & 10th streets
[Official Website]

Lets's separate the bar from the movie, shall we?

I've been going to Coyote Ugly since the place opened in January 1993. My friend Pete and I went there so often we only needed a three-syllable signal to head over: "Coyote?" one would inquire. That's all we'd need. Fourteen years later, "Coyote Ugly" franchises are popping up across the country.

The movie hit in August 2000 (read three bartenders' review of it). It took about a year or more to recover, but the old crowd is beginning to return to Coyote. The tourists are still coming in by the cabload (and they are all lousy fucking tippers) but on some nights you can actually breathe again.

The Myth, The Legend

Young girls who saw the movie still don't believe it's really a bar. So here's the story of Coyote Ugly, where it can be safely written that it's cool to go back there again. A Coyote bartender sent me an e-mail: "Fuck the movie! We rock the house!" She's right.

The fame that was to befall the dive bar on First Avenue and Ninth Street was building already in the spring of 1997 when Elizabeth Gilbert's excellent GQ piece "The Muse of the Coyote Ugly" came out in March. Gilbert did a stint there in the early '90s — we remember her as Liz — and her story nailed it. (My pals Pete and Cookie are also in the article's feature photos too). After the GQ article came out, the crowds came and chased all the regulars away.

Now the same thing happened. There are lines on the sidewalk some nights. Caroline, a former bartender, said to me before the movie came out, "I hope (new customers) aren't expecting bottle tricks, because we don't do any." There was a sign on the bar: THIS AIN'T THE MOVIE.

The real history

Here's some history about the real Coyote Ugly. It won't make the movie any better or any worse, but you will at least be armed with some facts:

Coyote stands alongside the best New York shots-n-beer saloons such as (in order that I like them): Doc Holliday's, The Patriot, and Duff's Brooklyn. There are other pretenders who copy these five saloons by letting girls dance on the bar, but forget them. All of these places, Coyote included, owe their existence to one man: Tom McNeil.

It was Tommy who owned the original Village Idiot from the 1980s until 1993 that introduced the concept of bars of this genre to New York. Tommy's formula for success is based on this concept: men will stick around a bar a hell of a lot longer, and spend way more money, if all the bartenders are female. (Gilbert claims that when Tommy needed new help, he would put out a sign that read, SHAMELESS SLUTS WANTED: NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY). Just like Hef developed the bunny costume and Hooter's patented the orange shorts and white T-shirts; Tommy had a dress code. Less is more, dressed like Daisy Duke is preferred, and if you dress conservatively, you don't work there for long.

Other absolute necessities for this style of saloon involve the alcohol selection and the music: the beer (preferably Pabst Blue Ribbon) should come in cans. No cocktails, blender drinks, or heaven forbid a martini. The music was key and the entire jukebox choices are trucker music. Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Allman Brothers, Charlie Daniels and David Allan Coe for sure.

So where did Coyote Ugly come in? The owner, Liliana Lovell, worked for Tommy, he taught her the bar business. Lil is whip-smart, sexy, and has a voice that sounds like she's smoked a million cigarettes. In addition to being one of the greatest bartenders in New York, Lil knew how to manage people and spot talent. While working for Tommy, she saved up all those dirty dollars the patrons slid her way into the tip jar. When the opportunity came for Lil to take over the space directly across the street from Tommy's place, the old Village Idiot, she jumped at it. Lil was 25.

First Avenue roots

So for a few glorious months, there were two identical bars across the street from each other on First Avenue. Who knows how many motorists, cyclists and cabbies had to dodge the drunken patrons who left Tommy's bartenders and stumbled across the street to Coyote Ugly? This is even romanticized in a short story Gilbert wrote that predates the GQ article. "Tall Folks" features Tommy and Lil as characters Tommy and Ellen who own Tall Folks Tavern (Coyote) and the Ruddy Nut Hut (Village Idiot); Gilbert infuses the story with the knowledge and insights that only comes from working behind the bar. You can read the story in Gilbert's book Pilgrims from Random House.

After the old Village Idiot closed in 1993 (it re-opened two years later at 355 West 14th; and closed in 2004), there was only Coyote and Hogs to go to for the true saloon atmosphere. Coyote satisfied the locals who needed cold beer and dive bar camaraderie. (Note: Coyote opened BEFORE Hogs did. So there).

Coyote Ugly's popularity grew as word got out about what an awesome place Lil was running. Others would follow. In 1995, Dave McWater opened Doc Holliday's (and hired one former Coyote bartender, Valerie) and the cowboy bar scene grew. Red Rock West then opened on Tenth Avenue.

What does Coyote have? What makes it so special? There are many good reasons. Hopefully, once the movie hype dies down, it doesn't ruin the place. The bartenders are what make the bar. To be a good bartender at a place like Coyote (or Red Rock or the Idiot), some key requirements must be followed or else it doesn't work.

First, there has to be the look. And this isn't supermodel looks, either. Leave that to trendy bars like Cherry or the Whiskey. The saloon bartender needs to have that girl-next-door look, but not girl-next-door-to-a-modeling-agency look. She might not look like the girl you'd take home to mom, but you'd damn well take her to a big night on the town. So just by judging whom the movie cast to be bartenders, they are off by a longshot. Lil would never, ever, hire Tyra Banks to work in her place. Tyra should be selling bras, not bourbon.

All hail Elizabeth Gilbert

Second, and this really is the hallmark of Gilbert's 1997 GQ article, is the bartender's attitude and disposition. The truly successful bartender is all of these things: wise ass, smart aleck, wit, joker, and comedienne and above all, outgoing. Gilbert wrote:

It was not always obvious what Lil was looking for in her women or why she was dissatisfied with the ones she discarded. She was ruthless. She gave no explanations. There were many bartenders at the Coyote Ugly Saloon whose careers lasted a single night. This could be perplexing. Many of the women that Lil fired were not only attractive but also perfectly competent bartenders... But there could be one thing about the girl that Lil didn't like, and that would be it — out the swingin' door.

Gilbert explains exactly what it is that takes to be a good Coyote bartender. This is a model that ALL of the saloons in New York try to emulate. And if they are good, the customers adore them.

There were bartenders who seemed to get fired because they were too fragile or too shy or too polite, of all things. (Early in my own Coyote Ugly Saloon career, I made the mistake of saying to a customer, "Here's your beer, sir." Lil overheard and shouted, "Don't ever call anyone in this place 'sir'!" So I said, "I'm terribly sorry. I meant to say, 'Here's your beer, douche bag.' " Lil and the customer laughed. And I thought, Oh, I get it, but I am a very quick study.) Some bartenders were friendly but not relaxed, so they didn't last. Some bartenders were gorgeous but not sexy, so what's the point? Some bartenders laughed a lot but were not funny themselves, so that didn't work, either.

True, if the bar is jam packed, the Coyote bartender isn't going to be able to chat you up about the weather and Yankees game. But if there are only a few people around? Definitely striking up a conversation is in order.

This all goes along with the A+ personality. A tight T-shirt and exposed navel is fine, but a smile goes a longer way. So does a sassy comment or a great joke. Because for a bartender to make it at a place like Coyote, she has to work it. And work it with everything she's got. At Coyote, they make it an event when The Devil Went Down to Georgia comes on the jukebox. The bartenders will stop work, clear off the bar, and jump up for a two-step. There is a horizontal pipe over the bar to swing on (as opposed to a vertical pole in strip joints). This bar-top clogging is also carried out at Hogs, Doc's and Red Rock West, with raucous results. But nobody hires better cloggers than Coyote.

If you're a wallflower, you cannot work at the saloons like Coyote. The bartender is part cheerleader, constantly encouraging the crowd to keep drinking with her. If you buy a shot for yourself and friend, you damn well better get one for your bartender too. And she'll out drink you. The perfect saloon bartender is both parts: beauty and devil. You wake up with a headache, but remember whom it was who gave it to you.

Coyote trivia time

Some more tidbits about the real Coyote Ugly: The floor in front of the bar itself was once covered in big iron plates. The old floor was starting to buckle. The girls that work there haul up from the basement cases of beer and tubs of ice for the shift change. No electric coolers! (I'd like to see Maria Bello lift two cases of Bud bottles). There is no door on the men's room (like anyone cares). The women's room is denoted with a giant "W" on it, and its not much better. There used to be a kitchen that served excellent Mexican food (the wings were the best in the East Village); but Benny, the cook, quit and his mother (Mama) couldn't take over for him. The kitchen door is still in the rear of the bar. There isn't a pool table, only 2 darts boards and busted-up video trivia game. Lil until recently did all of the hiring; she's relocated to New Orleans to open up Coyote Ugly at 225 N. Peters Street in the French Quarter.

So what is the secret of the Coyote Ugly's success? What is the movie going to do? Only time will tell. Lil should be thanked for giving so many people so many good memories.

Kevin Fitzpatrick is the editor and publisher of New York City Bartenders & Patrons. He thanks you in third person for visiting.