Coyote Ugly Saloon

The Coyote Ugly Saloon is an American drinking establishment and the namesake of a national chain of bars. It served as the setting for the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly.

Outside the Coyote Ugly Saloon in New York.

History

The original Coyote Ugly Saloon opened January 27, 1993, in New York City, after New York University alumna Liliana Lovell declined an internship on Wall Street for a career as a bartender.^[1] Lovell held several bartending jobs during college and perfected a routine of dancing on the bar, singing, and challenging customers to drinking contests. Applying a business model learned from her former boss, Tom McNeill,^[2] she began hiring young women and training them in the wild routine, which included such antics as chugging alcohol, setting light to it, then breathing fire. While some women were good at singing, others good at dancing, and others good at yelling, Lovell found that not all the women were talented in each of the three aspects, so she often paired women with complementary abilities.

In 2001, the second Coyote Ugly Saloon opened in Las Vegas at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino, as a franchise operation.^[3] In 2002, a new company-owned bar opened in New Orleans, Louisiana's French Quarter. In 2003, Lovell relocated from New York City to New Orleans, and is today primarily involved in the day-to-day corporate operations of the company from there.

From 2001 to 2003, 19 bars were in operation across the United States. In June 2009 the first new Coyote Ugly in three years opened in Oklahoma City.^[4] In 2009, the Coyote Ugly expanded to Europe opening two new locations in Germany and one in Moscow, Russia in November 2009. This brings the number to seventeen in the chain today. The location farthest west is the Las Vegas franchise.^[5]

The newest USA location opened in Milwaukee, WI on February 16, 2011. The third bar in Russia opened in Kazan on June 8, 2011.

Locations

• Austin, Texas
• Baumholder, Germany
• Denver, Colorado
• Kazan, Russia
• Koblenz, Germany
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Moscow, Russia
• Nashville, Tennessee
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• New York City
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Panama City Beach, Florida
• Saint Petersburg, Russia
• San Antonio, Texas
• Tampa, Florida

Eight franchise bars and one bar owned by the corporation have closed since 2003. These closed in this order:

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2003)
• Boston, Massachusetts (2004)
• Atlanta, Georgia (2006)
• Washington, D.C. (2007)
• Dallas, Texas (2007)
• Miami, Florida (2007)
• Charlotte, North Carolina (2008)
• Chicago, Illinois (2009)
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida (2011)

In popular culture

The bar reached national prominence in 1997 when former bartender Elizabeth Gilbert wrote of her experiences in an article for GQ magazine, titled "The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon".^[6] Producer Jerry Bruckheimer's company bought the rights to the story from Lovell, and he produced the movie Coyote Ugly, based on the article. The film was shot on a set in Los Angeles, with exteriors filmed in Manhattan. Coyote Ugly opened in August 2000 with Maria Bello in the role of Lovell and Piper Perabo as an aspiring songwriter in New York City who becomes the newest "Coyote". It grossed more than $100 million worldwide.^[7]

From 2006 to 2008 CMT ran three seasons of The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search ^[8] produced by Touchstone Television. The first two seasons saw a group of 'wannabes' paired with a serving Coyote in the hope of getting a job at the bar and a cash sum for them and their partner. The final season changed the format with the contestants competing to get a place on the travelling Coyotes troupe - five Coyotes who could be booked to bartend and entertain at corporate, sports and music events.

See also

• Bartop dancing

References

1. ^ "Coyote Ugly", New York City Bartenders & Patrons, Accessed May 7, 2008.
2. ^ "Coyote Ugly", New York City Bartenders & Patrons, Accessed May 7, 2008.
3. ^ "Coyote Ugly", New York City Bartenders & Patrons, Accessed May 7, 2008.
4. ^ Oklahoma City appeals to ‘Coyotes’ at new Bricktown bar
5. ^ Coyote Ugly Saloon official site
6. ^ "The Muse Of Coyote Ugly"
7. ^ Box Office Mojo estimate
8. ^ [1]

External links

• Coyote Ugly Saloon (company site)