Bar Review - Sitting pretty at Coyote Ugly
Overheard at the grand opening of Coyote Ugly in Buckhead:
"That one is so hot." "Look at her ass!" "Jesus, nice body" (I can't lie, I said that one).
"So this is what our boys are fighting for over in Afghanistan," (that one came from my boss). "My favorite is the redhead," (I said that one too — she was fine!).
If you hadn't heard by now, the thing about Coyote Ugly is that it's based on some bar somewhere in New York, which was the basis of some movie starring a bunch of hot chicks.
In Atlanta's Coyote Ugly Saloon, a bunch of hot chicks divide their time between pouring drinks and dancing oh-so-naughtily on top of the bar to 1980s hard rock, like AC/DC, Def Leppard and Guns N' Roses. Even the owner, Joanna Olsen, is model material.
You might suspect that only buff meatheads would enter a place like Coyote Ugly. Not so. Slick businessmen, hipsters, bikers and straight-up rednecks all were there to have a good time. Plenty of ladies not only showed up, but were talked into shaking their stuff alongside the regular staff in front of the whole crowd. (Someone called that "amateur action." All right, it was me again.)
Coyote Ugly appeals to a very specific type of bar-hopper, one that likes loud music, strong drinks, and a bartender in skin-tight jeans and leather tank top that can dance to Warrant's "Cherry Pie." Which pretty much covers everyone who parties in Buckhead. Beer comes in bottles or draft (duh) and runs $4 for domestic, $5 for imports. Standard well drinks are five bucks. And the club's signature Jack and Coke is $6. A body shot is $20.
There are plenty of thick bouncers around to make sure things don't get too out of control, which, God willing, they inevitably will.
Others might like it from a purely scientific or sociological perspective. Rarely does one get to study male and female sexual interaction in such a fertile petri dish.
Some patrons wondered out loud why someone would rather go to Coyote Ugly than a strip club — the same thing folks say about Hooters. As with all things based on a gimmick, Coyote Ugly should fear the fickleness of its clientele. But as Hooters has proved, half-naked, attractive women who serve alcohol is a gimmick that doesn't seem to get old. Coyote Ugly Saloon, 287 E. Paces Ferry Road. Wed.-Thurs. 5 p.m.-2:30 a.m.; Fri. 5 p.m.- 4 a.m.; Sat. 5 p.m.-3:30 a.m. 404-659-8459. www.coyoteuglysaloon.com/atlanta.html.