Lil Spill

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Kitty had an 8lb 2 oz baby boy, Stephen!!! I’m so happy for them.
She knew she was going in today for a ceasarian. This morning I wake up and there is a message on my voice mail from her, ” Lil, I baked you spelt flour cookies and left them at your front door before I went to the hospital .” My thoughts were, who the hell bakes cookies right before they go to the hospital to have a baby?
Running around this weekend.
Tentative dates for Nashville: Girl search November 26th- 28th Friday noon- 4pm Sat noon- 4pm Sun noon- 4pm
Girls who make the final round need to be back at 5 pm
Opening date is december 8th. All tentative, but right now I feel comfortable with those dates. Girls there is training everyday up until the opening date. Be prepared to sweat. Don’t quit your jobs! Just know that how ever you have to work it ,you’ll have to go to training everyday. But I will explain more when I choose the staff.

posted by Liliana @ 2:57 PM

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Very nice managers meeting with Chantel and Aaron last night. They have scheduled a lot of promotions during October: Road to Voodoo Fest, Voodoo Fest, and Steel Ponies.

The Budtender of New Orleans competition is coming up in November, which Chantel won 2 years ago and Tara won last year. We decided we will do our own competition to pick the contestant from our bar to compete in this annual event. Speed and the ability to raise money is what wins the contest. Chantel is one of the fastest bartenders I’ve seen. I would love to see a speed competition between Chantel (New Orleans), Esther from Austin, and Sylvia from Chicago.

I love watching Esther. She looks like she is having so much fun, getting people to buy body shots, dancing on the bar, chatting with people. Well at the end of the night you see that she has rung in $1000 more then the next girl. I love that. Sylvia goes to work wanting to be the high ring so it’s a goal that she makes sure she hits. I was like that as a bartender. I wasn’t the fastest bartender but I was always the most competitive. So I was the highest ring because of my salesmenship. That person who came in for 1 drink was going to stay til close and spend a couple hundred bucks. But pure speed I wouldn’t win.

Kevin will read this and say to me, “Put me in the competition and I will smoke all those girls.” I can’t lie, he is one of the fastest bartenders I have ever seen. I made him help bartend at the Tampa opening. The bar was packed and we were all helping to bartend. Kevin comes up to me and says, “Lil, get all of these girls out of my way they are slowing me down.” But screw him this is a women’s organization so he can’t compete. He wouldn’t win the Budtender contest because he wouldn’t raise as much money as the girls. Jacqui was also a fast bartender. She wouldn’t want to enter. She would want to be with me ordering the drinks.

We just got in a new POS system in Austin. At first I was against having such an expensive system in the bar but on a national level it is so much easier to keep track of the bars. It will be nice to have in Austin.

I forgot to ask Marshall who won the “Hands on a Harley” promotion?

posted by Liliana @ 1:02 PM

Monday, September 27, 2004

My new guy, Tim, caught a door guy and the cashier girl stealing the other night. This was at the San Antonio bar. Kevin’s really expensive security system verified this. They were able to see the transaction between the girl and the bouncer as clear as day. Cudos to Tim. I’m definitely displeased that the managers did not spot this.
I’m on my way home today.

posted by Liliana @ 8:57 AM

Saturday, September 25, 2004

I’m in Raleigh visiting family. Last night I went out with my sister . Lee asked me to scout a few places here. So we went out a little bit. I don’t see the market here. It’s a beautiful city but I just don’t see this area being good for us. Lee yesterday said ” Raleigh comes up high on every demographic chart. ” Blah blah. I am not the location scout. I just tell it like it is.

posted by Liliana @ 9:20 AM

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Working, working working. Kitty, my personal assistant cracked the whip today and we got quite a few things accomplished. She is having a baby any day so I figure I better get as much help now before she has the baby. Marshall called me today about a promotion the Austin bar is co sponsering, Hands on a Harley. The idea of this promotion is that you keep one hand on the motorcycle for as long as you can.. The last person standing gets the Harley. Last year’s winner stayed up for 93 hours. There are breaks allowed but they are regulated. 1 break every 6 hours only for 10 minutes. Brutal. The amusing part is that people actually line up to watch this contest. Marshall told me they actually built bleechers because there are so many interested viewers. I say great. Coyote is selling beer and merch there. Outstanding.
Also while we are talking about Austin, I’ve been getting many e-mails about our bartender Dani. Nice work!
So much to do so little time!

posted by Liliana @ 5:07 PM

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Thank you Rick and Blaine. They both ,seperately, bought me gourmet meals for dinner last night. I was the manager on duty yesterday day shift at the New Orleans bar and they brought me dinner. Lobster dumplings, spaghetti and meatballs, tiramisu, and creme brulee. I’m still full. I love the new girls Libby and Ashley. Nice to feel some new energy at the bar. New Bouncer last night, Pump. That’s right , his name is Pump. I love the big bouncer names. In New York we had Beertruck. In San Antonio, we have Battle. There have been the traditional Tiny, Psycho, Bulldog. Of course all nice guys and all good at their jobs.
I just hired on a new guy, Tim on the corporate level. He starts next week and we are all fighting to get him started on our various projects. As I always say ” Sink or Swim”. We lost out on two spaces in two different cities. Outback Steakhouse beat us to one. And god this would of been an unbelievable spot. And American Apparel took the other. We go into quite a few cities and get treated like the big dog. the landlords want us there. They know we will help business and our track record reveals that we will be in busines for a long time. When Lee told me about Outback and American Apparel, it put me in check. I told Lee ” we are not going to be able to convince the landlord to pick us over Outback Steakhouse. Let’s see if something goes wrong with the lease negotioations and we’ll jump in.” As fas as American Apparel goes, I just think the landlord doesn’t want to deal with a liquor licensed establishment in his space. Keep looking.

posted by Liliana @ 8:04 AM

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

I received a letter from someone about going to the Tampa bar last night. This woman said that her and her friends had a good time but they felt awkward because there were so many lesbians there. She asked if Coyote was a lesbian bar. My response ” ANYONE CAN COME TO A COYOTE” A lesbian’s money is just as good as a lawyer’s money, a biker’s money, or a straight girl’s money blah, blah, blah. Shit , if I was a lesbian I would definitely go to Coyote. I can’t think of a group that doesn’t like the bars.
I’m hoping we can resolve the last few issues with the Denver lease so we can start building. Austin girls I’m very proud of you. I’ve been getting so many complimentary e-mails. And the numbers look great! ( no jinx marshall)
Lee is in LA looking for spots. Let’s see what he comes up with.

posted by Liliana @ 10:30 AM

Monday, September 20, 2004

Monday’s are always fun. I’m working on the NY bar’s sales tax this morning. I have Kevin looking at a spot in Memphis. I have Lee on a month location scouting trip. He called with three possible locations in a very prominent city. Jeff is finishing the Denver lease and the surprise city. Austin and NY kicking some butt this weekend. I’ve seen the Panama City numbers . For a city that has billions of dollars of devastation they are doing very well. The hurricane blew down their sign but for the most part the bar was unscathed. The Denver sign ( Absolutely huge) is budgeted at $30,000. If that sign was damaged I would be beside myself. I am so relieved that nobody at the New Orleans, Tampa, or Panama City bars were hurt. Such a load off my mind. Chantel called me up during the hurricane from new orleans ” Lil we didn’t even get rain. Wendy and I are just eating and drinking in our hotel room.” I’m just so glad that everyone is alright. In New York the only natural weather crisis we have are blizzards. Well all a blizzard means to me is a school day and people can stay out late drinking because they don’t have to go to work. The very first year the NY bar was opened we had these huge snow storms every week. For some reason they always landed on wednesday nights. I had a girl Chris who worked wednesday nights and she would do unbelievable numbers. I would help her bartend because it was so busy and we eventually got another girl to partner with her on blizzard nights. I remember praying that the winter didn’t end. It did of course but Chris was such a superstar that people kept coming back.
More memories
Holy shit! Someone just e-mailed me saying that the PBR ( Professional Bull Riders ) have a bull called Coyote Ugly. I am not trying to say anything bad about bull riders but I always felt sorry for the bulls that makes me so upset.

posted by Liliana @ 11:20 AM

Saturday, September 18, 2004

Jackson and I just got home. No flooding, no power outage, I’m so glad. Although I left a dirty pan on the stove and my house smells really bad. But I will take that problem considering what I could of come home to. I’m wondering how the Panama City bar faired? The news footage looks really bad. I hope the girls and all the staff are alright!
I love the NY girls. They gave me a gift certificate to Ajune spa as a present. We went out and had a great time at dinner for their employee night out. The night before they had celebrated Tella’s bachelorette party. The girls drank and had fun. Of course Jacqui had to remind me that we ended up at an S & M club the night of my bachelorette party. I had a girl who worked for me who was a dominatrix. She used to always drag us to this particular club that she worked at, The Vault. Do you know what is really refreshing about the NY girls? They love their job and they love each other. It’s the only bar that doesn’t have a problem with caddiness between the girls. Kristy actually watched jackson for a few hours so I could go to dinner with Jacqui. I came back to the hotel and said to jackson ” Isn’t Kristy beautiful?” His response was so incredible. ” Momma she is more then beautiful” Jacqui laughed so hard. She keeps telling me he is going to be quite the ladies man.
Well I’m back home. A few new girls in New Orleans. Interesting.

posted by Liliana @ 8:07 PM

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Jackson and I are safe in NY. I’m worried about Chantel and Wendy. Everyone from the New Orleans staff left the city yesterday. Chantel and a few others boarded up the whole building ( I own buiding bar is in). Chantel and Wendy stayed in a hotel. Chantel, my dear girl, said to me yesterday ” Lil , there were 14,000 conventioneers in town. I want to be here in case they want to go out after the hurricane and I’ll open the bar. If I didn’t have a child I know I would be right there beside her. Now I’m nervous about the girls, my house and the building.
Tonight I’m taking the NY girls out. Very fun!

posted by Liliana @ 10:51 AM

Monday, September 13, 2004

Off to New York. Every few months I need my New York fix. I love New Orleans but I do get homesick. I sent Lee to one of the surprise cities this weekend. I think he is going to veto the spot I found. Damn, that means we are back to square one in that particular city. Out of all the location scouts we use, Lee is the best. He is the most thourogh and he does his networking well before he even views the city. I have to trust his judgement. Well that’s alright I have 2 other backup cities. One of them will pan out. As per usual I’m late for my flight.

posted by Liliana @ 9:47 AM

Friday, September 10, 2004

The New Orleans “Best Bartender” poll ends Monday. So please vote again for my dear Laura here on whereyatnola.com. Her credentials: She has worked at Coyote for close to two years. She is one of the most consistent girls we have. She juggles law school, interning, working at Coyote, and does not complain. And the topper: She is famous for giving the best blow jobs in 3 parishes.

Also I forgot to put into my last Lil Spill, another reason for not coming to work: “My wife posted hundreds of flyers with my picture on them all over the french quarter. The flyers say that I’m an asshole and a deadbeat husband. So I need to spend the day ripping all of them down.”

posted by Liliana @ 4:56 PM

Kim left today. The girls are definitely better but I wish she stayed a bit longer. The girls were told that it was mandatory to come to one class a day. One girl didn’t show up for the first day of classes. The next day this particular girl was working behind the bar. I asked aaron ” why is she working. She should be penzalized.” Aaron’s response. ” Lil , she was in jail she couldn’t come.” How fucked up is that. Had she had the flu and called in sick she would of lost her shift . But she was in jail so she is given a reprieve. Kim asked me if this happens all the time at this bar . ” Yes Kim it does.” In NY the girls ask for time off because they are in a play, they are sick, or perhaps want to go on vacation. In New Orleans I’ve heard ” I’ve been at the police station all night because my boyfriend abducted my child.” I’ve heard ” I can’t come in this week because one of my fake tits burst during rough sex.” and my personal favorite ( I’ve written about this before) ” I can’t come in because my boyfriend locked me out of my apartment butt naked and he chopped off my finger.”
Aaron is so immuned to this stuff now. Chantel and I just laugh about it. Never a dull moment.

posted by Liliana @ 9:52 AM

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

“A shot of Crown will never make me frown
‘Cause it’s a gift to me from you
But I’ll tell ya true
What makes me blue
Is when the fucker doesn’t buy me two”
A toast by Laura from New Orleans
Kim is in New Orleans giving the girls a little refresher dance class. She had no idea how much work it is revamping the girls. They get into very bad habits when they work at the bars for a while. She looked shell shocked yesterday. On a good note we have a few New girls in New Orleans. I hope they breathe some new life into the old girls.

posted by Liliana @ 4:39 PM

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Rough night. Jackson got bitten by red ants all over his feet. Poor kid. He was so itchy. But lucky for him he got to stay up all night itching just to go to french school this morning and not understand anyone. We put him in french immersion school this year. He is already fluent in spanish so we wanted to try another language. He is a very active child. If he could play all day he would. Let’s see if this was the right decision. Sink or swim
Laura is in first place now for ” bartender of new orleans”. I can’t wait to see the NY girls next week. They just got a few professional pictures taken, very beautiful. Romina looks unbelievable. She’s got the whole South American thing going on! People love accents. I’ve never been into that. A man with an accent isn’t any sexier to me then a man without an accent. But then I think of Antonio Banderas in “Desperado”. I can see the appeal.
I’m working on the two surprise cities this week. Hopefully by weeks end we will have an idea if they are going to pan out. Patience is a virtue.

posted by Liliana @ 10:00 AM

Saturday, September 04, 2004

The day after I put Laura’s link on ” best bartender in New Orleans” I get a scathing letter about her. LOL Some woman was upset that Laura charged her $5 for tap water. ” That is her job!:” Tap water at my bars is $5. Why? Because I think it is a prudent business decision and ” I can do what ever the hell I want.” Look, if you have been sitting at Coyote drinking all day and then ask for a water I’ll be kind and give it to you. But if you walk in and haven’t ordered anything and still ask for a water then you will pay $5 and probably get sprayed. The hosing people down because they ask for water is getting so old. It used to be fun but the movie ruined it. Now everyone expects to get sprayed or they want their friend sprayed. I’m so over that.
I just found out that Stiffler, my old intern, is dating one of the Coyotes from san antonio. I have two reactions. 1. I knew he was a bit immature to be able to resist the girls 2. ” Way to go Stiffler. She is so out of your league. Good going”
Very interesting week. I got a very hot lead on a new city.

posted by Liliana @ 8:34 AM

Thursday, September 02, 2004

I received some compliments today about the San Antonio girls. They are starting to show some spunk! Jacqui and I decided to send Kim ( NY assistant manager) into New Orleans to whip the girls into shape. It’s like boot camp.
Laura from New Orleans has been nominated for best bartender in new orleans. The link is www.whereyatnola.com. Go on and vote for her. I have to say this girl desrves the MVP award at the bar. A year ago she was a big pain in the ass! BIG. But now she is one of the most consistent girls. She works hard. And she is truely appreciative of her job at Coyote. I have a great deal of respect for how she has turned herself around. Vote for her she deserves it.
Jeff’s back to work this week. Hence my work load is going back up. I’ll be in NY on the 15th. I’m taking the girls out for a night on the town. We are going out for Paella and sangria. I can already feel the hang over, especially the way jacqui and I drink Sangria. The mistake I make everytime is drinking wine and then drinking bourbon. Unlike pav lov’s dogs, I can’t seem to learn from my mistakes. Wine + Bourbon = hang over.

posted by Liliana @ 11:12 AM