Happy Holidays from UGLY!

Happy Holiday's from us at UGLY.
We shut down the bar Saturday, Sunday and today.
We will open up at 8pm for a giant reality show party
They will be watching the Road Rules v. Real World Challenge tonght.
Tim Beggy (who actually is on the show) will be there.
Suzie Meister (also on the show).
Ian Rosenberger from Survivor.
Jenna Morasca from Survivor.
Ethan Zahn from Survivor.

A couple of radio stations promoted the event, so hopefully there will be a good turn out.
I put an ad out for artists on Craigslist.
I want to decorate the bar / restaurant with original artwork and have the artwork for sale.
I got a ton of responses....which sort of surprised me.

Artists can display and sell their artwork on the walls at UGLY!
We will become a bar/restaurant/art gallery.....

remember....you need to ALWAYS think outside the box.....

Bubba out

Decisions

Let me start by wishing everyone Happy Hanukwanzahindumas! (that should cover everyone).
Another crazy day at UGLY. I have to get rid of one of the staff...the worst I have ever seen. I will wait til after Christmas.
Another crazy day....busy for lunch, happy hour, then late for a big post Holiday party party. (whatever that means).
My manager Brian (who used to own the Dragon Ice Co. - which is why we have the best wings in the world) got me all fired up yesterday. He got me all pumped up! We have decided to lower our drink prices. My old manager (no longer with us...not dead...just not employed by UGLY) talked me into higher drink prices. You see, in the bar industry everything is based on liquor percentage! The higher you charge for drinks, the better the percentage.
BUT, the higher the drink prices the less frequent return you get on customers.
Lower drink prices...the less you make, but the better return on guests!
I am in this business for the long run. I am born and raised in Pittsburgh, so I want this to be a Pittsburgh bar....and I never want a customer to walk out thinking they paid too much for a drink.
So.....starting Monday....our drink prices will go down!
I am debating on whether to open Monday or not? Any suggestions?
I think it would be better to give my UGLY family the day off....

By the way....Chef Darrell makes the best lunch features...yesterday he made a bourbon mollasses (sp?) steak sandwitch....crazy good.

I hope tonight is busy. We are doing .50 cent Captain Morgan's and .50 Miller Lites. We actually lose money on every single Captain drink we sell. We need to get our name out there and make an impact....so hopefully it works.

New Years Eve....we just decided to do a huge Steak dinner....Black Angus Delmonico's...you get the idea.......plus no cover and $3 drinks.

This is a great business....

By the way I did my first stand up comedy last night at the Improv. People laughed...that's a good thing!

Bubba out

WOW

Oh the difference a few hours make. If you read my blog from early this morning (yes I get up at 3am and don't get to bed til after 11pm or so), you read that the bar/restaurant business is slow this time of year, especially on the North Shore.
I left the radio station (WZPT Star 100.7) and went down to the bararound 10:30a. Of course one of my bartenders no showed, so I put a rookie behind the bar....what a mistake.
Then it happened.
A group came in....then another and another and another....the next thing you know every seat in the building is full and so is the bar.
That is when owning a bar is the most fun and the most stressful. You know you have less than one hour to get a great meal in front of every person and have them, sat, fed and out the door and back to work with a very positive experience.
Easy enough???
I wish!
I was a bartender, a barback, a food runner, an expeditor, a busboy and a host and greeter all in that one hour.
We made it....no major problems...a couple of mistakes here in there, but for the most part I feel it went smoothly.
But that was not the end....from there we had about an hour down time...and it started all over again.
We had a small party from Alcoa that came by. The really had some great food and a good time...and the people started piling in again.
We really had a nice happy hour of people that work on the North Shore.
It's funny...we have not even advertised our food yet. Everybody that is coming in is saying that they are coming in via positive reccomendations from co-workers etc.
Our food really is that good....I just never thought it would take off this quickly.
You see, we don't even have a freezer in our building. Therefore everything we make is from scratch and homemade. Nothing EVER frozen. Fresh deliveries every single day.
Scott Tady from the Beaver County Times came by to check the place out. Hopefully he enjoyed everything and will give us a good write up???
I put every single dollar I have in the world in this place....I need all the help I can get.
What will tomorrow bring???
Who knows???

All I know is that I will be wearing many hats regardless of what the day may bring.
Oh....and by the way....if you are near the Waterfront tomorrow night....I am doing stand up comedy for the first time ever at the Improv starting at 8pm.

thanks for reading....
and remember: Eat. Drink. Get UGLY!
208 Federal St. North Shore

Bubba out

Keeping Busy

Well,
It's the Wednesday before Christmas. Things are somewhat slow down at UGLY!
Everyone is either on vacation or shopping. Friday should be good though. $1 Coors Lights for happy hour and 50 cent Captain Morgan's and Miller Lite's for FUBAR Friday night!

Just planned an awesome New Years Eve Party.....won't make people pay a cover charge to get in the door.....then charge $3 for drinks.....that should be great....plus a private party already booked on the third floor with Trenni and Liz.......

Jerome Bettis stopped in Monday night to watch some Monday night football. He kept promising he would stop by....but of course when he finally did, I was not there.

Monday nights have become cool. Tim Beggy (Road Rules) and his Road Rules posse watch the show every Monday night. So, fans of the show can watch on TV the people that they are watching on TV????(I am confusing myself).

I need to find some artists to help decorate my place.....I would love the place to become an bar/restaurant/art gallery......

It really has that feel to it....

Bubba out

Eat Drink Get UGLY!

Well, It's open. UGLY. A brand new bar on the North Shore of Pittsburgh.
Our slogan is: Eat. Drink. Get UGLY!
It has taken a lot of years, a lot of learning, a lot of mistakes (if you don't believe me ask my wife), but now I think I have opened the coolest bar/restaurant in the city of Pittsburgh.
The decor (although not complete) is very inudstrial. A girl was there for happy hour on Friday and said: This has a New York City feel with an L.A. name.
Our food is great. There is no freezer, so all the food has to be delivered fresh every day!
Chef Darrell has really put together a fun menu. It has all the bar staples, like burgers and chicken fingers, but that really is not what this menu is all about.
We have homemade wing sauces that are the best I have ever tried. In fact we are constantly getting feed back that "These are the best wings ever". Thus the birth of Wednesday Wing Night. Plus we have the hottest wings in the world. They are made from imported Red Sevena peppers. No one has been able to eat more than four.
VooDoo Chicken, Big UGLY Wet Burrito (our best seller), for all the vegans out there we have an great grilled vegetable sandwitch. The menu is huge.
Of course there are always bumps in the road, but you go over them and manage them. For example....four weeks and I still don't have a sign outside.
I will keep you up to date on the fun, trials and tribulations of the crazy bar/restaurant industry.
The very cool thing is this....what other business can you throw a party every single night?

Bubba out