Vitals: 1722 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City; (813) 228-UGLY. Open daily, 5 p.m. to 3 a.m.; major credit cards accepted; wheelchair accessible. On the Web at www.coyoteugly-saloon.com.
The spot: Coyote Ugly, for the 1 percent of you who are unacquainted with the bar and movie about it, is a faux-no-nonsense, no-holds-barred liquor establishment with tough and talented young women serving drinks, attitude and enticing bar-top entertainment. The sassy gals with a honky-tonk attitude shout into microphones, dance and serve body shots (or penalty shots, which involves a whistle and spanking with a strap).
Myth vs. legend: The chain bar's corporate identity contrasts sharply and often hilariously between what it aims for and what it achieves. Read up on the Coyote Ugly legend, and folks talk about a jukebox that's "Hank Williams or songs about Hank Williams" and a drink selection that's just bourbon, beer and whiskey. Well, actually, Nickelback is on the digital touch-screen contraption, and some of the shots look like Kool-Aid. Sure, the bare-bones decor lends to a Disney version of a biker dive; a Harley Davidson-inspired mural of a belt buckle bearing the bar's name and a Budweiser sign blinks, "This place is ugly!" But you can't get past certain key differences, like the dancing women who look like fresh-faced college students, not haggard junkies with c-section scars and some of their teeth.
The scene: Clean-cut white-collar dudes hover by the bar in a sheep-like trance, lapping up shots from a bartender's cleavage and gawking like adoring puppies. On busy nights, like Friday and Saturday, the crowd gets a little livelier and more diverse and co-ed, with female customers dancing on the bar between the employee stints. Female customers often donate their bras, and male customers volunteer to throw them up onto a hanging ceiling wire among hundreds of other brassieres to win a free body shot. If they miss, they have to buy the bartenders and the bra owner a shot. On the night of our visit, a patron missed and tried to opt out of buying the requisite liquor. The bartenders in jeans and strategically altered tank-tops promptly put him in his place for being clueless and impolite.
The girls: The women who work at Coyote Ugly are very talented, assertive and attractive, truly what makes the place worth a visit. They impressively hold their own with obnoxious patrons, running the bar as effortlessly as they dance on it. Founder Lil Lovell says that "quick wit, unshakable assurance, and the ability to take your last dollar" are requirements, and the Tampa women are definitely up to the task.
The juice: Happy hour daily features two-for-one well drinks and domestic beers from 5 to 7 p.m. Weekly specials include industry night 10 p.m.-midnight, two-for-one well drinks and domestic beers; bike night on Tuesdays, $2 Buds and $3 Jim Beams all evening; Wednesdays ladies drink free till midnight (well drinks and domestic beers); Thursday is military appreciation night, $2 Bud and Bud Light bottles and featured "Ugly" shots.
Ugly dream come true: Tryouts to be a Coyote Ugly girl are every Thursday after 9 p.m.
Grub: None. Grab a slice at Roma Pizza next door.