Hanging out with a friend on a Sunday night, wanting to go out but not knowing where, we decided on Coyote Ugly, one of the newer additions to Kyiv’s nightlife. She wanted to dance and I wanted to drink beer and watch her (and other women) dance. It turned out to be a great place for both pursuits.
In a convenient location near Klovska Metro (9A Mechnikova St.), right across a shared parking lot from Good Wine, Coyote Ugly opened in July.
I had heard the buzz about the place from a former newspaper colleague who is now the PR manager there, but I didn’t know what to expect. Then I heard the security guard outside the front door lecture the men in front of us to not touch the girls, and I started to wonder what the place had in store for me.
I was so clueless that I had to do after-the-fact online research to get the story of how the original Coyote Ugly nightclub in New York City led to a GQ Magazine article, which led to a movie, which led to a chain of Coyote Ugly nightclubs founded by Lillian Lavelle. So there, now I know the history.
It turned out to be one of the better additions to the Kyiv nightclub scene, in my opinion, although my nightclub days are mostly in the rearview mirror of my life, with the exception of my favorite way to relax – listening to live music in clubs.
First of all, on Sunday nights, there is no cover charge at Coyote Ugly (on weekends, it is Hr 80 for men and Hr 40 for women after 10 p.m.) and kalyan smoking is 50 percent off. It also wasn’t very crowded even by 9 p.m. and so we got front and center seats opposite the 25-meter-long bar in the warehouse-like room.
We were off to a good start already.
The first thing we noticed is that there’s no food on the menu whatsoever. Those who go hungry have to call for delivery. The drink prices (at least the beer prices) were decent enough – Hr 30 for my glass of Budweiser and Hr 40 for her Hoegaarden.
Payment is cash in advance, so no tabs. The waitress playfully twirled an Hr 20 note from my change and smiled flirtatiously to see if she could keep it as a tip. Of course, she could! (But I rationed my tips on subsequent rounds.)
The live show was very entertaining. The attire of most of the young and fit professional female dancers is sexy but not scandalous or even seedy, in my view. I loved the choreographed dance line numbers, which take practice and talent. And I admired the athleticism of the woman who not once, not twice, but three times during the night was able to slide between another dancer’s spread legs after getting a running start from the other end of the bar. My friend, of course, danced to her heart’s content.
I did not like the continual video of binge drinking of shots and hard liquor that is shown on the big TV screens. It was the most disgusting part of the visit.
So anyway, three hours and Hr 350 later (three Buds, two Hoegaardens, cherry kalyan, tips) we bundled into a taxi and went home, happy with the evening’s choice of entertainment. Maybe I will even go back there again, since every night brings a new promotion – student night, play night, friendly night, ladies night, crazy weekends and relax night.
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected].
