What’s Your Porn Star Name? The Infamous Bartenders of Hogs & Heifers Saloon – Ari’s Story

The Story of Ari.

“Nina Seemoan!”, I said off the top of my head. That’s the first time I made Michelle Dell laugh, little did I know what kind of impact that signature laugh would have on me. She’d asked me what my porn star name would be if it could be anything. One of my favorite artists is the legendary Nina Simone, a queen in my eyes, but I’m also a cheeky bastard so I said why not? And guess what, it worked, I’m here four years later writing an impromptu mini biography. I say biography because I love the dramatics, loving the dramatics has given me the ability to rock the f cking megaphone AND microphone. Don’t let it fool you, a megaphone does NOT equal a microphone. When Tiffany and Michelle told me I’d be MC-ing Rally In The Alley 2019 to say I died would be an understatement. That’s the end of my bio, I died that very day and have been dead since. No, I got so much anxiety I almost cried but Tiffany and OG Alexis pulled me aside and talked to me, I mean really talked to me and said I had it. That moment pretty much solidified what I’d known about Hogs from the beginning, it was not just a bar/job/family, it was also a sisterhood. 

Looking back at 2016, it’s wild to see who I am now. With some tremendous downs over the past four years, I can say I’ve had stupendous ups. One thing that’s been constant in my life has been Hogs & Heifers, they quickly welcomed me in from the fashion world, to the REAL WORLD. I was working at The Forum Shops inside Ceasars Palace that summer, high-end luxury was my f cking jam. Talking people into happiness via making them feel good in outfits was one thing, me – I made it an experience for them. And In doing that, my largest sale ever was around $47,000, plus tax 😉

That’s when everything was materialistic to me, a facade, I just got to play dress up with people. It wasn’t fulfilling me and I didn’t know what else I wanted to do. I’d finished my bachelors in psychology, and I’d worked in retail since I was 16, what was next? My friend searching a new job changed EVERYTHING. 

I was helping her look for a bartending job, I’d gone to Bartending school back when I turned 21, so I asked the teacher if he knew of a bar that was hiring. He sent me an email with about SEVENTY places, the one name that popped up was Hogs & Heifers Saloon. Keep in mind I said I’m cheeky, so I chuckled and clicked the link. That very night her, Felicia if ya know her, and myself made our young and dumb asses into the bar to check it out, the day before the Cattle Call, if you know you know. And f ck me what did we walk into? To be honest the next step of our journey. 

I didn’t even know I was going to audition until I was stumbling out of Hogs the night before. Yet there I am on Cattle Call night, nervous as sh t, asking myself if I really was going to go through with it. Was I really gonna take a job where I hop on top of a bar and shake my ass? YOU BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLER I DID! That’s the first night I made Michelle laugh. 

If you’re reading this it’s too late, I got hired. When I told my Dad he literally looked at me and said “What the f ck is a Hogs & Heifers?”, I died laughing. All he knew is that I loved it and what it gave me, confidence and power. I went from a meek and shy girl who wouldn’t dream of uttering the word “p ssy”, like I genuinely wouldn’t say it without looking physically ill. I’m serious, ask Tiffany and Zee. From that shyness to telling a man to eat my ass with cutlery, in front of his own parents, on their wedding anniversary. Fun fact: I later got his mother on the bar and I put Hogs stickers on her nipples. 

Fun and all but to be honest, for me it was more that just that, it was the metamorphosis of myself and who I was really becoming. I started to show self acceptance and self love because of the fact I was able to find my voice. Not the audible one, cause I sound like a small man now thanks to me always screaming at work. The voice that came from me learning that I was a grown woman with something to say, and ideologies that I ready to stand firm in. Being around some of the women I’m talking about made the clogging, and the music lessons, and the failed jokes, and the wrong drinks, some of the moments where I learned about myself. I’d gone from someone who followed everyone else just for acceptance, to being ten toes down about anything I believe in and what I say.

I’m big on karmic route, and perfect sequences, and everything had to go a certain way for me to find, exist, and grow at Hogs. Every single person in this bar has taught me something. That’s how walking into Hogs was worth it. All the fun I’ve had, the laughing, screaming, crying, dancing, friends, OH MY GOD THE FREINDS! My growth, the memories, that’s why I know walking into Hogs was worth it!

Let me wrap my sappy ass the f ck up so I can go take a shot. You can take one with me if you’re ballsy, but I’m always ready for more… More Hogs!

I’m gonna go put on some George Thorogood and contemplate my next hairstyle. 

Remember, stay gold Ponyboy. 

~Ari Rose

The History of Hogs & Heifers Saloon

The idea for opening a bar and calling it Hogs & Heifers was conceived in, of all places, a bar. Allan Dell was a self-proclaimed functioning alcoholic and figured he spent enough time sitting at a bar and that he might as well make some money while he sat there. Allan’s two friends and drinking buddies were a Master Carpenter and a Graphic Design Artist and he talked them into helping him build a bar. They would all drink for free and get laid regularly and for three broke guys in their early to mid twenties, who could ask for anything more. Allan’s father agreed to finance his project if he could find an experienced bar owner to “father” him in the business. Enter Tom McNeil, legend in the Dive Bar business. McNeil owned the Village Idiot in Manhattan’s East Side, which was the Boys’ favorite watering hole, where they could sit for hours drinking ice cold Pabst Blue Ribbon for a $1.75 a can. Allan knew that he wanted to open a bar that had to do with motorcycles and women and the original logo did, in fact, include an illustration of a chopper. The Boys were trying to come up with a name, while sitting in the Village Idiot one afternoon…”Hogs & something”. On the wall above the bar was a sign for a Heifer Auction, and a heifer being a cow that has not yet been bred, is essentially a virgin cow. The name Hogs & Heifers was born. The fact that the bar ended up being in a real meat market was simply due to the affordable rent at the time, but it was a perfect match and had a great deal to do with the success of the business.

Hogs & Heifers Saloon was to be an all American classic country and southern rock-n-roll dive bar. Allan knew he wanted it to have the look and feel of a gin mill and that he wanted to hang “stuff” all over the walls. Other than that, there was little else that he had thought about. He had a lot of friends who liked to drink and planned on throwing a party for them every night. Allan may never have imagined that it would turn into the famous bar it is today, but it was absolutely his pride and joy and he considered it his greatest achievement and reveled in its quick success.

Having entered the picture prior to its opening, Michelle Dell was the first bartender to be hired. The routine performed and style of dress worn by the bartenders behind the bar, which has made Hogs & Heifers famous, was born from Michelle’s heart. Hogs & Heifers opened in November of 1992 during an unseasonably cold winter. There was literally no heat source of any kind in the bar and it was so cold you could often see your own breath. Both Allan and Michelle believed in the notion of less is more when it came to dressing behind the bar and it was always freezing; did we mention the bar had no heat? Finally, Allan bought these little space heaters that did next to nothing to provide heat and with Necessity being the Mother of all Invention, Michelle began dancing on the bar–in the empty bar–as a means to keep warm. She would throw a few dollars in the jukebox and just get up on the bar and dance. Little did she know it would become the trademark theme of Hogs & Heifers and lead to countless celebrities dancing on the bar and donating their bras. The Julia Roberts photo was seen around the world and her bra still hangs there today, albeit hidden beneath some 18,000 bras! Michelle’s famous routine has inspired a Major Motion Picture and a league of copy cat Bars.

Essentially, Allan and Michelle, and their friends, were just a bunch of kids with nothing to lose and they threw a party that they enjoyed. They were fortunate and blessed that so many others would love to come to their party and would do so repeatedly.  The  two were married in Reno, Nevada, on November 16th, 1993. Allan Dell passed away on June 7, 1997. Hogs & Heifers continues to be run by Michelle Dell who was the sole proprietor of the New York City location.  She now lives in Las Vegas, close to her favorite saloon!

CLICK HERE FOR A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE ORIGINAL NEW YORK CITY LOCATION