“Tina Turner with a mix of Janet Jackson” The Infamous Bartenders of Hogs & Heifers Saloon – Dioyona’s Story

The Story of Dioyona.

Yo what’s up!

All the way from the 301 EAST COAST Maryland! It’s Dioyona!!

I’ve honestly lost count of how many tattoos I have shit my head tattoo is my favorite and least painful. My mama always called me the rebel out of all her children, full of sass, I always had something to say! I love hair so I’m always switching up my looks and style… I def have a passion for fashion, always have and always will!

I took a leap of faith at 23 years old and moved to Las Vegas. When I got to Vegas, I only had enough money for my first months rent. I didn’t have a job so I went and found one as a cocktail waitress to pay my bills! It’s hard in Vegas when you first move out here. At one point I was working two jobs, but then my twin sister told me about Hogs & Heifers Saloon!

She said I’d be perfect for Hogs & Heifers, so I Googled the Saloon and did my research. I called the next day and asked if they were hiring. Luckily for me they were, and they just told me to come in and audition. I was there the next day! I walked into the bar and Big Rich was working the door. I told him I wanted to apply, so he sent me over to talk to one of the bartenders! We talked, we did a shot, and then Tiffany came out from the back to see me. “Do you wanna audition?” she asked. I said “Yes!”

The next words out of her mouth were, “You gotta dance on this bar to audition”. For a second I froze, but in my mind I’ve always been Tina Turner with a mix of Janet Jackson, so I got up there and danced like I was famous! Dancing on top of the bar was theeee time of my life!! After I danced, Tiffany asked me a few questions and then just like that, she offered me a job! How could I not accept?!

I honestly couldn’t believe I got hired at Hogs! ME! A chick from little ole Maryland, but hey I LOVE it! I brought my mom in a few weeks later to show her where I worked, and she was so hyped about it! I loved watching her eyes light up in amazement that night! I got hired in November of 2019. I’ve grown to love the bar so much over the short time I’ve worked here. I respect all the women I work with, we are family… I’ve missed everyone during our closure, can’t wait to work with everyone again!

~Dioyona

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