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The Lantern wrote
Local owner caters toward women
Libby Zay
Issue date: 9/22/08
There is something different about the way Elizabeth Lessner does business. Lessner is co-owner of three Columbus bars, all of which have, in her mind, the same demographic: women.
“I never felt like bars cared about me,” Lessner said, who has ownership interests in Betty’s Fine Food and Spirits, Surly Girl Saloon and Tip Top Kitchen and Cocktails. Her next brainchild, a downtown hot dog shop called Dirty Frank’s Hot Dogs, is scheduled to open in October.
The new restaurant and bar will serve food late nights and its d�cor will pay homage to the Columbus Clippers, who Lessner calls “hometown heroes.” She said that if the restaurant takes off, she would be interested in building another location near campus.
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- Elizabeth Lessner’s Appetite for New Restaurants
- Dirty Frank’s Hot Dogs opening downtown in July
- Ohioanna All-Star Market coming to Short North
Good profile, but bad proofreading:
:? :?: :?: :?:
I should also add that I never really picked up on anything even at Betty’s and Surly Girl that overtly had the women’s demographic in mind, and even less so at Tip Top. I’ve been to each of them; I noticed what the article reported on …
Her next endeavor, Surly Girl Saloon, is popular with Ohio State students. Nestled at 1126 N. High St. in what was once known as the red light district, the bar’s décor pays homage to its reported history as a brothel. Dressed up like a western bordello, the bar features a tin ceiling, dark curtains and ornate chandelier …
Lessner admitted that her newest restaurant, Tip Top Kitchen and Cocktails, “was a concerted effort to move downtown.” The bar, located at 73 E. Gay St., could easily be considered a Columbus museum. Pictures from the Ohio Historical Society and other Ohio collectors cover every available inch of wall space, and comfort foods that are akin to this region are featured on the menu.
… but I’m not exactly certain how a pin-up art collection, a bordello theme, or a historical/museum theme are somehow designed to attract the women’s demographic any more than the men’s.
Obviously, they’re not sports bars … no giant projection screens and all that jazz.
Meh. Interior decoration has never been my strong suit, so maybe I’m just a little dense on that score. I went to those places and would likely go back for the reason that the article said almost nothing about: the food. Well, that and better drinks than most campus bars or chain restaurants will have lying around.
:lol:
I was thinking the same thing, they use a description of Dirty Frank’s as paying homage to the Clippers to describe how anti-sports bar she is.
We all love Liz and her spots, but the article was a little schizophrenic.
I think the underlying theme behind her restaurants goes much deeper than decoration…Liz’s places provide a safe haven for women where creepy aggressiveness from male patrons will not be tolerated. (props to the St. James for this as well) This attitude keeps the environment from becoming a mook-fest & is appealing to others as well…which is probably why these joints get labeled “hipster” hangouts.
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Even the headline is terrible.
The Lantern. :roll:
I think part of the concept that the article left out was how many job opportunities these establishments have provided for women. Betty’s has a female chef, female operations manager, and Liz’s two parters in running Surly Girl are both women. Perhaps it’s not a ground-breaking concept to have women-owned and women-operated restaurants and bars these days, but I’m sure they’re still quite the minority in their field.
I think part of the concept that the article left out was how many job opportunities these establishments have provided for women. Betty’s has a female chef, female operations manager, and Liz’s two parters in running Surly Girl are both women. Perhaps it’s not a ground-breaking concept to have women-owned and women-operated restaurants and bars these days, but I’m sure they’re still quite the minority in their field.
And my girlfriend works at two of them!
Oh, I like how a chuck of the article was about streetcars. Remember when those were popular discussion?
The title of the article is pretty bad, but I did originally jump to the conclusion that Surly was a lesbian bar when it first started. So I can slightly see how the “women’s bar” moniker happens despite my early poor judgement and what not.
I do notice that Surly Girl is a popular place for females to have birthdays, ladies nights out, and such. None of my male friends have ever said, “hey lets get a beer at Surly or Betty’s” But my lady friends have and I ate lunch with Motorists there once :o. Surly Girl is also a performance space unlike TT or Betty’s with occasional bands, DJ’s, and comedy. Plus event space like Green Drinks and Punk Jazzerciseor something?
Tip Top however is very popular with my male friends.
Even the headline is terrible.
The Lantern. :roll:
remember they are young students… not professionals.
Even the headline is terrible.
The Lantern. :roll:
remember they are young students… not professionals.
Oh, I’m aware of that. That doesn’t change the fact that the writing is atrocious. I suppose if they actually aspired to be professionals, they’d be in an accredited journalism program.
Oh, I’m aware of that. That doesn’t change the fact that the writing is atrocious. I suppose if they actually aspired to be professionals, they’d be in an accredited journalism program.
guess so…..
Even the headline is terrible.
The Lantern. :roll:
remember they are young students… not professionals.
I believe my writing was considerably better than that even as a college freshman. Also, there ought to be at least two pairs of eyes seeing an article before it goes out the door (the author’s and a proofreader’s, and hopefully an editor’s as well).
I admit I had that impression at first as well. However, it wasn’t like it was that hard to find accurate information to correct that impression.
The way i see it Liz is a very powerful woman that gets results. She does a great service to her employee’s and as Walker stated she has several women in lead roles that do amazing jobs for her. A formula that is easy to admire and hard to duplicate with like results.
Oh, I don’t disagree.
I just don’t think that was the gist of the Lantern piece.
I don’t care if Surly Girl caters to men, women or flying monkeys, as long as they keep Brasserie de Rocs Grand Cru on tap, I will be there to drink it. Migod, that may be the best dark Belgian I’ve ever had.
This City needs more innovated minds like hers. They help to bring in that local flare, that Columbus is missing at times.
A friend of mine had a date-rape drug put in her drink at Tip Top. So while I love Liz Lessner’s places, nowhere is “safe” from this kind of shit.
A friend of mine had a date-rape drug put in her drink at Tip Top. So while I love Liz Lessner’s places, nowhere is “safe” from this kind of shit.
That really saddens me. Actually, strike that. That really ticks me off. At Tip Top? Seriously?
It’s been brought to my attention before that I have somewhat idealistic notions about the way people are and the way the world works. I guess this is just Exhibit Number Whatever. But still. :x + :(
A friend of mine had a date-rape drug put in her drink at Tip Top. So while I love Liz Lessner’s places, nowhere is “safe” from this kind of shit.
That really saddens me. Actually, strike that. That really ticks me off. At Tip Top? Seriously?
It’s been brought to my attention before that I have somewhat idealistic notions about the way people are and the way the world works. I guess this is just Exhibit Number Whatever. But still. :x + :(
There’s always a small percentage of douchebags that will relentlessly fuck a good thing up for everyone else. That’s scary as hell. I hope ARH’s friend was out with some companions who kept an eye on her after that happened.
I have a general question, and I know Liz Lessner posts on here, so if you’re out there Liz, I’d love a response. :-)
I’ve been going to Tip Top since the week it opened. It’s one of my favorite places in the city. The food is great, the service is always friendly and prompt. My father and I were making it our monthly lunch spot for quite some time.
A few months ago I brought three friends to Tip Top solely for the sweet potato fries. They are sooo good. We all had cocktails, and we ordered two baskets of fries. Along with the fries came a spicy mayonnaise, but the amount served wasn’t enough. We asked for more, got more, and that was that.
When the bill arrived, we were charged .50 for the extra side of mayo. Our bill was over $50 in cocktails, and if I remember correctly the basket of fries were $6 each. I think with the tax and tip we left over $80.
If you’re making over $60 in nearly pure-profit items–booze and fries–why bother tacking on a silly charge of .50, especially when enough isn’t served with it in the first place? I mean, the ramekin wasn’t even half full when they brought it out to us!
It’s not about the 50 cents; I have no complaints about the prices themselves at Tip Top. Instead it’s about the impression it left on me. Is the economy really that bad that you have to charge for mayo? Or, is your business really doing that poorly that every penny counts? Or do you view your guests as not even guests, rather people you can maximize a profit off of? I’ve loved your restaurants for years, so I highly doubt that is the case. Regardless, that’s what it felt like.
Ever hear of Bob Farrel with the whole “just give em’ the pickle” thing? Doesn’t it make just make more sense to give us the extra mayonnaise, something that may cost a paltry .10, in hopes of having our business to return to spend another $60? I mean, in all honesty, I haven’t come back since.