Recently we had a chance to meet old friends from out of state who were going to be in Dallas for a short time. Rather than having them come all the way to Collinsville, it was decided to have lunch somewhere halfway to minimize driving time for both of us.
Our friend Kent looked up places somewhere in the Flower Mound or Colony area. He texted us, ”There’s a place called Rowdy Cowboy that’s a sports bar with a big menu near I-35.”
None of the four of us had heard of it, but the location sounded findable so we agreed to meet there.
We put in “Rowdy Cowboy” to Waze, and about an hour later arrived at a sprawling building with a full parking lot. Not seeing Kent and Lisa outside, we texted that we’d get a table and would wait for them inside.
It didn’t take long to see this was not going to be a good place to visit with friends; just stepping inside the front door it was already insanely noisy. The main room was crowded, with inches between tables, servers were squeezing through, their trays held high. Standing at the check-in desk, the room beyond was already so loud we couldn’t hear the greeter, much less a voice call on our phone.
After a short wait we were seated at the only empty table in the corner near the kitchen. Looking out at the huge room, I noticed I was the only female at the tables, all the other customers were men. Meanwhile, servers were all female and were all practically naked.
The Rowdy Cowboy waiter uniform consisted of a tiny blue thong for pants and what I would define as a blue bra-lette on top. Footwear was mainly cowboy boots, but some girls wore stacked silvery heels and thigh-high white hosiery. Rowdy Cowboy logo ball caps completed the look. A few wore a small round apron under the belly button, tied at the back in a thin bow over buttocks in full display.
And naked buttocks were a theme of the venue. On the wall was a large poster - a row of twelve servers taken from behind - with the title: “Bottoms Up.”
We got a text soon from our friends saying, “We’re here. Where are you?” It turns out there’s several franchise locations; we were at the one technically in Grapevine, and they ended up at a Rowdy Cowboy in The Colony. Who knew? But in their same message, they said “We need to meet somewhere else.” (Do you think?)
Turns out, “bottoms up” franchises are everywhere; Hooters (from more than 20 years ago) has to move over, there’s a new body part in town.
Some questions come to mind about hiring practices but there’s no doubt, because of the qualifications of a Rowdy Cowboy job, applicants need to wear particular types of underwear. “Granny panties” need not apply.
So I have tips for your next job interview: get a good wax treatment, make sure to have a bra that fits - without padding - and, most importantly, put on a brand-new thong.
Marilyn Stokes was a public school teacher in Fort Worth for 15 years and subsequently worked at KERA public television for four years. She retired after 15 years at Ford Motor Company, Southwest Region.