I always just called it The Piggly Wiggly. Oh, well. Now that the former Pig-N-Whistle, recently rechristened Bayou Billy's, is cutting out the Cajun food and losing the Hank Jr. logo (just kidding), it's also simplifying the name - from now on just call it The Pig (7 Lawrence St, 546-6150).
The bar is part of the Ronnie Davis Group's (RDG) caboodle of clubs that dominate the East End (see Vinyl, A-Pub Live, Daisy Dukes, Coyote Joe's, The Chocolate Bar, Syxx, and Soho East).
A little over a year ago, RDG shuffled A-Pub Live to Lawrence Street, opening the way for the ‘80s-themed club Vinyl. Across the street from A-Pub, Bayou Billy's premiered late February, re-envisioning the Pig-N-Whistle sports bar as a full menu Cajun restaurant/club. But Brad Ford, vice-president of marketing and revenue at RDG, says that the change hasn't been as well received as he'd hoped, so RDG is switching it back.
"At the time," says Ford, "we thought bringing Cajun food into the area might be a new twist. It was something new and different."
But the old place was missed by East End pub crawlers. Homemade "Bring The Pig Back" t-shirts started showing up on patrons over the summer.
"When our customers speak out, no matter what we think, they're the ones that tell us what they want," says Ford.
Not accidentally, The Pig rolled out its new setup this past weekend, just in time to welcome returning area college students. Ford says that The Pig, like most of the other RDG bars, will cater to Rochester's highly sought after 21- to 34-year-old crowd.
"We're just trying to find our niche for [The Pig] because it's such a gorgeous bar, and it's got so much potential," Ford says.
While most of the RDG spots are only open Thursday to Saturday, The Pig serves Monday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to close. On the weekends, dudes with acoustic guitars entertain.
Ford says that after the new menu gets tightened up, there'll eventually be some changes to the décor. If The Pig's theme is a bit tough to pinpoint right now, it's only because motifs at the other RDG East End bars are so well-established. From Urban Cowboy country-western at Daisy Dukes to the Bon Jovi grind-a-thon at Vinyl to fondue and martinis at The Chocolate Bar, the offerings are diverse and distinctive.
"We're very happy with the themes we have," says Ford. "None of them conflict with each other, which is great. You get something different every place that you go."
For more information on RDG goings-on visit www.goingoutrochester.com.