Small business shout Out This Thursday features rooster Fish.
They're in West Hollywood. They also have a spot.
On Abbot Kenny there in Venice, but we Ho is latest Roosterfish. We Ho is the latest restaurant in bar to open in West Hollywood, and it's a familiar spot, at least for people like me who watched vander Pump Rules for the better part of my life. Alex joins us now and Alex, you helped to run Roosterfish there in West Hollywood.
How long have you all been open?
We're going on our six month.
Oh okay, so how's it going.
It's going really well?
Yeah, yeah. Why West Hollywood?
Well, the original Roosterfish, which opened up in nineteen seventy nine, is a historic gay bar, and we took it over in twenty seventeen and you know, reopened it still opened it up as a gay bar, but the demographics that changed in Venice we have a lot more of like a tech type of you know, Silicon Beach as I
call it. And when we always wanted to take it to West Hollywood so it could go back to its roots, and we had the opportunity once Pump closed, we were able to take that location and it's the perfect location for for for for rooster Fish, West Hollywood.
It's a nice spot too because it's bigger, much bigger than your spot in Venice.
You can't really get big spots in Venice.
It's bigger.
And we also have food that we don't have in Venice, so we have a kitchen component. So we're a restaurant bar I want to say, actually a rest restaurant club because the nightlife is pretty it's it's not necessarily just a bar, you know. We really we have different events every every week and it's fun.
Is there ever just a gay bar? Like isn't every gay bar a gay club as well? I mean you can go in in the middle of the day and it's a party.
It definitely, especially on Santa Monica Boulevard and West Hollywood, it's always party.
Yes.
Yeah.
Talk about the food, I mean, who's who's designing the menu?
Who's so one of our one of our partners, Mario uh he is an Italian chef, and our our mainstay is you know, has a really we have really good peaks of program pastas and so on. But we're adding now more to it for because we're able to expand on the on the menu there, so it's really an American cuisine. We're gonna start We're gonna start putting some uh some sushi components. We're gonna have more salid options.
It's a variety. It's rolling out next week. So I don't have a full menu, but if you if you check us out on our Instagram rooster Fish West Hollywood, you'll see all of the updates that are be coming up. But on occasion, like yesterday was country Night and we had ribs, we had barbecue ribs. Tonight is Papasito Night, which is Latin themed and we have tacos.
Wow, so really check.
Yeah.
I mean like we're doing what Roosterish.
Hollywood is like an ongoing show. So it's like every day there's a new there's a new event. Yeah, it's super fun. It's super fun.
You have to have a well stocked closet, you know, to be a regular, You've got.
To have different outfits for different different nights.
You have to, like even even for myself, like I have the constantly. Yesterday I was not shopping for cowboy boots and a cowboy you know me.
Well, it was Wednesday, so I think everybody.
Cowboy can't look like a fool.
It seems like it because I couldn't find any.
Yeah, it reminds me of a farmer once a wife. I got into that show Alex last night.
Don't do it.
So what's your background? What the are you into restaurants and bars? Is this your thing? Is this what you've always done?
Yeah? Not what I've always done. I'm one of four partners.
It's myself, my brother, Vincent, Mario, Chef, and Patrick. But I've done a lot of different things. Starting off, I was I was in the army. It was a paratrooper in the army for a couple of years. Left that, joined the l a p D for a couple of years, and then transition into the family business with the furniture, and we did restaurants and bars and hotels and so on. And then about fifteen years ago my brother and I said, hey, let's not just make furniture for these establishments, let's actually
own our own. Wow, And so that kind of that was the transition.
I feel like I would watch your major motion picture.
That's quite right.
There's a lot to it.
Yeah, tell us the parts you left out.
I wanted to say we only had eight minutes, so I don't want to start.
If a guy mentions furniture and the police, you know, we don't want to get into like Denzel training days type stuff right here.
Okay, so parking is parking an issue?
Parking is not.
Well, Parking is not an issue in the sense that there is paid parking everywhere.
There's valley parking.
There's parking in front of the abbey, which is right on right right next door, and then we're right next to Bedega Louis and they have valley parking. So yeah, it's never an issue.
It's always fun there no matter what time of day you go over to that section of who it's a good time.
In twelve thirty right now, Yeah, I mean.
We don't open until five, but you guys are welcome to come over.
Did you give up for Jesus?
No?
Oh, somebody else did? Oh Joe did Joe quant?
Did you could go to Lent?
Yeah? For Jesus?
Oh right right?
Isn't that the whole purpose of Lent?
It is? The answer is no, I did not. I gave up other more valuable things.
Wow, Naps, do you uh? Do you know?
Is there like a I remember the mural at Roosterfish in Venice, Like, do you have that over there too?
Is there somebody that did that?
Yeah, we actually have been waiting if the city was Hollywood is listening, We've been waiting for them to give us you approval because they count that artwork as a business logo and so we're only allowed to have X amount of frontage. But you know, it's very sad because, as you say, the location in Venice, we have a lot of artwork, Like now both the mural outside and inside, is this.
The logo you're talking about?
Yeah, it kind of.
It's it's it's it goes with the brand.
It is, it is, it is, it's become the brand.
But but the artist that did it, Diez, is amazing graffiti artists, and we actually have permission from him to recreate it. And in West Hollywood they just have not approved.
You're waiting for the city.
We're waiting for the city.
Are you going to have a rooster night where people dress up like roosters?
That could be interesting.
Maybe you don't come up with maybe.
You can come up with it. I never say no. It sounds like a good time.
So I'll keep thinking.
Yeah, I keep on thinking of Cocktail Napkin that Alex Tappia one of the partners there at rooster Fish, the new one in West Hollywood on Santa Monica Boulevard, one eighty nine forty eight Santa Monica Boulevard. Again he mentioned the Instagram account it's at roosterfish dot we ho