Living the Good Life in Carson City not for sale, owner says

Living the Good Life Nightclub Bistro and Lounge at 1480 North Carson Street is the house that Gina Rohrer built, and it is not for sale.

A commercial real estate for sale sign posted about month ago in front of the building has left many patrons wondering about the future of the popular food and entertainmnent venue, which has created a loyal following over the past four years.

But Rohrer, who has poured her heart and soul into the business, categorically affirms that Living the Good Life is staying put.

"I'm going to be here," she said. "I have six and half years left on the lease, and I'm planning on exercising my option and staying."

The contract option is binding, Rohrer said, giving her the upper hand in lease negotations.

"My lease transcends the sale, and the option on my lease contract is my option," she said. "If I refuse the option, I can back out of the five years. But they cannot refuse me."

It was a lesson learned for the nightclub and lounge industry veteran who has been working since age 13 toward her dream of one day owning and running her very own establishment.

"This is what happened to us at Joe Garlic's (in San Francisco)," she said. "They sold the building out from under us. Our rent was $1,800 and they raised it to $6,100 in the mid-nineties. They put us out of business."

Never again, Rohrer said.

"When I signed this lease, this was almost written in blood," she said. "I wanted that in the margin, I wanted it signed by all of the owners that my lease transcends the sale, because that was one thing I knew for sure to look for in a lease was to never let that happen twice."

Joe Garlic's was one of her dad's many clubs he operated over a career spanning decades. Frank Perez, Rohrer's father, even owned a couple of clubs in Carson City before deciding to retire.

Rohrer said she persuaded Perez to come out of his brief retirement and be a presence at Living the Good Life, the first establishment she has owned.

"He's the method to all of this," she said. "He's the one who taught me how to do this."

Perez developed a reputation in the San Francisco Bay Area as much for his savvy as for the way he ran his multiple establishments. Sports legends, entertainers and celebrities in general frequented Perez's clubs because he treated them with the same courtesy he did all of his other guests.

It was Perez who had put the bug in his daughter's ear about the space at 1480 North Carson Street.

"About seven or eight years ago, I wanted this place," Perez said. "But I already had two places, and my wife told me if I did three places again she'd kill me."

Perez later revisited the property with Rohrer and both of them saw its potential.

"He's never picked a loser in a location," Rohrer said.

If Perez were a ballplayer, he'd be batting a thousand, because Living the Good Life is proving to be the success that Rohrer hoped it would be.

"We've just hit our stride," Rohrer said. "We're four years in now, and this is starting to be the sweet spot."

Living the Good Life has developed a region-wide following for its live music and entertainment, played five nights a week, a rarity anymore among nightclubs and lounges.

"I have a guest who comes in from Reno twice a week," Rohrer said. "He said in a 45-mile radius, there's nobody doing what I am doing."

But this is what Rohrer grew up knowing and learning, observing her father run his clubs and even working with him at Joe Garlic's for seven years.

She also brought in a James Beard-trained culinary artist to help her refresh the restaurant menu, while keeping the dishes affordable for her patrons.

During the first two weeks of March last year, Rohrer said Living the Good Life had generated $16,000 in revenue. Her business certainly looked to be hitting its stride then.

"It was exactly that until three or four weeks ago," Rohrer said.

When the sign was posted out front of the building about a month ago announcing the real property was for sale, Rohrer said business suddenly faltered within a matter of just a few days.

"I've been told that it's very irregular to put a for sale sign up on a property that is being leased and that is in business," she said. "I'm getting more phone calls wondering if I'm closing than I am for reservations."

Rohrer said she lost $6,000 this year over the same two-week period a year ago, dropping $3,000 a week.

"That sign really hurt her," Perez said. "To put it up the way they did just wasn't right."

What is right, though, is the way Rohrer has chosen to run her business, modeling it after her father's many successes over the years.

Living the Good Life is Gina Rohrer's house. It's not merely a nightclub, restaurant and lounge.

She welcomes all of her guests with a warm hug, kind words, and she sees them off the same way.

"I care about my patrons, I'm very grateful for them, and my guests know I mean it," she said. "This is my home, and I want this to be their little oasis."

Living the Good Life isn't going anywhere for a while, not if Rohrer has anything to say or do about it.

She said the restaurant menu — with its new appetizers and exciting specials coming up this year — a dynamic lineup of live entertainment and the old-school Rat Pack ambiance all await those who want a traditionally swanky place to dress up for and enjoy a night out.

"Come in, try the food, try our new appetizers, and see the experience that you will get, because this is an old-school family experience," Rohrer said.

Visit Living the Good Life on Facebook or call (775) 841-4663 for reservations or more information about its offerings.