by Tracy Dietlin –
BB Ingle, the Master of Events and the Godfather of Parties, along with Tilted Kilt, will be throwing a 2 day St. Patrick’s Day Party on Saturday, March 16 & Sunday March 17 in the Tilted Kilt parking lot. “We’re going to have a fence around the whole lot,” says BB. “We’re making it a 2 day event so everyone has the chance to come out and be part of nostalgia and history of where and how it all started.”
How BB ended up in the desert is an interesting story and also ties in with why this year’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Party is a reunion of sorts and is one of the reasons it is being held in the Tilted Kilt parking lot. BB was part of a team of bartenders that traveled the country opening up new TGI Fridays Restaurants. Back in 1983, after a few years of being on the road, BB and the team were sent to open a Fridays in Palm Desert. This was also the year that the old Town Center Mall was built, now known as Westfield. The team was scheduled to be here no more than a month, but the gorgeous weather and the golf courses got them hooked and they decided to stay awhile! BB and his opening team of friends then made the decision to make this their home and follow their dream of opening their own restaurant; a sports bar with live music, dancing, big screens, and of course good food.
They proceeded to find investors and started looking for a location. They decided to open next to the busiest place in town, the old Rusty Pelican, which is now the location of the Tilted Kilt! In the process of coming up with a name, and over a few beers, they created a legendary star athlete who excelled in all sports, and then they came up with the name BB O’Brien, a catchy name for an Irish Sports Bar. BB O’Brien’s was around for about twelve years and they were well known, not only for their happening events, like their legendary St. Patricks’ Day Parking Lot Party, but also their excellent food, especially the Danish baby-back ribs! Everything was in place for BB O’Brien’s to expand to other locations and become a franchise! Plans were made to open in the all new Gas Lamp District in San Diego. However, one of the investors talked them into opening the first new expansion in Santa Barbara, but because of the area it was in, it didn’t work out very well. They became discouraged & the BB O’Brien’s in the desert was sold, but without the personalities there that made the place work, it eventually went down hill and out of business! After working at various restaurants in town, BB decided to keep the traditional parties going and the past few years the parties have grown into major events in the Valley with anywhere from 1,000 attendees to over 5,000 at the Annual Halloween Bash!
When speaking with BB recently, he was laughing when reminiscing about the very first St. Patrick’s Day Party 30 Years ago, a few years before BB O’Briens opened. The party was set to be held at the El Dorado Polo Club in Indio! BB and his partners spent the night before cooking all the corned beef themselves. On the day of the party one of the biggest storms in years hit the desert with heavy rain and 50 mph winds. They had 5 hours to move the party and this was before the internet. They made a deal to move it to Palm Valley C.C. They got on the phones and the radio, started calling all their biggest networkers and had them calling people too and ended up with 500 attendees and a fun party. It is stories like these that let us know that BB has the gift of Party Planning in his blood.
This party promises to be the St. Paddy’s Day event not to miss. There will be several DJ’s spinning with DJ Ray Phillips at the helm. You can also get your groove on with BB’s All-Star Party Band featuring various local musicians taking the stage in a jam session type of performance. The fun starts at 11:00am both days and is $10.00 admission. For more info go to PartyWithBB.com
