Defend the indefensible: Bottle Service

$20 per person = $160 bucks ... how about that?
except most places its more like $300 for a bottle of ketel one. plus $60 tip for the cocktail waitress who drops off the bottle at your table.

if there's a line to get into the club/lounge, you can bypass it by telling the doorman you want a table, and there's sometimes a minimum, like you must get one bottle for every 5 people or something like that.

but these are usually at superclubs or corny buddha-bar type of lounges.

http://www.mercola.com/images/newsletter/2005/04/27/baby_bottle.jpg

TS: BYOB vs Bottle Service?

Same ol' DJs, same ol' massive cover charge (which they get away with only on MisShapes coattails in this spot). DJs: Tim Sweeney (DFA, beatsinspace.net), Dave P (Making Time, Fixed), and Justine D, with live performance at midnight by L-D Section-II (Lansing -Dreiden, aka totally pretenious art rock). $10 cover.

wtf. that is wrong on so many levels.

just looking at myopenbar now makes me realize how little I go out these days, and how out of touch I am. Or how out of touch everyone else is.

To bad they didn't mention that one of the reasons Nite Time charges that much money is because they usually spend lots of money on good djs, sometimes even flying them over.

I didn't really get the Lansing Dreiden record I heard, though.

*= whether this gets anybody laid is entirely a matter of myth and conjecture

hey Phil - did you see this in Melbourne?
hm, i don't remember seeing any bottle service, but i was there in 2002. i went to gin palace once, but i don't really remember it that well since i was incredibly drunk. is this the place with a sort of fake-outside ceiling atrium thing and ivy around or am i making this up. there were some nice looking lounges though, but i dont think they had bottle service. one was a place in some alley by federation square that looked like a high school science lab on the first floor, and upstairs they had a mockup of an american high school gymnasium. and another vaguely russian bar a little northeast of the cbd?

before i could finish my groan she let me know me she only had to chip in $20 and got three cran + vodkas out of it.. so i guess in a big group you don't get hit too hard.

is this trend still going strong?

a most regrettable casualty of our current economic doldrums ...

I keep hearing rumors to that effect but I can think of more bottle service places now than at at this time last year.

we live in DC

could the new tallboy law fuck this up, though?

tons of my friends were going to the beach on nye and all the clubs are like $200 for a table + x amount of bottles. dunno why ppl put up w/ this

we live in DC

― TOMBOT, Saturday, January 17, 2009 12:35 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark

yes and it's true here, but it's also true nationally.

listen can a man dream? I just want this horrible bullshit to die, painfully style. It's the worst business model ever, it encourages absolute mediocrity in every regard; clothes, drinks, whores, douchebags, the lot. If anybody can come up with a single aspect of this phenomenon that doesn't have to do with the majestification of overpaying on absolute shit*, please, please let me know so I can prove you wrong.

*see what I did there

It's a great business model. It's a horrible social model.

I would be very very happy to see bottle service die, but the plus sides are:

- guaranteed seating
- don't have to wait at a crowded bar for drinks

downsides are:

- expensive
- shitty drinks
- douchetown
- at the whim of a maybe not very good server

and the negatives far outweigh the positives

actually, come to think of it bottle service hasn't died down that much in the NYC area from what i can tell. though it certainly won't be the end of douchebaggery around here when it does (since i live in north jersey, the capital of douchebaggery).

If anybody can come up with a single aspect of this phenomenon that doesn't have to do with the majestification of overpaying on absolute shit*, please, please let me know so I can prove you wrong.

you could say this about so many other aspects of american business and the economy ...

(xpost) That said, I have had a very good time at bottle service clubs before. But it's like going to the zoo and seeing a whole different species and you kind of wish you were behind protective glass and after not too long you're ready to move on to the next exhibit.

I think there will still be bottle service clubs opening because there were a good number in the works before everybody got poor, but I am seeing more specials advertised (free bottle of champagne w/ a table, 2 for 1 bottles on slower nights, etc.) at existing places.

the real question in my mind is whether or not there's any reason to pay for a bottle just for guaranteed seating & not having to wait at a bar. What, you're in a major metropolitan area and there's nowhere better you can go on a weekend and have a waitress bring you drinks? I don't normally roll with a large group of people, so the volume of the bottle is totally unnecessary and really just imposes on a minimum on the customer. Why put up with the shitty crowd, blaring DJ, (do these places have food?) etc? Just walk a few blocks and get your kicks in a better atmosphere (imho) and not pay outrageous fees for more liquor than you need? maybe i am an aspie, but i don't get the social value of these clubs.

i'm pretty much out of the age demographic that would frequent a place like this, but i'm still having a hard time thinking of how i would ever put up with this (unless someone else was picking up the tab, i guess)

that's really a lazy cheap shot, especially considering what the last decade has wrought - you can now hold up your phone in a shoe store, identify the song being played, order the album that the song is on while trying on the fit of the shoes you liked, then compare prices with other vendors, play a video game or read the latest news while the shoe salesman tries to find a pair in black, etc. etc.

bottle service clubs push crap vodka at 800% markup to people who are wearing apparel that won't last two washes so they can listen to music which I can make in my bathroom given a two-year-old laptop, a copy of ableton 3, and a case of constipation

big fyucking xpost to eisbaer

dive bars push crap beer at 800% markup to people who are wearing apparel that won't last two washes so they can listen to music which I can make in my bathroom given a two-year-old laptop, a guitar, and a case of constipation

I mean all nightlife is a HUGE ripoff but people like what they like.

that is a good point, but I don't go the raven either.

so are we basically in agreement that a huge portion of the service/booze sector of the economy is supported by people who are more interested in getting laid than they are in service or booze

dive bars push crap beer at 800% markup to people who are wearing apparel that won't last two washes so they can listen to music which I can make in my bathroom given a two-year-old laptop, a guitar, and a case of constipation

― Tina Fey's narrative bonsai (I DIED), Saturday, January 17, 2009 6:19 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

in dc, do u not have normal regular bars that are not dives yet also somehow not huge clubs that have bottles & minimums and shit?

btw I DIED you forgot the amplifier in your equivalence

http://www.ultrabardc.com/menu.html

ok I am definitely dropping the trivia on $195 malibu bottles, that is too precious

tombot: maybe it's more accurate to say that folks that frequent bottle service joints -- and consequently get ripped off -- are the same folks that let themselves get ripped off in other aspects of their life (e.g., overpaying for shitty clothes, etc.)?

ian, no offense (because I'd rather hang out with the former any day), but there's just never going to be an overlap between people who collect 78s and people who see the social value of bottle service clubs.

I DIED is correct but being part of that middle of the bell curve that idolizes carl craig AND the clash I am pretty much incapable of thinking either end has much to contribute to society other than bringing me weird beers that I pay for one by one as I listen to Archie Bell & The Drells on the jukebox

i would most def overpay for clothes before i'd overpay for a bottle of booze

what in the world do you do if you're at a table full of vodka drinkers and you only drink gin?

FLASK IT

dudump dump dadump dump

daria, just fill your mouth with juniper and coriander and lemon peel and stuff before you go out and let the vodka steep for a bit.

i would most def overpay for clothes before i'd overpay for a bottle of booze

well, the clothing example is just that, an example (i could've put condos or home electronics in there). but the guys who go to bottle service bars overpay for clothes b/c they think they'll be superstuds in such places.

daria, just fill your mouth with juniper and coriander and lemon peel and stuff before you go out and let the vodka steep for a bit.

come on, now! the pleasin' odor's half the point!

i feel awful right now, theoretically was going to friend's dj night @ red, but 1) too fucking cold out there, 2) too many guinness @ dinner with former colleagues and also TOO FUCKING COLD OUT THERE, what is it -10?

ian, no offense (because I'd rather hang out with the former any day), but there's just never going to be an overlap between people who collect 78s and people who see the social value of bottle service clubs.

― Tina Fey's narrative bonsai (I DIED), Saturday, January 17, 2009 6:31 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

Don't misunderstand me--I enjoy going out to drink and do so regularly, and though it's not my thing, I understand why and can appreciate why a lot of people enjoy dancing. HOWEVER, I don't jibe well with the idea of paying stupid amounts of money for a mediocre product, just for the ambience or crowd or whatever--it'd have to be some pretty impressive waterfall with hologram mermaids, tons of hot chicks and only the best in cosmic disco for that money.

One thing about it is that, for a lot of the people who do this kind of thing, the amounts of money aren't stupid. They're just very wealthy people, and they go to these places frequently and spend a lot of money and get treated very well because of it. And others are just with the very wealthy people and don't pay.

The people I find to be the strangest at bottle service clubs are the ones that are there for their birthday or something but never set foot in the place otherwise. They round up a couple hundred bucks per friend and head out and maybe they have a great time, I don't know, but they're not regulars and they don't know the people there and they're not getting great service.

I'm okay with spending money to have a great time, but the weird thing about bottle service culture is that at some point it becomes spending money for the sake of spending money.

There are generally a lot of hot chicks, though.

http://www.lavishvegas.com/NIGHTLIFE_LAS_VEGS/Body%20English%20Bottle%20Service%20&%20Booth.jpg

feelin' it
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jan-08-Sun-2006/photos/bottle.jpg

compelling.

i'm overstating the case when i say i don't understand it--sure i understand it, i just think it's silly and excessive.

join us, ian!
http://www.teendrama.com/dens/journal/2005/bottleservice/b3_groupshot.jpg

surely that one is just a college party??

prolly

staying in is the new going out. hey, guaranteed seating! i can smoke! the music is PERFECT! any douche shows up i can kick them out myself!

now yer talkin

pay YOURSELF two hundred bucks for some candy-ass rum

(xxpost) If the ashtrays are full, complain to yourself! Juggle bottles for five minutes and still mix the drink wrong yourself! You know what the stain on the seat is because you put it there! Do body shots off yourself! If you happen to be the douche, kick yourself out and beat yourself up!

So gonna happen bros

Defend the Indefensible: Going to super-toney bars where they price the liquor ridiculously high to keep out the riff-raff.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 23 April 2006 04:59 (2 years ago) Permalink
eh, the riff-raff can get the same liquor anywhere else. it's not that great a tragedy.

― even cathy berberian's nose (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 23 April 2006 05:01 (2 years ago)

Actually, I'm quite glad that these bars exist to keep the people that I don't want to hang out with away from the bars I go to, not to mention that their overspending feeds and clothes people people, some of whom are my friends.

it'd have to be some pretty impressive waterfall with hologram mermaids, tons of hot chicks and only the best in cosmic disco for that money.

LOL let's open that club dude. sounds tight

srsly though the only time I end up at places like this is to see some music I can't see elsewhere, it's unfortunate 90% of electronic music venues in nyc are all wrapped up in this b.s. went to Cielo once and my experience was pretty identical to phil's way up above.

santas party house kind of a step in the right direction though, it has its annoying factors (they seem to looove having a huge-ass line to get in) but it's more of a mix of fancy club + dive

so are we basically in agreement that a huge portion of the service/booze sector of the economy is supported by people who are more interested in getting laid than they are in service or booze

― TOMBOT, Saturday, January 17, 2009 12:23 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark

DUH

LLBS

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/fashion/12club.html?ref=style

can i just

For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not. For $8 she could have gotten into the mood by buying herself a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket, but she did not.

The turn of the millennium saw the rise of bottle service and the $18 cocktail at glittery spots like Marquee, Tenjune and Bungalow 8, which attracted celebrities and models, and then charged regular folks a fortune to rub elbows, and sometimes knees, with them.

Er, "normal folks" couldn't get into Bungalow 8 at all. Maybe I was sub-normal back then though.

Not sure what the knees comment means, either.

Superdive has replaced club-style bottle service with keg service at tables

Models & Bottles --> Kegels and Bagels?

Keg service would be kind of awesome, actually, if you get plastic cups and can just pass out beer to random people at the bar like it's a block party.

who the fuck wants a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket

At a table, a group of men in their 20s and 30s shared a 5-liter keg of EKU Pils beer to celebrate what they call “Manday,” a semiregular male-bonding night out.

David Sitt, 32, a Manday regular and psychology professor at Baruch College.

who the fuck wants a prosciutto-wrapped Hot Pocket

Literally or metaphorically?

The two bits Omar just highlighted are urgent and key.

oh metaphorically I'd be all over that shit

Mostly, though, the 675 Bar is defined by what it is not.

“No hip-hop, no house music, no bottle service, no door policy,” said Adam Cooper, the general manager.

No hip-hop, no house music, no reason to go there.

.J. booth. Outside, the actor Lukas Haas smoked a cigarette amid a bevy of models.

“I go where my friends go,” he said.

“It’s nice to have a place that will be lower profile,” said Amanda Smith, an aspiring actress in a black cocktail dress. She sat next to her boyfriend, James Brettell, 23, who said he is a film producer and director.

http://www.massify.com/profiles/jamesbrettell

Back at Superdive, no one was dancing. But in a rear corner a large bearded man was hammering out “The Weight” on a beaten-up piano while singing: “Take a load off Fannie. Take a load for free.”

Above him was an illuminated applause sign.

The sign did not flicker. It is permanently illuminated. Anyone can play.

fin

jesus christ only in new york could the idea of a regular bar be a "trend piece"....

i could take the author down to the Cedar Inn a block from my house and we could eat buffalo wings and drink tap budweiser for $3.50 a pitcher and connect with real people.

BBBOOOOORING

there's a place right around the corner from me in l.a. that opened up called "stinker's", which is a "dive bar" with a trucking theme. it's atrocious, moreso considering the best actual dive bar in town just got destroyed by new management.

dive bars that try to be dive bars tend to suck

I love that it's not actually about being more frugal out of need, just about being less ostentatious out of zeitgeist or something.

what dive bar got destroyed by new mngmt in la, omar?

little joy

oh, haven't been there in a while

that superdive place sounds ok. leave it to the nyt to turn the concept of a regular bar into a trendpiece.

sorry to hear abt little joy! i grabbed a corona there when i was visiting friends last year. what did they do to it?

the new paint job on little joy is some ed hardy eye hurty shit. dragons and masks and cue balls, ugh.

lol @ ed hardy eye hurty

haha i'm not sure little joy was the best anything but it was good for lol @ hipsters moments

i used to work there once or twice per month and went in one night and the place was shut down. it re-opened a week later with this new paintjob and the former cleaning lady was made manager. she cut loose all the DJs and kinda told the bartenders to not socialize with the clientele and brought in shitty new DJs.

what the hell kind of bar wants cold, impersonal bartenders?

http://www.eurobookings.com/files/images/ice-hotel-6.jpg

hahahah

i'd totally go to a bar (bottle-service or not) with Mr. Freeze as the bartender.

I'm sure that feature will be included at a special Dave & Buster's adults-zone bar at a Six Flags near you.

Meanwhile Melbourne runs articles saying "recession? What recession?" about bars that have just opened such as this amazing monstrosity:

http://images.theage.com.au/ftage/ffximage/2009/06/23/belle_wideweb__470x307,0.jpg

http://www.melbournepubs.com/images/venue/3072-2.jpg

I imagine that top room has all the bottle service you can want; you'd expect it at 2000k plus for an evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Emj_F2Q3N8

Within minutes of the broadcast, Puffy had barged into the offices of Nas' manager Steve Stoute with several bodyguards, and struck Stoute over the head with a champagne bottle.

^true meaning of bottle service imo

me and my friend have a fictional hip hop group called VIP & Bottle Service. Our imaginary first album is gonna be called "Dress Code Enforced"

A local bar is offering their normal $295 bottle service (Grey Goose) for $1 with the only requirement that you have 10 people. I guess they figure you'll eat or drink enough more to make it up. I wanna see ten people do it with complicated water/ice orders then get up and leave when the bottle's gone.