Tom Pennington/Fort Worth Star-Telegram Purchasing bottle service Ð industry lingo for a rented table and a few pricey bottles of liquor Ð means those who can pay the typically large tab get to skip the bar lines. And get an "in" with pretty ladies at the same time.

By Lesley Tellez
The Dallas Morning News

What inspires someone to spend $1,000 on alcohol in a night?

For Cory Toombs, a Dallas hairdresser and self-described trust fund kid, it's mostly convenience.

Purchasing bottle service -- industry lingo for a rented table and a few pricey bottles of liquor -- means he skips the bar lines. And he can invite pretty ladies on the dance floor to join his group.

"When it gets busy, it's really easy for us to sit down and enjoy ourselves," said Toombs, 26, who was hanging out recently at a new downtown lounge. "Plus we like to do it a little big. We like to spend money."

Bottle service, a European import that trickled to the U.S. has transformed the nightlife scene. In Dallas, every upscale club that opened in the past year offers bottle service. Chic lounges even plan their layouts around it.

Among the nightlife masses, it means you usually can't sit down in a nice club for free.

"You're paying for the experience," says Sam Sameni, who owns Wish Ultra Lounge, a bottle service-driven club in downtown Dallas. "You have this imaginary boundary between you and everyone else, and you have your own space."

Most clubs charge between $300 and $350 for bottle service, which includes one bottle of liquor, mixers and the table. Each table has its own cocktail waitress and sometimes a guard who stands watch.

Club owners say the practice is cost-efficient for customers, since premium cocktails cost anywhere from $8 to $12.

Adam Evers, 27, says he and his friend Tom Barber buy bottle service as much as they can. When asked if women like it, Evers, who owns three medical companies, gave an "are you kidding?" look.

"We're like Baskin and Robbins," he says. "We've got 31 flavors. Make sure you quote me on that."

WHY SO PRICEY?

Tim McEneny, who owns two clubs in the Dallas area,  Lift and Obar, says each one-liter bottle contains 22 drinks, under the standard amount of 1½ ounces of liquor per shot. The bottle, if bought in separate drinks at the bar, would cost at least $175, assuming each cocktail cost around $8. The extra goes toward the mixers, staff members and space to sit down, he says.

Here's how McEneny prices his bottles: Liquor that costs under $20 wholesale is generally $250 to $300 a bottle at the club. For each $10 rise in the wholesale price after that, the bottles cost $50 more.

THANKS, BUT NO THANKS

Not everyone who can afford bottle service buys it. Garret Kent, a 26-year-old MBA student in Fort Worth, Texas, says he prefers the open atmosphere of some bars. Kent used to be a sales rep for an energy company.

"If you're doing it on a Saturday night ... that means you're also maybe cutting out some of your best friends, just because they can't afford it," he says. "I like being able to hang out with all the people I truly care about, no matter how much they make or what they do."