A Breakdown Of How Much Money Was Spent On Booze At Establishments Within Dallas Proper During June, July, August and September 2021.

Welcome to Bar Raised, our recurring column that proves that Texans like to spend copious amounts of their income participating in the Great American Pastime. We know this because the Texas Comptroller keeps tabs on that sort of thing and makes all that info public record. Any establishment in the state that holds a Mixed Beverage license must report all sales revenue generated from the sale of liquor, beer and wine at their establishments on a monthly basis. The comptroller, in turn, puts all that info into a conveniently navigable database and then we break down Dallas’ numbers for you here. This month’s column is presented by Waco’s Balcones Distilling. Read more about the products from Texas’ first post-Prohibition distillery — including its award-winning Lineage Texas Single Malt Whisky — right here. 

This column may have been silent these last few months, but we’re finally getting it back on track. (Self-referencing pun very much intended!)

But while we may have taken a few months off, drinkers within Dallas proper weren’t slacking at all. Like, not even a little bit!

I mean, just look the alcohol sales numbers that bars, restaurants, clubs, venues, hotels and convention centers combined to report over the course of the last four months:

  • June 2021: $82,229,638
  • July 2021: $85,872,937
  • August 2021: $78,453,283
  • September 2021: $83,240,296

That four-month total of $329,796,154 is no joke, folks.

Also? While each month’s numbers are substantially up from the dismal, coronavirus-pummeled numbers reported throughout 2020, it’s worth noting too that they’re also well above the numbers reported during the otherwise normal, if fairly high-volume, run that was reported throughout the summer of 2019.

Maybe this is why the Dallas Police Department has suddenly decided it’s just no longer worth the paperwork to file charges against people it detains on suspicion of public intoxication? Perhaps!

That’s obviously conjecture, of course. The department’s reasoning, in fact, has much more to do with the fact that DPD remains well below its stated staffing goals, just as it has for a few years now.

But, still, speculation is fun, isn’t it? To that end, we’d suspect the reason that so many hotels and convention centers can be spotted in the below-detailed lists of top 20-selling spots across the city for the last four months — even if they are regular players in these reports — is because weddings and in-person business conventions have at this point made their full-on comebacks, what with state-mandated closures and attendance-figure restrictions now a ways in our rearview.

A lack of restrictions is certainly why the American Airlines Center makes its reappearance in September’s top 20, given that the Stars’ and Mavericks’ seasons back in full swing — along with concerts — and without any of the previous pandemic-related capacity caps in place.

Still, Bottled Blonde remains the cream of the Dallas bar sales crop — as ever, really. Over the course of the last four months, the Good-Latimer hotspot has averaged well over $1 million in monthly bar sales.

More surprising is the emergence of a new regular players into these lists. The once-notorious True Kitchen + Kocktails seems to be well over its brief social media controversy from last year, having made its debut in the citywide top 20 alcohol sales list in June — and remaining there over the three following months.

Can True Kitchen + Kocktails keep up its impressive run in the months to come, and establish itself as a legitimate contender alongside the Bottled Blondes, Katy Trail Ice Houses, Happiest Hours and (the double-stacked) Vidorras of the world?

Tune in next month to find out.

In the meantime, check out who’s really bringing in the cash across the city with its booze-slinging below.

Dallas Establishments With Top Gross Alcohol Sales For June 2021:

  1. BOTTLED BLONDE- THE BACK YARD: $951,609
  2. HAPPIEST HOUR, LLC: $867,861
  3. DFB CAPITAL LLC (Katy Trail Ice House): $821.101
  4. VIRGIN HOTELS DALLAS: $739,958
  5. NICK & SAM’S STEAK & FISH HOUSE: $737,829
  6. SALC, INC. (Hilton Anatole): $689,325
  7. ROUNDUP SALOON: $681,494
  8. VIDORRA: $679,516
  9. CITIZEN DALLAS: $640150
  10. DD BEVCO, LLC (AT&T Discovery District): $546446
  11. TRUE KITCHEN & KOCKTAILS / FLAIR COCKTAIL LOUNGE: $545,367
  12. VIDORRA ADDISON: $504260
  13. SIDECAR SOCIAL: $504250
  14. COWBOY’S RED RIVER: $476,306
  15. JAVIER’S RESTAURANT: $476,197
  16. HOSPITALITY INTERNATIONAL INC (The Ritz-Carlton): $457,788
  17. BIERNAT’S RESTAURANT: $455,814
  18. EPIC ABS LLC (The Statler): $452,351
  19. BABY DOLLS TOPLESS SALOON: $448,742
  20. MOXIE’S GRILL & BAR: $431,833

Total alcohol sales in Dallas in June 2021: $82,229,638
(May 2021 total: $86,291,809)

Dallas Establishments With Top Gross Alcohol Sales For July 2021:

  1. BOTTLED BLONDE- THE BACK YARD: $1,161,609
  2. HAPPIEST HOUR, LLC: $953,071
  3. DFB CAPITAL LLC (Katy Trail Ice House): $826,180
  4. VIRGIN HOTELS DALLAS: $820370
  5. SALC, INC. (Hilton Anatole): $792,268
  6. CITIZEN DALLAS: $692,831
  7. DD BEVCO, LLC (AT&T Discovery District): $670,734
  8. COWBOY’S RED RIVER: $663,217
  9. VIDORRA: $656,656
  10. ROUNDUP SALOON: $649,492
  11. TRUE KITCHEN & KOCKTAILS / FLAIR COCKTAIL LOUNGE: $636,976
  12. NICK & SAM’S STEAK & FISH HOUSE: $608,845
  13. VIDORRA ADDISON: $594,562
  14. ESCAPADE 2001 DALLAS: $517,641
  15. BABY DOLLS TOPLESS SALOON: $513,828
  16. EPIC ABS LLC (The Statler): $513,203
  17. SIDECAR SOCIAL: $506,803
  18. OJOS LOCOS SPORTS CANTINA: $500,292
  19. HOSPITALITY INTERNATIONAL INC (The Ritz-Carlton): $493,900
  20. THE SKELLIG: $454,851

Total alcohol sales in Dallas in July 2021: $85,872,937

Dallas Establishments With Top Gross Alcohol Sales For August 2021:

  1. BOTTLED BLONDE- THE BACK YARD: $1,030,406
  2. DFB CAPITAL LLC (Katy Trail Ice House): $715,641
  3. HAPPIEST HOUR, LLC: $696,953
  4. DD BEVCO, LLC (AT&T Discovery District): $665,592
  5. TRUE KITCHEN & KOCKTAILS / FLAIR COCKTAIL LOUNGE: $649,987
  6. NICK & SAM’S STEAK & FISH HOUSE: $631,598
  7. VIDORRA: $622,066
  8. VIRGIN HOTELS DALLAS: $610,401
  9. CITIZEN DALLAS: $609,768
  10. OMNI DALLAS CONVENTION CENTER: $592,794
  11. HOSPITALITY INTERNATIONAL INC (The Ritz-Carlton): $536,143
  12. COWBOY’S RED RIVER: $508,981
  13. ROUNDUP SALOON: $482,242
  14. VIDORRA ADDISON: $478,083
  15. OJOS LOCOS SPORTS CANTINA: $468,695
  16. BABY DOLLS TOPLESS SALOON: $467,942
  17. BIERNAT’S RESTAURANT: $446,547
  18. JAVIER’S RESTAURANT: $436,745
  19. EPIC ABS LLC (The Statler): $414054
  20. SIDECAR SOCIAL: $407,123

Total alcohol sales in Dallas in August 2021: $78,453,283

Dallas Establishments With Top Gross Alcohol Sales For September 2021:

  1. BOTTLED BLONDE- THE BACK YARD: $1,191,070
  2. DFB CAPITAL LLC (Katy Trail Ice House): $888,835
  3. HAPPIEST HOUR, LLC: $809,560
  4. NICK & SAM’S STEAK & FISH HOUSE: $729,403
  5. DD BEVCO, LLC (AT&T Discovery District): $619,314
  6. TRUE KITCHEN & KOCKTAILS / FLAIR COCKTAIL LOUNGE: $601,974
  7. OMNI DALLAS CONVENTION CENTER: $593,971
  8. HOSPITALITY INTERNATIONAL INC (The Ritz-Carlton): $570,864
  9. VIRGIN HOTELS DALLAS: $557,856
  10. ROUNDUP SALOON: $556,443
  11. VIDORRA: $553,401
  12. COWBOY’S RED RIVER: $527,337
  13. EPIC ABS LLC (The Statler): $494,334
  14. BABY DOLLS TOPLESS SALOON: $488,430
  15. LEVY RESTAURANTS (American Airlines Center): $473,050
  16. MARRIOTT QUORUM: $472,502
  17. VIDORRA ADDISON: $463,079
  18. OJOS LOCOS SPORTS CANTINA: $460,495
  19. GILLEY’S DALLAS: $457,534
  20. BIERNAT’S RESTAURANT: $456,904

Total alcohol sales in Dallas in September 2021: $83,240,296

Cover photo courtesy of Balcones Distilling.

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