A Breakdown Of How Much Money Was Spent On Booze At The Top Bars, Clubs, Restaurants, Venues And Hotels Within Dallas Proper In May 2018.

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, as Reddit user BadLemur once pointed out, 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.

Folks spent almost $77 million on booze while out and about in Dallas in May.

Any way you slice it, that’s an impressive figure. Not only is it more than $15 million than was spent on alcohol across the city in April, but it’s also just a hair above $9 million more than was spent on booze throughout the city over the same stretch the year before.

Impressive stuff! But what deserves credit for this uptick? Well, let’s see: Of the 20 top earners this month, six were hotels in or around Downtown Dallas, one was the airport and one was the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center itself. Hmmmmmmmm. Now, correlation may not necessarily prove causation, but it would seem that a convention in Downtown Dallas would appear to deserve the credit for part of this spike.

Were there any conventions of note in town in May? Why, yes: There was one of particular note, in fact!. May, you may recall, was when the National Rifle Association was in town, taking over the convention center for a whole weekend as part of its annual meetings.

Let’s just ask the question, then: Was the NRA responsible for a $9 to $15 million spike in Dallas booze sales in May? Reports heading into that weekend guessed that the convention would be responsible for some $18 million in indirect spending around town. So, maybe?

For all the decisions that get made as a result of economic impact studies, there’s only so much faith that can be put into their estimates. Like, there’s no way to prove that the booze numbers in May spiked directly as a result of the NRA’s being in town. Because, if you zoom out a little farther, you could use the same figures to argue that the NRA maybe hurt alcohol sales in Dallas in May 2018; after all, Dallasites spent $4 million more than they did in the same stretch of time in 2016 than they did in 2018.

So, who knows?

Anyway, on to May’s top 20 earners!

Dallas Establishments With Top Gross Alcohol Sales For May 2018.

  1. SALC, INC. (Hilton Anatole): $1,421,042
  2. OMNI DALLAS CONVENTION CENTER (Omni Hotel): $1,351,090
  3. BOTTLED BLONDE/THE BACK YARD: $1,221,497
  4. HAPPIEST HOUR, LLC: $791,476
  5. DFB CAPITAL LLC (Katy Trail Ice House): $673,305
  6. EPIC ABS LLC (The Statler): $657,018
  7. LEVY RESTAURANTS (American Airlines Center): $631,480
  8. HOSPITALITY INTERNATIONAL INC (The Ritz Carlton): $598,778
  9. MOXIE’S GRILL & BAR: $560,443
  10. SERVICE AMERICA OF TEXAS, INC. (Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center): $549,811
  11. NICK & SAM’S STEAK & FISH HOUSE: $532,913
  12. BABY DOLLS TOPLESS SALOON: $512,280
  13. DALLAS REGENCY CORPORATION (Hyatt Regency): $467,348
  14. THE RUSTIC: $464,032
  15. STIRR: $445,640
  16. HG SPLY CO: $433,787
  17. JOULE BEVERAGE LLC (The Joule): $430,559
  18. COWBOY’S RED RIVER: $427,643
  19. HOUSE OF BLUES DALLAS RESTAURANT CORP: $425,628
  20. COOL RIVER CAFE (Dallas Love Field Airport): $420,669

Total alcohol sales in Dallas in May 2018: $76,920,701
Last month’s total: $61,559,464

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