Resurrection solves all of life's problems!

Confused: why would they give you a discounted entry at the door?

"It was lesbian night. And the woman at the door wouldn't give us a discounted cover charge."

Can you usually pass for a cross dressing lesbian?

I'm surprised and amazed!

I can't believe that the previous comment didn't cause the topic copy to be corrected or claritfied then deleted before posting any other comments.

Cie le vive.

Hey, good looking photo, Sam

Thanks Elizabeth. I snapped it at the last minute with my cell phone camera. By the way, you have to start identifying yourself as Epicurious L.I.Z. -- otherwise my readers won't know who you are.

No really, why did you expect a discounted cover charge? Did I miss a joke?

Was at Mosaic last night... Second time I have done bottle service since they reopened.

We had a great time, but they need to get it a little more organized. If your gonna spend $500 you are gonna at least want enough glasses, stirrers, napkins, fruit, etc. It's like they forgot about it.

p.s. - Hey Sam, how about dropping the nofollow tag for some of us frequent commenter's?

We didn't expect a discounted cover charge. We were just hoping for one because we weren't in their target demographic. Sometimes you can talk doormen down a little bit. But unfortunately that wasn't the case. Oh well.

Ecommerce -- I would, but there are still a decent amount of newcomers to MS, so I want to make it easy for them to follow. We can be pretty obscure sometimes.

I’m going to touch on this once, then never revisit the subject again. Mosaic & Angels are facing a dismal future if they don’t change their ways soon.

I owned a fairly large (1,500) capacity nightclub (which is still in existence, and quite popular) in the heart of Chicago when table service first starting become the rage throughout the United States, as well as a smaller lounge/club in the River North neighborhood of Chicago (similar to Mosaic).

At first, table service had nothing to do with bottles. We would allow for table reservations for groups of people (5-10+) who all planned on coming to our club that night. It was no different from a restaurant’s point of view. Reservations mean guaranteed guests, period. If I have 20 tables, and can reserve them for 10 people each, I now have 200 more people in my venue. If each person spends a minimum of $10 each (and they usually spend more), I am looking at a minimum of $2,000 in additional sales for that given night.

Well, as you can imagine, in time, demand for tables became greater than the supply. It was at this point, we started charging for tables. Once again, no minimum bottle requirement, just a charge for sitting at the table. Well, in many jurisdictions this is a violation of your liquor license,, how can we get around this: bottle service.

People say bottle service can’t work in Baltimore, and they are wrong. I set bottle service up at Bleu in Detroit, and at a venue in Cleveland, and if it can be done there, it can be done anywhere. However, you have to identify the series of events that led to successful bottle service operations in other cities and duplicate said events to create the demand for the tables. Now, obviously, Baltimore is a C-Market (not my opinion, just the way it is graded in entertainment world) and prices for bottles, when they reach their max should not near the price that is sought in A and B markets.

I walk into Mosaic, Angels, and Pur (for the record I don’t go to these places often) and love seeing all the empty tables and the vultures trying to make me buy one. It’s so ridiculous. You don’t sell high when demand is low; it’s not a winning formula.

Now on to the dress code. Dress codes are important to keep elements out of your venue that will reduce your venue’s general appeal. What works for a bar, doesn’t work for a club, what works for a club doesn't work for a live music venue. People, in general, are looking for a little more from a club than their neighborhood bar. This being said, I understand no Tims, no long t-shirts, no chains, no biker jackets w/ colors (moto club logos), no ripped jeans, no flip flops (liability), etc… But tennis shoes, really? They make some pretty nice tennis shoes. Like anything else, these rules are discretionary and should be treated as such.

That whole rant could have been worded better, but I’m really tired.

Ok, one last thing. It amazes me Sam, that you had a problem at the door, as yes; you should have gained entry without a cover. Is it preferential treatment? Absolutely.

I have never owned a club/lounge where I didn't duct tape the photos of every reviewer in town to either the walk-in, the pass line, or somewhere behind the bar out of the public's view.

If you had of come to one of my venues, one of my staff would have instantly recognized you, ushered you in, and given you a few drink tickets. I've even been known to create flash cards with photos of reviewers and critics for my door staff. And yes, Sam, I do have your picture. :)

That may piss other folk off, but it's the nature of the beast. Mainstream reviewers carry a powerful punch when it comes to packing your establishment.

Just think, had Sam been able to enter and have a good time, the tone and direction of this forum could have been entirely altered.

Baltimore is still a little new when it comes to public relations, and in my opinion, Cordish group feels they run the nightlife in this city and public relations seem to be beneath them.

Mark,

You make some really good points with your first comment. I'm going to link to it or quote you in a future post on bottle service in Baltimore.

As for the second comment -- I think if someone let me in for free and gave me drink tickets, I would have known something was up and started asking questions.

I don't expect (or accept) free drinks or entry to a club simply because I'm the Sun's nightlife critic. I'd lose my job if I did that.

But there have been dozens of times when I've really, really wanted to whip out the ID badge. I just never have.

My question for you, Mark, is do you currently own venue(s) in Baltimore? I'm not asking you to fully identify yourself. I'm just curious.

Haha. I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who owns two venues in the Meatpacking district of Manhattan.

Just to use as an example, he is now experimenting with line camera recognition. In Vegas, they use this to scan the casino floor for potential threats. In NY he is using it to scan potential customers while in line outside the venue and the server will match people to photographs in a database. He can scan and tag high profile clientele in a matter of minutes in a line of a few hundred.

He is using it to identify not only reviewers and critics, but celebrities and other VIPs alike. Especially social VIPs such as connectors and mavens (read The Tipping Point) who don’t go out much and feel too intimidated to engage the door staff.

I’ll keep my flashcards and photos on the pass line, at upwards of $250k; this technology is out of my price range.

Sam, you wouldn't have known that we recognized you. It doesn't work that way. Just as you said before, you aren't a regular. We would have used that as an excuse to treat you well under the deception of looking for repeat business, never identifying or alluding to your connection to the media.

Well, Sam, I didn't come to Baltimore for the crabs. I have been searching for a venue to purchase in this town since September. Almost bought Claytons.

It is more difficult and expensive for me to open a venue in Baltimore than it is in DC or NY. No bull. Here's the problem... In DC, I can choose from a variety of neighborhoods, and a variety of locations within those neighborhoods. More venues on the market mean lower sale prices, that combined with a lower cost of doing business (taxes, licenses) and a higher wealth clientele, makes DC a choice for most buyers (hell, I owned a place in DC for three years).

I have a concept that I am trying to roll out in Baltimore, Philly, and DC within eight months of each. I have a location in DC, I have a location in Center City Philly, I just can't, for the life of me find a place in Baltimore in a decent neighborhood that isn't asking for over a million (that is my cutoff). In fact, just yesterday a very large offer we made was rejected, yet again. People want ridiculous prices in this town, $1.5m for Orpheus? Are you on crack?

The concept that we will launch in this city will change the way people look at upscale lounges here. No covers, no velvet ropes, dress code by lax, and drinks like you can't even imagine and a price point that is no greater than a gin and tonic at your local bar. Yes we have tables, no you don't have to buy a bottle if you are with a group, but if you want to, and we do sell them at a reasonable price.

If you or anyone knows of a place that is having some problems and looking to sell, please email me, you can do so anonymously, to 5489lj41m6a7n54eceq@nyms.net

I don't want or need a large club. Something decent in size, yet still intimate. I would also prefer for the property to have an additional income source, be it apartments or something similar.

Normally I'd refuse to publish solictations, but it's really interesting to hear some of the points you're making, Mark.

I've heard the same complaint about sellers wanting way too much for their bars from a few owners around town.

If/when you do find a home for the Baltimore branch of your concept club, I'd love to review it. I'll wear my fat suit.

I just looked on craigslist and there is a bar in south baltimore for sale for 800k. It wouldn't take much investigating work to figure out which one it is.