Year in Review

Club-going this year in sum: Teeter down the stairs to the freshly rehabbed basement ultra-lounge with the short, odd name. Ask about bottle service specials. Endure cold stare. Hear DJ play Jay-Z/Linkin Park mash-up for hundredth time. Rinse. Repeat.

Mr. Dallas

1 Bottle service bonanza – In its cruelest manifestation, the formula is this: If you want to sit down, it'll cost $300. If you want to stand up, move along. Bottle service was an indomitable profit engine for clubs. But it's possible to be as agnostic about its future as about the high-rise residential boom – and for the same reasons.

2 Manic Main Street – Squint down Main between Field and Ervay any weekend night and see a legitimate big-city roil: traffic trapped in glacial snarl, valets sprinting through the gaps, a line at every velvet rope of Ivy, Clear, Dolce and the rest. That stretch is the new Lower Greenville and the new Deep Ellum.

3 Small is big, down is up – The bottle service tabs got huge, but the venues shrunk. Intimate was in at Lift, Lotus, Mantus and the itty-bitty IV. And are there any basements on Main that haven't become ultra-lounges?

4 Naming rites – Owners are running out of four-to-six-letter words to call their places. The christenings ranged from drearily generic (the Club, Scene) to tongue-twistingly obscure (Thoth).

G.J. McCarthy / DMN

Thoth

5 Evangelical spirits – Dedicated mixologists at the Club and Fearing's spread the good news about traditional cocktails made with care and fresh ingredients. Tequila cemented its position as the new vodka as bars expanded their selection dramatically.

6 "Cougars" in the cat bird's seat – A subset familiar to any Dallas night-lifer finally got its moment in the media spotlight: cougars, older women in search of younger men.

Jason Janik / Special to DMN

Martini Park

7 Destination Fearing's – Even Dean Fearing's mamma could've wearied of the hype accompanying the opening of his namesake restaurant. Its impact on the night-life scene was undeniable, though: attendance required at the Rattlesnake Bar for boozy bigwigs, prowling cougars and enterprising demimonde.

8 Victory Park fills in – The answer to the question, "How's Victory doing?" remained another question, "Is it game night?" Victory is still much more destination than neighborhood as the build-out continues. Bright points this year: Nove, the brand-new Havana Social Club cigar bar and parties on the plaza utilizing the giant video screens, Ghostbar hustled along, importing top-tier DJs and third-tier celebrities. (What precisely is Brody Jenner's job?)

9 Lure of Legacy – Martini Park provided the last piece missing from the Shops at Legacy lineup with a buoyant brew of straight-up 'tinis, live music and galloping north country hormones.

10 Law and disorder – The downtown mega-clubs Blue (since revived as Cirque) and Purgatory drew unflattering attention and official heat. Deep Ellum nightspots got through by the skin of their teeth – or didn't.

"There are so many of these places now, and none of them are doing that well." Veteran DJ's downbeat assessment of the ultra-lounge boom

"They spell 'VIP' here 'AARP'." Grumpy night crawler, commenting on the middle-aged crowd in the House of Blues' Foundation Room

"You know it's either Halloween or the Byron Nelson." Bartender at Steel, noting the colorful garb and bleary gazes on display during the golf tournament