One huge mug and lots of straws: Find group cocktails at new Deep Ellum bar Off the Cuff

Off the Cuff in Deep Ellum is a bar, first and foremost. Its co-owners hope customers come early, to sample chef Alex Lines' six menu items, but it's the late-night beer, bottle service and giant cocktails that they hope will keep bar crawlers on their corner of Elm Street.

When we say giant, we mean a 64-ounce copper mug pictured above that holds an entire liter of Tito's vodka mixed with lime juice, simple syrup and ginger beer. It's $175 — and it's meant to be shared.

That's the "Giant Flute of Mimosa," on the right. It holds a whole bottle of Champagne.... — That's the "Giant Flute of Mimosa," on the right. It holds a whole bottle of Champagne. That's a regular Champagne flute, dwarfed on the left.(Brandon Wade / Special Contributor)

Another group drink is an oversized Champagne flute that holds the whole bottle of sparkling wine. That one's more affordable: $20. At brunchtime, bartenders will splash some orange juice on top. For color.

"This is a bar with a restaurant in it, not the other way around," says co-owner Tan Mai.

They plan to have a DJ on some nights and to stay open all day on Saturdays and Sundays — for that midday drinking-and-eating appointment: brunch.

The new bar has been a year in progress. Mai and co-owner Alex Hines (yes, there's an Alex Lines and an Alex Hines) picked this Deep Ellum address because of the development taking place in the historic Dallas neighborhood. Deep Ellum now home to Bottled Blonde; a dueling piano bar; a coming-soon "eatertainment" bowling alley called Punch Bowl Social and a high-rise called The Epic. Deep Ellum might just be the new Uptown.

"They're still keeping the roots of it, the culture," Hines says of Deep Ellum. "We want to be old-school, but just a little modern."

The space is anchored by a big bar in the middle and red banquettes around the sides, where bottle-service customers can sit, late-night. Three spraypainted murals on the exposed-brick wall were done by Freddie Treviño, Hines' tattoo artist and owner of Third Eye Gallery in Dallas.

Lines' menu includes six items: a cheeseburger, controversially served upside-down; a banh mi sandwich made with Mai's secret recipe; a club sandwich; a cheesesteak; a veggie wrap; and a Cuban sandwich called the Fidel Castro. Rather than install fryers in Off the Cuff's tiny kitchen, customers can tack on a bag of chips and a bottle of Topo Chico for $3.50.

Off the Cuff opened April 18, 2019 and is located at 2901 Elm St., Dallas.