Resetting the Bar

LATE IN 2019, Michael Butler, the city’s recorder of deeds, introduced St. Louis (and the United States) to Open Concept, a bar where guests paid by the hour, not by the drink. This spring, he moved the business from Cherokee Street to The Grove, and switched to a flat-fee system for unlimited cocktails, beer, and wine-a model he hopes to franchise. “We’re disrupting the bar business,” Butler says, “but in a good way.”

The idea for Open Concept took shape from when I held fundraising events. My goal was to take less money from lobbyists and more from low-donor individuals. I arranged to get donated venues and donated liquor, posted the events to social media, and charged guests $20 for an open bar. People would come who had