"We decided to mix technology with that open bar concept," bar owner Michael Butler told KMOV. "To where you can pay per hour and you can stay in the space as long as you want."
Customers sign in for bar time using their cellphone. The cost is $10 an hour for premium drinks and $20 for top shelf ones.
Butler, who serves as the city’s recorder of deeds, got the idea for the bar while he was running for election.
"I would hold events where we charged by the hour for admission and have an open bar," he told St. Louis Magazine. "We got a lot of presale tickets online, and we created large-batch drinks in order to cut costs."
How does Open Concept not devolve into bacchanalia?
A bar app keep tabs on patrons' intake so they are not over-served. The system scans a driver's license for height and weight to develop a number of drinks an hour to keep the patron within legal limits, St. Louis Magazine reported.
Open Concept opened Friday.
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