Okay, so we figured it was probably time to write a blog and update all of you as to what The Dallas Dive Bars Team is up to. Considering our last blog was posted the weekend hurricane Ike was here I bet you all think we got blown away and lost forever - well that's not the case. I first wanted to apologize on behalf of all of us here at DDB for not staying on top of the blog. Secondly, I wanted to extend a HUGE "Thank You" to everyone that helped make our first month of existence on the web a fun one.

So despite all of the NON posting in the blog and the NON daily visual changes in the site I can assure we're plugging away at trying to help Dallas Dive Bars grow. We've been trying to do a little "marketing" to spread the word, create a buzz if you will. We've had several bars claim their listing but would love to see more; so bar owners you should take advantage of this feature; bar go-errs, tell your favorite bar tender  or owner if you know em' that they should claim their listing. In our first month on the web we had a total of 682 unique visitors to Dallas Dive Bars - that's not to bad considering most of these were word of mouth referrals.

On to the fun stuff, we're planning to have a gathering sometime in late October, early November, at a local dive. We just want to do something chill so that we can meet some new people and most importantly to get out and spend a little money to support our scene. This is where we ask for any suggestions on where everyone would like to go?? We could even do a little "crawl" and hit up a few bars in a specific area if that's what everyone wants to do. Just let us know if you have any ideas, otherwise we'll pick a place and let everyone know a week or two before.

Lastly, we're looking for a few people that are familiar with the DFW bar scene that would like to volunteer to contribute to Dallas Dive Bars. We'll give you your own blog section and you can use that as your platform to show off all your hot shot knowledge about news, events, or anything you feel worthy about the Dallas/Fort Worth bar scene. If you already have a blog and have a posting every now and then that would fall under this category, we would be glad to post those too. Contact me, Jake, at marketing@dallasdivebars.com if you're interested.

Hope everyone has a Thirsty Thursday!

IIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone is practicing good preparedness in light of Hurricane Ike making landfall this weekend. According to FEMA, and other practical people of the world- you should be stocked up on canned food and bottled water in case of a power outage. More importantly though, you should head to the ATM and pull out PLENTY of cash in case you need to camp out in a local bar for the weekend. They have everything you could possibly need! If you haven’t a clue where to go, take a glance at our directory (which includes over 500 local bars and counting) for some ideas of bars in your neighborhood!!!

Speaking of the directory, you might notice that the listings are still looking a little sparse. Well only you, the public and the bars of DFW- can change this… and it is soooo easy! So if you haven’t already, create a profile (and if you are a bar, claim your listing,) and get busy! Make sure you provide our visitors with as much information as possible, and don’t be afraid to post some party pics. You can currently upload up to nine pictures in your profile and rotate them out as often as you would like.

If you want to get a visual as to what a profile looks like with all of the features, take a looksy at the “Dallas Dive Bars -Bar profile” on the home page under the featured bars section.  We will continue to keep this listing updated as a guide for you to know what is available.  Also feel free to contact any of us on the DDB team (or more specifically Denny, the smart one) for assistance or any questions on technical issues you may find with the site.

Now this is a little off topic, (or on topic if you refer to the title) but I just want to make a quick clarification. Yes our site is called Dallas DIVE Bars. No, we do not mean anything derogatory to you, or your mother by including your bar in a directory on our site.  We are not intending to imply that your bar has piss on the seat or no class. We are using “dive” as a very general term describing all independently owned bars. Hell, if you have a drinking establishment and want to enlighten the public with information about your bar, then you certainly are welcome to have a home at Dallas Dive Bars.

As we have previously stated, one of our main goals is to provide a free avenue for DFW bars keep their patrons up to date, and to create a community for the patrons who love these establishments. We hope that Dallas Dive Bars will be a tool to help you drive new customers to businesses and to help our visitors find new and exciting additions to their night life.

That being said, please do not take an offense to being called a dive. Or if you are not in Dallas, do not take offense to being classified in Dallas.

Divesandotherbarstooindallasfortworthandthesurroundingareas.com was unavailable.

Sorry for the novel. Now get out there and withdraw some money for your lock-in at your favorite bar this lovely  hurricane weekend!

And while you’re there, make sure you call Drunk Mumble….. 877-993-9448!!!!

Thank you to all you divers and bars who have stopped by, created profiles, or just provided us with some feedback and opinions of the site. We take everything you recommend into consideration- and really do enjoy hearing your ideas, so keep the feed-back coming!

 That being said, the last few weeks have been extremely busy for everyone!  We are glad to have finally have the website live, and super excited about marketing the hell outta of it once we get these last few kinks worked out. But between the site and being glued non-stop to coverage of the hurricanes and the political conventions- we haven't had much time to visit as many bars ourselves as we would like to. I haven't even had time to pluck my eyebrows, and I'm pretty sure Jake has quit brushing his teeth all together. So please comment and review any and all bars that you have an opinion about!

 I am making a vow from this point on to be more diligent about keeping you guys up to date about what we're working on. In addition, let us know if there is anything in particular that you would like us to address about the site or bar related news, heck I even give pretty damn good relationship advice!

We’re planning a "beta" launch party to introduce the DFW Metroplex to www.DallasDiveBars.com. Which will include:

- Extensive directory of local bars
- Bar Reviews
- Dallas Bar News
- Forum discussions on everything bar related in DFW
- Drunk Mumble (our solution to everyone's drunk dialing habit)
- Interactive calendar of events
- And much more to come. . .

If you own, manage, or work at a Dallas bar; or possibly even want to help sponsor this event, you can help us make this happen!

We are currently looking for Dallas'  best Dive Bar to help host this event. Is that your bar?

Do you own/manage/work at the most kick ass Dive Bar in Dallas? Want to introduce the DFW Metroplex to your bar? Give us an offer we can’t refuse!

For more information, contact us at Events@dallasdivebars.com

Want to sponsor the event?

We hope to give out T-Shirts with our sponsor's names plastered all over it - as well as other Dallas Dive Bars schwag, including bottle openers; shot glasses; koozies; etc.....

For more information, contact us at Events@dallasdivebars.com

Want to make sure you don’t miss the event?

Send your information to Events@dallasdivebars.com!

Alright, as we are nearing beta launch, we are gonna start letting you in on some of our oh so special features. This is my personal favorite. We call it Drunk Mumble, well, because that's exactly what we want you to do.

I'm pretty sure this will be amusing to everyone involved.

 While I have absolutely never reached the state of oblivion (that's right mom!)where I scrolled through my contacts, squinting to see the names, trying to decide who would be the best person to call at 3am... And I most definitely never made the decision to call that guy who was in my junior year American Lit class 3 years ago that I gave a ride to class once.. no, never called him to tell him I missed him and that he had the coolest Clash tshirt I've ever seen.

Sighhhh..

But not everyone can be so composed when wasted. I bet you may have embarrassed yourself once or twice, I can vouch that all my friends have!

Dallas Dive Bars is hoping to provide you with a solution, or at least help you increase your audience… with Drunk Mumble!
So here’s what you need to do…

* SAVE - Toll Free 877-993-9448 Now save this number in your cell… right now!
* DRINK - A LOT (but be careful!)
* DIAL - (the number you saved in your phone, dummy) then, after the beep . . .
say/sing/slur whatever the hell you feel like!

In a couple of weeks when we have our Beta launch, log on and listen to your message and read all the comments!

So… our addictive personalities have struck again! Go figure we decided to make a site dedicated to bars… and drinking. You should see us now, crammed up in our tiny little office, with our computers in front of us, but our necks reminiscent of that freaky exorcist chic as we strain to watch the Olympics while getting a little work done.

But really though, our Beta launch is just around the corner and it tastes almost as good as this merlot I’m drinking from Central Market. In the mean time though, I will admit that I have squeezed in quite a few fun times at dive bars around the area.

Last Thursday about 30 of my friends and I had a blast at Adairs as usual. I still can’t get over the amazingness of the graffiti in their bathrooms, and how well priced their drinks are. I really couldn’t pick a better place to spend my birthday!

Friday we started out at my personal favorite, Doublewide- and got in a lot of good people watching. Later, we moved over to City Tavern to watch Grant Jones and the Pistol Grip Lassos play some kick ass Texas country. City Tavern made the perfect setting and the perfect Vodka soda to meet a lot of great locals!

I would write more, but women’s gymnastics is on, and I’d rather keep you in anticipation for our actual Beta Launch. There are still a bunch of bars that haven’t been submitted in our directory, and we’re too drunk to do so ourselves- so keep those suggestions coming!

So as lame as it may sound, an issue Dallas Dive Bars has been struggling with, and a question that has been proposed to us several times is "Are you going to include Strip Bars, Nude Joints, Men's/Women's Clubs . . . Ya know, those places where people shake what their mama gave em' for some money . . . in your directory, event listings, and just website as a whole?"

To us it was a simple answer, "why not!" So maybe some of them, okay most of them are BYOB, but there are still plenty that aren't - regardless it's still a bar that plenty of patrons frequent. We have to stop and think about the fact that what one person may not agree with, another person such as employee/owners may rely on for income to support their family. On top of that, effective New Years Day 2007 these Dallas Bars were required to start paying a rather high "Pole Tax" at $5.00 a person, in which the majority of the proceeds go to helping rape victims and woman's shelters across Texas.

The moral of the story is we want OUR patrons want, therefore we want Everyone's input, a poll of what other people think if you will.

Should DallasDiveBars.com be censored, or should we "bare all"?

Let us know what you think - comment on this blog, send us an email, message us on MySpace, just let us know dammit! :D