Gimmicks and promotions are nothing new, but now bar owners are offering everything from bedside service to voyeurism in search of provocative themes that will lure hip and well-heeled customers into their establishments

Talk about you weird first dates.

After several lengthy conversations on the phone, James Halpern, a television and film writer, had learned Athena Nowlin enjoyed pillows and comfort. So when they decided to go out for the first time, Halpern had a brainstorm: Why not the Pig ‘N Whistle in Hollywood, where they actually serve you dinner in bed.

“It’s like being at your house without the pressure,” explained Nowlin, a marketing assistant at a local credit union. “You’re not expected to stay the night.”

Boasted Halpern as he lounged beside Nowlin on the pillow-covered bed: “How can you do better?”

L.A. nightspots always have had gimmicks and promotions to get people in the door. But these days, they’re wilder and more numerous than ever. Owners of local bars and restaurants are thinking up the craziest motifs they can to distinguish their establishments from the hundreds of others in town. And while the entertainment and decor may be wild, the clientele isn’t all that different from what you might find at most hot L.A. nightspots – hipsters, couples, young professionals.

At Deep in Hollywood, dancers gyrate in a giant glass box floating above your head. Behind the bar, two large mirrors provide periodic glimpses into the world of Amsterdam’s famous Red Light District, or a good simulation of it.

“There’s a lot going on,” said Ivan Kane, owner of this way-out bar, restaurant and dance club on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

Over at The Beauty Bar in Hollywood, manicurists and a henna-tattoo artist are on hand for patrons. And at the Viper Room in West Hollywood on Monday nights, you can find the glam rockers featured in a recent Discover Card commercial playing the songs of Guns N’ Roses and Def Leppard.

They’re all fighting for that most elusive of titles – hip.

“Some of these concepts definitely make you wonder, ‘Why?'” said John Floyd, editor of Nightclub & Bar Magazine, a monthly trade publication that covers everything from equipment to promotions. “But I think if you can confound whatever someone’s notions are about entertainment options, and no one gets hurt in the process, people are going to try anything.”

No marketing

Kane said he doesn’t advertise, and there isn’t even a sign out front identifying the place – only the ever-present line of well-dressed, young people. “People who should know about, know about it,” he said.

But creating Deep’s “voyeuristic vibe” wasn’t cheap.

Remodeling this corner spot, which used to house a bar and a tattoo parlor and fitting it with the large Plexiglas cube that hangs from the ceiling and the small rooms hidden behind two-way mirrors at the bar cost about $1.5 million, Kane said.

The entertainment, which includes a DJ and performers simulating a “stylized menage-a-trois” above the dance floor, costs him about $1,000 a night to produce.

A few blocks west of Deep on Hollywood Boulevard, the Pig ‘N Whistle, first established in 1927, was recently restored and reopened by owners Alan Hajjar and Chris Breed. The two partners put four queen-sized beds into the backroom, which is formally known as the Blue Room but commonly referred to as “the bedroom.”

Hajjar said he wanted to give customers a place to hang out and “feel like they’re VIPs.” “You can’t put tables. Everybody has tables,” he said. “(Coming up with new gimmicks) is L.A. – you do anything hip and different.”

The set bed menu, which includes a variety of finger foods and a fresh-fruit platter, is $75 per person, not including drinks. Hajjar said there’s a two-week wait for dinner.

Theme nights popular

Over at Felt in West Hollywood, the promise of free “liquid viagra” is drawing crowds on Thursday evenings, otherwise known as “Boys’ Night.”

Linda Fusco, one of the night spot’s five owners, said the drink – a mix of vodka, blue curacao and fruit juices – has no Viagra in it. The only thing the shot and the pill have in common is their blue color.

Business has doubled since the Santa Monica Boulevard bar and restaurant in February began hosting theme nights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, she said.

“That’s what really brings people in here, having a theme,” Fusco said.

The themes help draw large numbers of customers to Felt on nights that are traditionally slow nights for bars.

“It helps to have a gimmick,” she said.

Tuesdays, when Felt hosts an event called “Foxxy” for women, have become the bar’s biggest night. “Good ‘N Plenty,” a 1970s funk-themed event, brings in crowds on Wednesdays.

Hiring a DJ for the three theme nights, advertising the events and offering treats, such as “liquid viagra” shots, costs relatively little and generates a lot of revenue, Fusco said.

“It’s definitely worth it,” she said. “You just have to constantly remind people that you have it going on.”

Economy not a factor

While bar owners worry about making themselves stand out from the crowd, they need not be concerned that the sluggish economy. “Sex and booze. Whether there’s a recession or inflation, those two things never go out of style,” Kane said.

But most bar owners recognize that, no matter how popular the gimmick, its attraction won’t last long.

“Everything’s hot for the first six months… and then, after that, everything sort of fizzles out,” said Fusco, who has run clubs in L.A., New York and San Francisco. “You just always have to keep changing who you are.”

Innovation is essential, agreed Kane, a club veteran who owns another local nightspot, Kane on Melrose Avenue. “I like to do something fresh,” he said. “If you can’t, then don’t open.”