Cafe Saint-Ex

Is this place still relevant?

Saint-Ex is definitely a night spot...I would find it very strange to come here during the day to eat, but I guess it is a restaurant by day and mega venue at night. Ground floor is a brass and mirror laden pub with a small tap and bottle list. Decent tap rotation usually with some faux micros moving to some local beer options that are fairly decent. Downstairs is a mega crowded dance zone, near pitch black, with 200 more people than the fire hazard limit. They sell beer downstairs but mostly macro cans, PBR for the hipster crowd, and some okay micro bottles. Interesting place. Certainly not for mega beer geeks, but it is a good compromise if you are with people who want to dance, club pretty hard but you want to drink beer that doesn’t suck.

Not really a great beer bar. Saw my friend DJ here. I had a Guinness and a flying dog woody.

Aviator themed, somewhat rustic bar and grill. Very nice interior. There is additional seating and a small bar in the basement which is also very cool. Service was excelletnt. The don’t have that many beers on draft, but what they do offer is good. The food is very good, although portions are small. Overall, a very cool place to see and eat, but not really a beer destination.

Nice space, good crowd, friendly staff. Can get very crowded. Good music. A few decent beers, not a large selection. Come here for the atmosphere, bot the beer.

Very cool space, dark wood, nice railings on and around the bar. Some propellers here and there to cement the association in the name, nice touch. The vibe was good but the selection was pretty weak: Stella, Leffe Brune, Kasteel Brune, couple domestics. I’d go back for the vibe but not for the brew.

Eh, I don’t really get this place. A block south of U Street on 14th, it’s a small, cosy little pub that seems like it tries too hard to attract the after work business crowd. High ceilings, mirrors behind the bar, a lot of brass and wood. It’s a nice place but it’s small and gets crowded with people who go here just to be seen. Beer selection was a little too common for me, with a couple of Magic Hat and Redhook type taps, a Hoegaarden and an English bitter on cask (I think).

The beer selection is pretty good, one of the only places I have found anything by Ayinger on tap, which is a selling point for me. Nice open bar area with outdoor seating, wasn’t very busy when we went here (able to get a table outside after 10 minute wait at the bar). Other patrons varied from mid-twenties to 50s and up, very pleasant conversation. Food was great, although overpriced, as was the beer. Lot’s of stuff in bottles. The bartenders were much more attentive than the food servers. I will probably come back to this place, if only because of the proximity to my apartment.

Beer selection is ok, but it and the food are overpriced. Neat little space though.