Flying Saucer Draught Emporium - St. Louis

No Longer In Business

Giant beer bar in Downtown St. Louis, right across the street from Busch Stadium. Good service, probably the most beer selections I have ever seen in one place. It will take you 15 minutes just to read the beer menu. The food is better than it has to be and beers can be a little pricey if you go fro the high ABV options, but that’s everywhere. Some people may avoid this because it’s a chain restaurant/bar, but get over yourselves and check this place out. You will have a good time.

First off, don’t park beside the building towards the stadium. That lot is the hotel’s and we parked there thinking it was typical downtown parking...which it is, technically, but expect to get RIPPED OFF. The booth tenant, knowing we were going to the bar, neglected to mention the bar had a free lot across the street. When we left, we were expecting a $5 charge, but no...$17 to park for just over an hour! Both booth tenants argued with us saying were were there almost 3 hours, which is a lie but whatever. We paid, begrudingly, because we didn’t have time to mess with it. So, be aware that the hotel parking SUCKS and that there is a free lot behind the bar. This place is awesome inside. The support columns are massive, solid tree trunks. The staff were all easy on the eyes, friendly, and actually knowledgable about beer. The beer selection is of course quite large, flights are available either by bartender choice, style, or ala carte. Although I was there primarily for the beer options given it being the only chance I’d have to try beers while in town, I was really hoping the food was going to be good since my non-beer fanatic wife was being a good sport. Luckily, the food was GREAT. And to top it off, my wife actually loved the local DIPA from Modern, Green Goliath. It wasn’t busy on Sunday afternoon/evening, but I’d be willing to bet the place is slammed if a game is on.

PERMANENTLY CLOSED. This place is in a very beautifully renovated old warehouse a block away from Busch Stadium, but the Bridge is a much better option for anyone staying in a downtown hotel. The only real reason to go to the Flying Saucer is if you are going to a Cardinals or Blues game, or a concert or event at the Peabody or Scottrade. Even then, this place is inadequately organized to handle large crowds. I came here for a late lunch before an evening Cardinals game and they had already switched to a limited menu more than 4 hours before gametime. I was in a group attending the Chelsea - Man City soccer match at Busch attended by 50,000 fans over the summer, and there was no extra staff...unforgivable to leave one lone bartender to attempt to handle the crowd. That being said, this is just an average Flying Saucer. The food is average and the beer selection is average. Most bartenders and all of the servers have absolutely no real beer knowledge. I have never seen a new beer on tap that I had not seen before somewhere else...just the same old, same old. I had been excited to hear that the Flying Saucer was coming to StL, but it has been very disappointing after waiting months for this place to get its ducks in a row, to finally have to admit that the Flying Saucers in KC, Austin, and even Raleigh are demonstrably better. I would have thought that Flying Saucer would have upped their game coming to a more highly developed craft beer community like StL. Personally, I have waited out of courtesy to post these comments to give the place a chance because I really want this place to succeed, but these people don’t know StL and they don’t know beer...what’s left? UPDATE: it appears that this Saucer is improving...more interesting beer on tap and at least one knowledgeable bartender.

Stopped in on a Saturday afternoon before a Cards game. Not a lot of folks were here when we arrived, but the crowd was growing as we left about two hours before the start of the game. The place is really nice, except for the men’s bathroom. I told our waitress about the water running from the duct work, and she said it had been reported to the landlord many times. The entire floor was wet, somewhat of a hazard. The service was decent, she had several tables, and it took a little time to get around to us. The food was decent, typical bar food. The selection of beers, lots of locals was also decent. Good bottle selection, lots of locals on the list too. Parking is kind of a pain. With a Cards game starting in a few hours, there was mostly paid parking lots. We found a public lot for the Cupples House and it was a free lot with numbered spaces. We’ll go back, probably before or after a Blues game next time to see what the crowd is like. They did a real nice job of restoring the inside and having a decent outside patio area. Worth the stop.

Just a few blocks from the ballpark, so Homer321 and I made the walk over and checked the place out before meeting up with others at the hotel.

Pretty large location with a huge bar area. Nice long bar and some bar top tables behind that as well. More seating further back in the restaurant.

They have a ton of taps, and they highlight which of the beers are brewed in Missouri, which I liked. A few interesting imports (from Mikkeller), but more standard Belgian and German offerings. They do flights of 5 beers, as well, which is cool.

Service was a touch spacey at times, but was overall friendly from the two young women behind the bar.

Decent place, but not my favorite stop in STL.

Visited in March 2013. Never bothered putting an entry. I was there like a week or two after it opened. Place is very large-huge bar with 2 rooms of seating. Has a small outside balcony, but it was a bit cold to use it when i was there. Glad i wasnt there during baseball season. Pretty standard setup in terms of taps-about 10 MO beers and other regionals. Service was good and friendly. I would come back to this location, however, There are some better places in the city.

WOW! I can’t believe Flying Saucer - StL has been open for like 8 months and still doesn’t have 1 review on here. I guess St. Louis beer geeks are also all local/slow food snobs..which I sort of am, but come on, it’s a chain of craft beer bars with awesome selections that gets lots of great craft beer..not a f’ing McDonalds. No, they don’t have the best (or any) local, seasonal food, but they do have about 20% great local taps. In many cities (i.e. most of the other cities they’re in) Flying Saucers are the main attraction as far as craft beer bars. Yes, if you’re from out of town there are many places I’d hit in StL before here. BUT, this is a pretty decent place to go before Cards or Blues game or any concert or other special event at Busch, Scottrade, or the Peabody...especially compared to the other options within easy walking distance. Oh and the chicks in the skirts aren’t a bad touch either.