The St. Louis cocktail drinker is more educated than ever. We still love our bourbon, but we’re just as happy drinking gin, agave spirits or amaro-based spritzes. We just want our cocktails to be great, and these bars serve some of the best, most exciting drinks around town.
Planter’s House
For the last decade, Ted and Jamie Kilgore’s bar has been an essential stop for cocktail lovers and a training ground for fresh talent while remaining relentlessly innovative. Classic drinks are spruced up with Planter’s House’s barrel pick cocktail program, many favorites are now available as draft cocktails and there are nonalcoholic twists on iconic Kilgore creations, such as the Not a Pickle.
1000 Mississippi Ave., St. Louis, 314.696.2603, plantershousestl.com Credit: photo by Jonathan GaymanLazy Tiger
There’s always something interesting, something you’ve never tasted, at Yellowbelly’s sister venue, from Mexican sugarcane spirits to seaweed gin. The menu guides you with thoughtful category descriptors: Are your tastes “crispy and vibrant” or “wavy and mysterious”? Lazy Tiger deploys fine spirits, fresh fruit, acidity, spice and savory notes with expertise – frequently in the same drink. The eponymous cocktail is a good starting point.
210 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 314.925.8888, lazytigerstl.com Credit: photo by Meera NagarajanNone of the Above
Niche Food Group’s subterranean cocktail bar at City Foundry exudes sophistication, with navy furniture, dark wood accents and mood lighting. Fionna Gemzon’s drinks present just as beautifully, drawing on an eclectic palate of flavor profiles and ingredients. Visit on Mondays for $11 classic cocktails.
3730 Foundry Way, St. Louis, 314.656.6682, notastl.com Credit: photo by Cam Kennedy for None of the AboveStews Food & Liquor
This Soulard bar has blazed onto the scene to become one of Soulard’s best new openings. Enter and you’re welcomed like an old friend and offered a wonderful menu of Asian-inspired fare such as edamame “hummus” and luscious popcorn chicken. The cocktail list is defined by punchy drinks like Stews’ house martini, the black Manhattan or the signature Fat Man in a Yellow Suit (rum, rhum agricole, orange juice, pineapple and allspice).
1862 S. 10th St., St. Louis, stewsstl.com Credit: photo by Zachary LinharesNew Society
In this tiny bar in the cavernous basement of Grand Spirits Bottle Co., Meredith Barry, Michael Fricker and their team dismantle expectations and redefine notions of what a cocktail can be. Each seasonal menu at New Society is a journey, and it’s an experience that combines intelligence and storytelling with equal measures of wit and fun. Go and find out what we mean.
3194 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, newsocietystl.com Credit: photo courtesy of New Society
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by
Sauce Staff
