Laclede Street Bar & Grill

The quintessential dive bar and the quintessential college bar. Cheap liquor and eats, a dance floor, specials, and large crowds. Be forewarned, if you’re a college graduate already, you might want to rethink a trip to Laclede’s. Those aforementioned positives are all present, but the drinks are weak, the food is nothing special, the dance floor is a grindfest, and fights and a police presence are not infrequent. Despite the crowds, the service is pretty good and if walking is your mode of transportation that evening, Laclede’s can be a good alternative to Humphrey’s or the Library Annex, but I’m in not particular hurry to head back.

If you have any sort of self-​respect DO NOT GO TO LACLEDE’S! This place is known for underage drinking, theft, fights, and all around mayhem. The building and a 20 foot radius smell of puke and urine. While the prices may be great, the quality of the experience is terrible. The food is crap, drinks are watered down, and everyone is too drunk to function.
The bathrooms are a nightmare. Normally only one toilet is «working» and the others are clogged or have been puked upon. The dance floor is too crowded and sticky to move and covered with broken glass. The music is nothing special. Overall, the atmosphere is not too desirable.
It is common for the police to be called for fights or riots or out of control behaviors. Liquor patrol frequently makes their rounds inside.

My husband and I went to Laclede Street Bar & Grill for a SLU Graduate Business Student Association event. I read the reviews ahead of time and wasn’t expecting much. The free food and drink lured me in.
Keeping in mind what Laclede Street is — a college bar, it’s not THAT bad. Could I imagine myself going here had I been at SLU as an undergrad? Sure! As a 25 year old graduate student employed full time, married, and in bed by 10:30 every night, would I go there again? Not unless there was another free SLU party.
The staff was friendly. The mixed drinks were amply poured. Considering the patrons ordering weren’t paying, they could have easily skimped us, so I think that says something.
To go on what Sara Y. wrote, we were allowed to order wine, domestics, and wells without having to open a tab. Obviously, they are having far worse geography knowledge problems, because they asked my husband if he wanted to open a tab when he asked for a Schlafly. Instead of calling them domestics and imports, they should just get down to it and call them cheaper beers and more expensive beers.
The bathrooms were gross. You have to be in severe need or be drunk to use them. They smell probably worse than any bar bathroom I’ve been in, and neither of the stall doors in the ladies’ room could lock. Also, the soap was out in the mens’ bathroom. My husband let a staff member know, and the problem never got rectified.

Great spot if you want to get drunk late at night as a college student… not so great if you want lunch on a week day and don’t like the smell of urine.
Had lunch there today and the whole place reeked worse than a Fraternity house… Smelled like Bourbon Street.
The food is ok, but I couldn’t get over the smell, won’t go back.

Your typical campus area (SLU) bar with decent happy hour specials: two-​for-​one beers and $ 3.50 apps. I had a build-​your-​own-​burger which was okay… you don’t get asked for a degree of doneness. It comes out well done no matter what. If you can stand a lot of cigarette smoke and a very sticky floor, knock yourself out.

Lacledes is nearby Humphrey’s dirty step-​sister with an affinity for weekend nights. Please see my review on Humphrey’s for more information.

Wow. I frequented this place when I was in college, but I can’t imagine going there now (and I’ve only been out for 2 years!)
Normally, a dive college bar like this would get two stars from me, but since this place was a huge part of my senior year at SLU, I’ll give it three… just for old times sake.
God, I miss college.

Talk about «Power Lunch.» Affordable, tasty bar food, coupled with a round or three of Golden Tee, and you’ve got yourself the start of a really good day.
That’s just during the week.
On the weekends, it packs in the neighborhood crowd. With St. Louis University, there’s a ton of college-​aged kids running around, so if you’re uncomfortable with that set, I wouldn’t suggest this place as a nightlife destination. If you are, then this is the place for you.
I like to grab a booth and people watch with a group of friends, but that soon turns into the start of a night of debauchery, since the drinks here are very cheap. Once the staff realized you’re not a student, and that you tip well, they are all yours. I’m kind of kidding about that, because it happens everywhere.

Laclede Street Bar and Grill is a place that my friends and I frequented many a night when we were in college. Located right beside Saint Louis University, we were able to go out and have some fun with many of our friends and we did not have to venture downtown or to some other place.
Laclede Street Bar and Grill is a great place to go with friends to enjoy a nice night of dancing whenever they have a DJ. The floor is large and can support plenty of body shaking. With the drink deals that Laclede Street Bar and Grill has, most likely there will be lots of body shaking. My friends and I would go there for their ten dollar all you can drink.

Dear Laclede Street Bar and Grill Owners,
Take a look at a map. In case you have not noticed, Massachusetts is not a foreign country. In fact, as you see, it is directly attached to New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and possibly also a little slice of Maine (but I do not remember if this is quite the case), making it reliably within the United States, and the 48 continental ones, at that. Massachusetts was, in fact, where much of the American Revolution was planned and took place. The Tea Party was there. Their National Football League team is called the New England Patriots. Paul Revere made silver and rode around like a banshee on his horse there warning us all that the British were coming. You know, the birthplace of America. And all that.
So could you please explain to me why you insist on calling (and pricing) Sam Adams as an import beer?
Here is the conversation I had with a bartender at Laclede Street last month.
Me: What is on the open bar?
Bartender Dude: Domestic beers and well drinks.
Me: OK, I’ll have a Sam.
Bartender Dude: That’s an import.
Me: What? How is that possible? It’s made in Massachusetts.
Bartender Dude: Sorry, it’s an import.
Me: How can you import something that is already made in this country?
Bartender Dude: I don’t know, but it’s an import.
Me: OK, what is considered domestic?
Bartender Dude: Bud, Bud Light…
Me: Yeah, I’ll take a gin and tonic.
I promise you that it is impossible to import things from Massachusetts. Otherwise, I really would be currently living in a foreign country, and I would have had to get a green card to move here to New York.
I didn’t.

My friends and I called this place the Office during our reign in college. Yes, it is primarily a college bar, but just because you are getting older, doesn’t mean you can’t go back a couple of years, and have regrets and hangovers in the morning.
Two full bars, loaded with all your favorite drinks and shots. A large dance floor, and a DJ playing the tracks. A good way to start the night.
Open till 3AM if you decide to stay out late.
Happy hours are insane. 4 – 7 buy one get ones, shot specials always included.
Another benefit, Cardinal shuttles. Kind like a float trip on wheels.
Yes, I might just start drinking now!

At night, it’s a fun place to go if you just want to dance and don’t want to get dressed up/​pay for parking/​pay a cover. Laclede’s is always our «safety»…the place we go after the Central West End bars close (it’s open til 3) when we can’t think of any place else/don’t want to drive downtown.
…I also love the cheesy music they play. In addition to current hip hop/​pop music, the DJ will sometimes break out «The Electric Slide,» NSYNC, and vintage Britney Spears.

Can be a Wed./Thurs. night kind of place, near SLU. Dance floor in the back, hiphop/​pop music. Didn’t even know it as a restaurant.

This is the epitome of a college bar/​restaurant. It’s definitely a bar before it’s a restaurant. Drinks are dirt cheap. The DJ plays the same music every night. Oh, and you’re more than likely to see at least 30 or so underage drinkers come through the door. Eh… but who’s counting? I know I was at this bar every Wednesday night before my 21^st birthday!
During the day, it’s a restaurant. Business doesn’t start to pick up until happy hour, which is everyday at 4 and goes until 7pm. The happy hour specials are 2 for 1 drinks and 2 for 1 appetizers. But wait! You can’t take the appetizers home. So make sure you eat all of your food inside because they’re not passing out doggie bags during happy hour.