The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

jayhawk73

Maryland

3.94/5  rDev -0.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

Went to the Memphis Flying Saucer last night in Memphis w/ a bunch of co-workers. They had a band playing(way too loud), so there was a cover to get in. We immediately went to the next room over to try and get away from the noise- and succeeded. They didn't have as many beers as I was hoping on draft, but they did have Sierra Nevada Bigfoot on draft. That was a pleasant surprise, and it wasn't listed on the menu. Our service was good, although it was obvious the waitress had no clue about beer. I didn't try the food, but some of my co-workers said it was pretty good. Most of the beers seemed reasonable, but the ones I ended up with seemed priced pretty high for what I've had elsewhere. All in all, a good experience- and the massive choice of good beer shouldn't be missed if you're in the Memphis area.

03-25-2011 16:28:28 | More by jayhawk73

ubenumber2

Arkansas

4.05/5  rDev +2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | food: 3 | $$$

This place has tons of beer to try , the prices are not that great , but they have beers you simply cannot purchase in this part of the country. Some of the beers you can buy at a 1/4 of the price at Joes or Busters , but some you can only buy here. The food is ok, but then most "Irish" places who serve food in the US are sub par when it comes to food , beer first food second. The waitresses are pretty hot , the beer is cold , the price can be high, but hey to get what you cant get anywhere else Ill take it

09-28-2012 23:38:58 | More by ubenumber2

KDawg

Illinois

4.08/5  rDev +2.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $

In my short stay in memphis, Flying Saucer was clearly the best of the bars that I came across.

It certainly caters to a slightly louder scene. They had a band playing the night I was there and had some games on as well.

The service was always on point for me. Even with it being wednesday, it was a bit of a zoo. They had about 4 bartenders and it was never hard to get a beer.

The selection was very good. They had a whole bunch of taps available and had everything at great prices. They were blowing out prima pils, and I was able to get it for $3.

Flying Saucer was a great place to grab some good brews in Memphis. If I was staying longer in town I would’ve had some more here, but driving got in the way of spending a lot of time here.

04-28-2012 01:09:21 | More by KDawg

slander

New York

4/5  rDev +0.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

After scoping out of the river side music scene, we dealt the natural progression towards the Flying Saucer. It was as local as local as local could be to our hotel, and I’m well done with drinking plastic cup beer on (is there anything that’s not painfully wrong with) Beale Street. I’ve taken in some of the other Saucer locations, and they’re consistent if nothing else. Bare min, you’ll get at some regional play; I suppose you just need to consider then how good your beer region be...

Atypical Flying Saucer set up; similar more so to Houston than Columbia, anyway. A large room with spicy yellow mustard high high ceilings & wall uppers of the same and brown trim angled over wood plank lowers. The walls & ceiling are plastered with name plate saucers and ornamental otherwise, ev-ery-where. All sizes, shapes, patterns & depths. 2’ X 2’ green & black checkerboard tiling run diagonally.

To the back of the room, high backed chair seating for 18 on a long straight stained stainless steel topped bar holding a fatty wood lip & base, and piping foot rail. Barback wall is a length of copper panel sheets, (‘non penny’, like the other locations I’ve seen), holding alternating upper lower upper lower taps; 75 in all. The wall of taps runs from end to end over stainless steel counter tops, split only by a center 2 door cooler holding bottled selections. Other bottle coolers on the far ends, with a smattering of bottles & booze about, and shelved glassware, mostly of the pint variety, running the lengths below.

Looking at the wall of taps, it would appear that most of the craft beer is on one end with the ciders, and then the imports, crap macros & stray craft on the other end. Personally, I feel that they need me as a consultant on some placement decisions, like switching the ciders to the import/macro side and moving the stray craft in with what would then become the all craft side. I have other great ideas and will work for beer, but it will have to be beer of my choosing (If you think you’re going to pay me off with the ‘fire sale $3 Abita Turbo Dog’, then I will quickly become a disgruntled employee, and my work performance will reflect as such).

Everything is contained on the ‘fly paper’ beer menu, split first by lagers & ales, and then grouped by style, with nicey nice brief descriptions of. All in all, 75 taps and 130 bottles listed (plus another 10 bottles on the specials board). Roughly ½ the taps hold craft beer and that which is borderline of that term. The bottle list is a mix of everything; American craft, the full range of good to garbage imports, ciders, Gluten frees and N/A’s, as expected. Server let me try a handful of things I ultimately rejected (Yazoo Pale Ale & IPA Project, Ghost River Golden Ale). Started with a Yazoo Dos Perros (a Vienna Lager from Nashville, TN), and then a Schlafly APA, and finished with a New Belgium Fat Tire. Marin started with a Fat Tire, and then a Youngs Double Chocolate Stout, and finished with another Fat Tire. She called it a ‘Fat Tire sandwich’ (She’s smiling now).

Wood panel overhang is bordered with dominoes and die in between, and the trim above there with gold chess pieces and alternating black pawns. A looong vertical board above lists what’s “just landed”, plus a smokes menu on one end, and events on the other (Hey! Stella glass give away this Wednesday brew night, sweet!) Sunken box wine rack pieces up there with pint glasses and random beer bottles displayed, house shirts & hats displayed, and flatscreens out past on both ends. Track spots above the bar on the big board, and all along the perimeter of the room. Drop spin tops about the room with fans & crystal star everlasting gobstopper lamps alternating (those, I like).

A pair of 6 seat bar counters adjacent to the bar, and nearly a dozen square & rectangular tables to the rear, as the room widens and beyond the bar counters. 2 dart boards in the corner ‘cause beer and sharp pointy things, yeah.

Olive colored front garden room as it is, holds 10 picnic tables in rows of 3 or 4 each running back to a rear stage area. Garage door panel window walls open on the front and side side off the corner all awned above. Seating for six or seven or so below, and oh yes, they are smoking there. Corner couching and cushy chairs. Brewery banners, flaggings, mirrors & signage on the walls, and ½ barrel cut planters hanging above. Entertainment provided by southern type looking folks on the single pool table.

Servers were attentive and pleasant, and didn’t roll their eyes when I asked to try a pinch of this or that. Place was fairly quiet this Friday afternoon, that always helps, and the beer seemed to be in good shape. It’s a Flying Saucer. And no, I was not scoping out serving girls in schoolgirl outfits, why do you ask?

11-03-2011 19:53:45 | More by slander

DoubleSimcoe

New York

3.08/5  rDev -22.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | $$

Memphis is not exactly a craft-beer meca, is it... but we were in town to meet The King, and wandering Downtown on a Friday night. On the mood for a beer and some partying (the wife, not so much)!

I loved the atmosphere at this Saucer (my first one, by the way). Huge place, with an open-to-the-street section and an enclosed bar and dining area. Busy-but-not-quite, just right, music was not loud. Plenty of room to play and admire the skimpy-skirt-outfitted waitresses. Damn they are hot (the wife agrees)!.

We didn't have food because we were coming out of a great dinner at nearby Automatic Slim's (grilled Chincoteague oysters!!??). Menu looked a lil' boring, except for meat and cheese plates.

Service started out good, but deteriorated almost immediately. I assume those cute girls don't know much about beer, but beyond that, I ordered a North Coast Old Stock '08 from the printed menu and she brought an opened '11. What! I told her and she didn't look like she cared at all.

So on to the beer list: massive indeed but boring. Some cool locals (Yazoo Hop Project, Lazy Magnolia, Ghost River Pale Ale), tons of macros and safe crafts (Sierra, Arrogant Bastard). Almost 50 taps and I ended up ordering from the bottle menu, if you know what I mean.

Then our server took 400 hours to bring me a sample, then she stopped to chat with her buddies at a nearby table while I waited to order a beer. When she finally came over again, I got the check and left.

I've always said it: I'd rather have an ugly dude who knows his beer than a beautiful-but-brainless waitress. That said, I would go back when in Memphis, mostly because it is the only option in downtown.

08-28-2011 23:58:19 | More by DoubleSimcoe

jsprain1

Minnesota

3.73/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

A- A pretty big bar with open air seating in part of it, some pool tables, darts. A long bar as well and plenty of tvs showing sports. Only complaint is it's loud and the acoustics don't help that much.
Q- Beer was served at proper temperatures, typically in a style-appropriate glass, with no major issues here.
Ser- Service has been a problem. I, and others in my party, have frequently gotten the wrong beer brought to our table. About one in three times there's an issue with our tabs/checks, and no one has struck me as particularly knowledgable about the beers.
Sel- Easily the largest number of taps in Memphis, with a good number of bottles as well. A broad varieties of styles as well, which is always nice.
F- Food is decent, but nothing beyond standard bar food, except for their Bratwursts, which were notably good.
For downtown Memphis, the food and beer prices were both reasonable.

05-25-2011 08:36:10 | More by jsprain1

jillmart

Georgia

3.53/5  rDev -11.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$

I was in Memphis covering the flooding, and because of BA reviews, I decided to take my crew here for lunch.

I might actually be more impressed by the vibe of this place more so than the beer selection, and that's no slight to the beer selection whatsoever. The decor was simple with saucers all over the walls and ceiling, but the openness of the restaurant and bar gave it a very comfortable and inviting feeling. I felt at home here immediately despite never stepping foot in the place before.

The beer selection felt much like a Taco Mac -- lots of taps, lots of bottles, which can be found in a separate 3-4 page menu displaying beers by type, if it's on tap or bottle, and the cost. I had a Dragon Stout, which I was impressed was on the bottle list, as I don't see it in most bars, and a Yazoo Dos Perros on tap. Beers on tap the day I was there cost under $4, which is a pretty good deal considering the selection.

I recommend the goat cheese pizza slice -- it's what you're looking for in terms of bar food.

This place also sells cigars, and there's a comfortable place undercover outside where you can smoke.

No complaints about the service. She did her job, and that's all I ask.

For those passing through Memphis, check this place out.

05-19-2011 17:46:09 | More by jillmart

FrankWBurnsIII

Illinois

4.33/5  rDev +9.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | $

I guess you could consider this to be the main Saucer in Memphis, with the other being in surburban Cordova.

Which one you prefer will probably depend on where you live (or where you are staying) and what kind of atmosphere/crowd you want to be around.

I mainly went to the Cordova one, but one time I went to the city one.

The city one is very large with lots of seating, but extraordinarily crowded and loud, and perhaps a bit younger. For me, I enjoyed that less but it's just what others are looking for.

Other than that it doesn't differ much than other saucers. It has some food and tons of beer.

For more saucer details feel free to consult my review of the Cordova location.

04-04-2011 16:22:40 | More by FrankWBurnsIII

SisuPride

Tennessee

3.88/5  rDev -2.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$

A great place to hit before Beale St. Park in the garage right above it and be sure to get your parking validated! Really quiet and laid back at lunch and early dinner. Really hopping with people almost every night. Usually has great bands and of course their offerings of collector's glasses. Trivia night is always busy as well. On Wednesday night is keep the glass - buy beer of the night and you get a collectors glass. Also a great place to go when money is tight - Monday's has most beers for $2.50 and every night their is a fire sale beer for the same price.

03-05-2011 03:07:02 | More by SisuPride

TheBear11D

Michigan

4.1/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$$

This is a growing chain with several around the nation and two in the Memphis area. This particular location is at a nice spot downtown Memphis. There is plenty of parking nearby and is a great place to spend an evening after downtown activities.

The food left something to be desired and I have tried a few different dishes. With so much great food in Memphis anyway, I would just recommend grabbing beer here.

They have a wide selection of brews and many are on tap. It can be a little pricey if you are not getting their fire special.

They have something happening nearly every night. My favorite is on Wednesday nights they have a featured beer which you can purchase a glass for. The glass is the proper serving glass for that particular beer. Plenty of people collect or trade their glasses as well.

The atmosphere is enjoyable and relaxed. They do have a couple TVs with sports on, but this is not a sports bar. If you are adventurous, you can join their UFO club and try a multitude of beers and have a saucer placed hung in your honor.

12-18-2010 22:32:47 | More by TheBear11D