Cicero's

UncleJimbo

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5

Revisited Jan 02, 2004

The service was OK on this visit. The number of beers offered is still impressive, though the selection of beers on tap was good, but not fantastic. The Anchor Christmas on tap was great. The Bell's Porter was OK. I sampled a burger which was OK, but not great. Overall this is still a very good place.

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This place has a very impressive selection of beers in bottles and on tap, perhaps one of the largest in the St. Louis area. It can get pretty busy and crowded here, especially on the weekends, and at these times service can suffer. They provide a beer menu, which is nice. The atmosphere is typical bar/restaurant with a mixed crowd, but with many college age customers (this is University City, afterall). The food is pretty good. On street parking can be a challenge.

12-20-2002 14:16:45 | More by UncleJimbo

nogoodreason

Missouri

4.18/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Cicero's used to be THE beer bar in the city. Alas, they've fallen off and no one has arisen to replace them.

The place is nice, with a pretty broad selection and some good food, though the service is seemingly entirely untrained in the beer department. While they have some great choices, they're often not fresh and rarely, if ever server the way you would want them. If they bring you a glass without you having to ask for it, it's almost always frosted.

It seemed some time ago, that they really cared about their selection. At this point it almost seems like a simple gimic to get people in the doors.

Still, it's worth a stop from time to time, simply to see what's on tap and for the food, which is always decent.

12-14-2004 18:29:06 | More by nogoodreason

brewintheLou

Missouri

4.25/5  rDev +7.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

This place reminded me of a of college bar, from the people to the atmosphere. I was in one night during the Play StL night weekend in the Loop. The place was crowded, but my brother and I found two seats at the bar. Nice atmosphere if you are looking for a young energentic place.

Service was quick and never had to wait long to get a refill. They were busy and I did not get a chance to talk much with the bartender. Didn't eat so I cannot comment on the quality of the food.

When in the Loop neighborhood I will go back into this place.

Did make it back and had a deep dish pizza that was excellent.

10-25-2007 18:23:27 | More by brewintheLou

1fastz28

Illinois

4.3/5  rDev +8.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Took my Fiancee and my brother here kind of on a whim, i had heard good things about its beer list so i decided to go. First impression is that it is like 2 bars in one, the one side has pool tables and looked like a rough crowd, but the other side is your normal restaurant. The only problem overall was the fact that smoke was everywhere, it made reviewing beers hard since i couldn't smell them.
Food prices were ok, a bit high but nothing crazy. The bbq burger was really good, but i filled up on some hotwings as an appetizer. the food, service, atmosphere were all good. But the beer selection is the best i've seen in st.louis. Delirium, unibrou, rochefort, just to name a few. they had samplers, 4 6oz glasses for like 7 bucks so i did that and was able to try a few beers i had not had yet. this is the only place i've ever seen that has deliriu tremens on draft, had the pink elephant tap and everything, it was pretty cool i suggest it, i think i spent 90 bucks between the 3 of us, but we did drink alot of beers

12-08-2008 15:09:55 | More by 1fastz28

MJR

Missouri

4.35/5  rDev +9.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5

Atmosphere: For the most part, it's a young, college crowd, but there's every type of demographic mixed in there. Good place to grab a beer, something to eat, and have a stimulating conversation.

Quality: Overall quality of everything offered is very good. Great food and a fantastic selection of beer are Cicero's strong points.

Service: Ranges from good to outstanding...I've never had a bad server there. They don't always know the beer all that well, but you can't expect all the servers on staff to be all-knowing.

Selection: Beer selection is awesome, probably the best in St. Louis. Better than Growler's, which somehow get's more word-of-mouth. They've not had a beer on the menu I wanted only once. The menu is varied and interesting as well.

Food: The food is quite good, but if you eat here, get the pizza: it's amazing!

12-30-2002 08:34:00 | More by MJR

Ave

Iowa

4.58/5  rDev +15.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5

What can I say? Cicero's is the place to go for beer in St. Louis. There are other places for sure, but none have the voluminous selection that Cicero’s dose. With more than 40 taps, more than half of which stay in rotation, & typically more than 100 others available in bottles, there is more great beer in this building than in any other public address in town. The staff at the bar is always egger to talk to beer lovers. Pull up a stool & ask for something unique, & unless there swamped, you will likely end up in a conversation about it. Tony, there current beer buyer, is a beer nut of the highest order, brews at home, knows & loves his work.

The food is excellent as well. Though not the best pizza in town, it is easily in the top 3. The wait staff in the restaurant are generally nice & helpfull. Mostly it is what you would expect from a joint that charges college students & other mid-west hipster types $12 for a pasta dinner. Some of the staff have shown, or at least convincingly faked, a good knowledge of their beer selections. Though with the range the do have available, few know it all, all the time.

Not always the cleanest place in town, certainly not the dirtiest. I have heard ill of the cleanliness of the kitchen in the past, but the great Cicero’s fire of 2000 & its subsequent remodeling in 2001 hopefully killed all those stories along with the germs. I of late have not seen any signs of poor kitchen management in recent years.

Selection alone sells me on this place. Pool & a few vids are available. & there is a band room that hosts live music most nights of the week. Always worth the trip. Take a beer menu home, & plan ahead.

Ave

03-06-2003 18:34:49 | More by Ave

akantner

Missouri

4.58/5  rDev +15.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

I'm a big fan of Cicero's and have been coming here since the first week that I moved to St. Louis. Their draft and bottle list is impressive, their food is pretty good, and their prices are reasonable. The atmosphere is welcoming as well. I always look forward to coming to Cicero's and really enjoy attending Beer School each Wednesday night. If you're coming to St. Louis it's definitely worth checking out. Beer School is a weekly event during the "school year" (August - April) when various brewers and distributors from across the US come in and have the students sample 3 or 4 beers for free. There's even a graduation ceremony at the end of each semester!

03-08-2011 21:10:07 | More by akantner