- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Flying Saucer Draught Emporium
Rating Details »
Categories: Pubs, American (Traditional), Sandwiches [Edit]
Neighborhood: University City9605 N Tryon St
Charlotte, NC 28262
(704) 568-7253
- Hours:
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Dinner, Late Night
- Music:
- Live
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Yes
- Coat Check:
- No
Sponsored Result
Special Offer Nearby
Dave & Buster's
- Category:
- Arcades
- Location:
- Concord, NC
Eat & Play Combo Only $15.99 - Choose one of eight entrees and get a $10 game card http://tinyurl.com/m3nng7
9 reviews for Flying Saucer Draught Emporium
Wanna get a quick three in ya? (That's code among my friends for wanna go to the saucer and add three beers to your tour.) I have yet to get a plate on the wall (requires that you drink 200 different beers) but one day I will be immortalized among my fellow beer lovers.
The saucer is a special place that is hard to fully appreciate by those who do not share a passion for enjoying beer other than bud light, however it is a great place for people who are willing to try something new and expand their beer horizons. Be cautious when experimenting because they do carry some very expensive brews. The service is ussually great and one of the most difficult things to do is to avoid the cook-out drive thru after a fun night of some tasty bevs, but just remember friends dont let friends fly drunk.
Food: 2
Beer: 5 +
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 5
Culture: 5
Distance from my apartment for a great drinkery: -1000
4.5 stars
The bar runs almost the entire length of this rather large restaurant. And taps are placed every foot or so along the entire stretch.
Intrigued? If not, don't attend.
One thing keeps the Saucer from being tops in Charlotte: the menu. After having eaten here 3-4 times, the only edible I'd return for is the soft pretzels, (which are orgasmic after a couple brews.) They offer stereotypical beer accoutrement like sausage and cheese. But the fried foods lack in number for a bar-eatery. And damn it, if I'm drinking beer I want more than one or two burgers to choose from.
The wait staff is knowledgeable enough to recommend a malty beverage for the less-than-beer-literate. And pint-nights offer a bartender selected brew for under $3. Which means that $3 can buy you anything from a summer swill to a Belgian Framboise brewed by monks in a slate tub, (worth more than $3.)
It's a beer-venture!
Fabulous!
Tried a mess of beers here today and had a great time. Our server (they're all pretty cute and young and wearing plaid pleated miniskirts for you boys out there to get loaded and tip well) was extremely helpful with me insofar as picking out my "build your own flight" of beer.
They have a few pre-set flights, which my folks tried... but I tried the build your own, which is basically five draught beers of your choice in a smaller size glass (photo enclosed). It was a great way to try new things and once our server learned my taste she worked with me to find what I would like best.
Between that, the friendly crowd, darts and pool... if I lived in NC I could see wasting a lot of time here.
Didn't try the food so I can't comment on that.
The best place to get a beer in Charlotte, period. I used to live right down the road from the Saucer and went there several times a week in order to earn my own gold plate up on the wall (something you get after drinking 200 different beers). The selection is unmatched in the Charlotte area, and the wait staff is usually really knowledgeable about all the new beers they get in. Monday nights are $2.75 "pint nights" where everything on the wall (and we're talking nearly 100 beers here) is only $2.75, and considering the quality of some of these this is almost impossible to beat ANYWHERE!
The glass program on Wednesday night is really cool, and if you go to their website there is even a big trading community so you can find some pretty cool stuff that the local one doesn't offer. The tracking system they use is actually really great too. It's awesome to be able to see every beer you've ever had there, including the date, and your rating and comments about it.
The food at the bar is, well, bar food. If you're expecting something amazing for dinner here then you're definitely here for the wrong reason. While not quite as bad as you would expect, it's still the standard grease-laden goodies that just seem to go great with beer.
The one detriment to this place for me was that they allow smoking inside. I would dock them a point for this normally, but the reasonable person in me still realizes that it is a bar, and it is in NC, so it's almost allowable. The saving grace is that there is a great patio outside where you can go if cancer isn't your thing.
One final personal note: if you come here and order Bud Light (or some other equivalent) you're wasting space and need to be eradicated.
We've become frequent customers of Flying Saucer - we go every Wednesday for their glass night. I love their specialty glasses and we've accumulated quite a collection. Their Monday night special gives us the opportunity to try new types of beer without shelling out a lot of $$. However we do avoid the place on the weekends because its packed. We both rave about it as a great place to drink to our coworkers, its mixed crowd (white collar professionals, blue collar workers, college kids, etc) which everyone can enjoy.
The waitstaff is excellent - we've only had one bad experience with a waitress - most of them are really personable and genuinely nice.
My one complaint - and only reason why I didn't bump up this place to 5 stars is the other night I was drinking my beer and found ceramic pieces in my glass. Turns out a tile had broken around the tap. While the waitress gave us an apology the manager did not stop by to apologize nor did they comp us the drink (I just wanted some sort of acknowledgment from management that its gross to drink a beer and discover ceramic at the bottom of the glass - ick).
I do agree with Justin C. - I don't care for the smoking throughout the restaurant - Chicago's smoking ban spoiled me. However, while I can tolerate the cigarette smoking ... the cigar smoking makes me feel nauseated and its difficult to eat when someone is next to you puffing away on their cigar.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
5/31/2008 First to Review
Large bar with an interesting and eclectic menu and a HUGE beer menu. They have hundreds of beers… Read more »
As a bar this place is fantastic. As a bar and restaurant it needs improvement.
Any place that has a wall full of beer taps is awesome and when it has a great selection and great service - it becomes my favorite.
We had a trainee as our waitress (Leslie, I think her name was). She was great - I was surprised at how attentive the wait staff was considering the place was full. The girl who was training Leslie was equally attentive and pleasant. Hopefully the level of service is a norm and not a fluke.
The beer selection is great, although I would love to see more asian beers and couple German/Austrain ones like Lowenbrau, Hofbrau and Steigl on the list.
The place has a cool decor and comfy booths to sit in. It also has outdoor seating if you're one of those who likes to bake while they drink.
The food needs to get better but I will say that it is an innovative menu for a bar and their pretzels were awesome. I also had their beer soup in a bread bowl and that was great as well. The bread itself isn't spectacular but the soup was very tasty.
And on Wednesdays they do a keep the glass thing, where you can get the beer they have for that day with its own glass and keep the glass.
All in all, a good place to go for great beers served by efficient waitresses.
The Flying Saucer is the TOPS! You have to get in the UFO club the first time you go. It's $14 and you'll receive your very own Flying Saucer T-shirt and magnet!!! Yay! Who doesn't like free stuff?? You swipe your card every time to keep track of the beers you drink.. you're supposed to try every one.
There's trading glasses, too. This place is great, huh?? For all adults who want to be a kid again- I'll trade some of my Flying Saucer glasses with you.. I'm trying to collect them all. ;)
There's tons and tons of beers on tap- and for pretty cheep. You seriously have to check it out for yourself!
As a place to try a new brew, the Flying Saucer is probably as good as you're going to get in most towns. But, if you're fortunate to live near a decent local brewery or brewpub, you'd be better off sampling their fare than wading into this Applebees of a bar. Great beer selection; decent service; atmosphere feels like they tried to cram the entire British Isles into a space next to Kinkos.
I have just recently started loving beer. It took me a while to gain an appreciation for it, but now that I have I have been looking for places that can offer a unique beer drinking experience. I have to say that this place definitely gives you that. It's a real bar with lots of beers to choose from both well known brands, and more obscure ones. Very friendly place and everyone is more than willing to offer suggestions as to which beers to try. Plus plenty of deal nights and specials to keep you from going broke. There are also lots of fun gimmicky deal and theme nights which just makes for a fun time if you want to participate.
