This place is underrated. Went in a bit underwhelmed but I learned so much from the tour guide and…read morebecame a lot more impressed by the end of it. They have a whole library of alcohol with all their different flavor testing and experiments and it's really run by a tight knit group. The alcohols I tried were punchy and unique, and the ambiance grew on me. Definitely going to go back and try out their cocktail Fridays!

Gin is my favorite spirit, but before doing a tour with Still 630, I had never tried it neat. Now,…read morethanks to visiting this place, I only want to drink my gin straight up. And by the way, the gin they're making here is amazing. They have a few different gins, but my favorite was Volstead's Folly, which is juniper forward with a bit of pine. I love a good botanical gin, and this one was perfect. Another spirit that stood out that I tried was the Big Jake, which is a whiskey with natural coffee flavors in it. I had never tried anything like that before! I don't know if I could down a shot of it, but I could see this being a good addition to an espresso-flavored cocktail. Anyway, the tasting portion of the tour was my favorite, of course. We got to taste three different spirits of our choosing. But we also got to see the small distillery, and we were taken to the back where the barrels were. There's not a whole lot to see because Still 630 is a small operation. But the owner was friendly and funny, so he made the tour well worth the trip.

If you go to Bluestem Distillery and do not have fun, something is wrong with you. The staff is…read moresuper friendly as is the other patrons. When you come, it is one big party. Everyone mingles and gets along. Bluestem is a vodka distillery in Meadowbrook, but everyone says it's in Bethalto. It's close enough, to count. The distillery is located in an industrial type building, but once you enter through their door it is as if you are Dorthy stepping out of your house in Munchkin land. The difference is like going from Black & White to Color. They've redecorated the inside with amazing lighting and big screen televisions. The bar has been expanded and resurfaced. They have a variety of signature cocktails, but I am a creature of habit. When I am at a vodka distillery, I have to enjoy a Martini. Stephanie the bartender, who is also one of the owners with her husband made me a fabulous one. She made it skate and served it with Bleu Cheese Stuffed Olives. It was so refreshing, I had to have two. In addition to the vodka, Bluestem also makes a gin and a coffee liqueur called, Early Warning. EW is made with Bluestem vodka and Old Judge coffee. Old Judge has been roasted in STL, since 1858. It truly is a local brand. Bluestem will be celebrating 10 years in April of this year. That will be one celebration, I do not want to miss. The distillery is dog friendly. So bring your well behaved four legged friend. When: February 14, 2026 Why: Valentine's Day - Celebrating with a friend.

My rating is for the rumor I'm hearing about discontinuing the "specialty" cocktails! Bartender is…read moreamazing with many of his drink recipes. It's what I go for. I hear that is going to stop and orders must be made from the posted menu. Such a shame. I truly hope this doesn't happen!

came here to get a locally distilled liquor, specifically their greenway goods bourbon. i actually…read morebought this as a gift and thus never got the opportunity to try it, but i will say that the bottle was very nice looking so the presentation was good. This place actually seemed pretty empty when i arrived. i think the person managing the place was giving a tour at the time, so if that happens to you i'd recommend just poking around and trying to see if you can find anyone working here. there is parking and they accept card payment so that was also helpful

Super fun tour!! I learned a lot about how the spirits are made and the history of this particular…read moredistillery. This space is really neat and you can tell how much love and passion people put into it. Our tour guide was really nice and funny, pretty casual but also very knowledgeable. We got to sample different spirits and everything was awesome.

I think we've now experienced all the aspects of this fine establishment: the beer, the whiskey,…read morethe food, and the overnight accommodations! I highly recommend all of the above. We recently got a room at the Red Rooster; booking online was easy and prices were reasonable. We were in town on Christmas Day, so the bar (brewery, distillery, restaurant) was closed. We didn't see any staff; we had a key code for the building and for our room. Our room was upstairs, and a couple of staircases were available (I don't recall whether there's an elevator). Everything was clean and cozy. After going out for the night, we thought we'd enjoy the lounge area and game room, but the game room wasn't accessible (turns out it's part of the bar). The lounge space was available; there weren't a lot of lights on except for those on the Christmas tree and other decorations, which was just fine for sitting a bit. Checkout the next morning was easy, and we were cheerfully greeted by staff when we came down. About the bar: on more recent visit we stopped in for dinner. Patrons were enjoying the patio and bar space; an adjoining room, game room, and loft space were also available. We took barstools and received great service there. Restaurant: Order food with your server and you'll get a text when it's ready; pick up is at the window in the game room. The 1/4 pound burger seemed to be a bit less so; it was a thin "smashed" burger with cheddar and some really good sauce, on a bun that was unnecessarily coated in butter or oil. Side salad was fresh and crispy, and house-made ranch was exceptionally good. Fries are the coated-double-fried sort, and served plenty hot. Every dish we tried was tasty. Distillery: so far all that's ready to serve is "white whiskey" -- raw unaged spirits with quite a kick! We tried it on the rocks and it was as expected; I'll wait for some aging before I have it in a cocktail, but I love that the option's available! Brewery: The beer list was impressive -- although there may be a mistake, as the Chava Wheat was marked as "gluten sensitivity friendly" (I'm pretty sure wheat is pretty gluteny!) That one--Chava Wheat--is a blood orange wheat "with a hint of raspberry" and was easily my fave. They brew several lagers and IPAs, a stout, and seasonals. This is a great one-stop for a night out, a road trip stop, or a small-town getaway for city folks! To make a longer day of it, shop Main Street, take in a show at the theater, and grab breakfast at one of the nearby cafés the next morning. Cheers!

Hundreds of Hops self-guided US Hop Passport Tour Amazing Brewery Race Stop 1 of 2 for ILLINOIS…read more We drove about 1.5hrs to hit one of the two add-on breweries for Illinois in the Hop Passport. Due to the weird Illinois laws on alcohol, they offered 10% off foid/merch in the book. The staff was unfamiliar with the passport & called overall 2nd staff person. They said it wasn't valid -discount denied. We still opted to eat & drink here. Each of us selected a beer and a dish. I went with the rooster salad, which was an excellent flavor combination & I really needed something greens! The chicken on it, however, was dry and took away from the salad - so, I took it off & enjoyed my salad without the chicken. The hubs opted for the grown-up grilled cheese and it was pretty tasty. Exactly what it sounds like. As this location probably doesn't see much in the way of the Hop Passports, it's not too shocking that they weren't aware of it. The prices were plenty reasonable enough to not feel put out by it either. The entire place is quirky, with "Easter eggs" throughout, a fun / tasty menu & an overall good vibe. It's certainly a gorgeous stop.

Love this place! Friendly staff and delicious tastings! Love the walk around fresh juice drinks…read moretoo. We will be back. Would be perfect for a bachelorette party!

We took their tour and tasting. It was very cool. The guide was extremely informative about the…read morewhole process. It was very cool. The tasting really had some diverse flavors, and put us in a position that we had no choice but to buy multiple bottles ( I mean, we did have a choice, but after the tour and tasting, we weren't leaving with out some) of the different products that they produce. Definitely recommend this to anybody that likes vodka or whiskeys. More than your money's worth.

Square One is the spot to go for a later evening bite to eat in Lafayette Square as they're open…read moreuntil 10 Mon-Th and until 11 Fri & Sat. Street parking is almost always available near the brewery or across the street by the Lafayette Square fountain. Although a brewery, they also have a full bar when you walk in with a gorgeous arch window behind. You can grab a drink while you wait for your table. Their Strawberry Fields cocktail is really good! (Strawberry Basil infused Regatta Bay Gin, St. Elder, lemon, orange bitters, club) In this case, we went for brunch! We sat on their patio and ordered Mimosas and a Bloody Mary to drink. For food, we enjoyed omelets and pancakes. The pancakes were huge! I liked that the Seafood Omelet had hollandaise sauce on top. This is a big space and you can through a glass wall in the main dining area where they brew the beer which is neat! I recommend ordering a beer flight if it's your first time here so you can try a variety of their brews. Usually the flight includes your choice of four beer selections. Service here isn't anything exceptional but nothing bad either. Expect to wait a bit if coming for brunch Saturday or Sunday.

I absolutely love the Lafayette Square neighborhood, especially Park Avenue. As you pull up near…read morethe restaurant, you can walk past the community garden. There is street parking available and a small parking lot across from the restaurant. You can enter the restaurant at the main entrance on the corner or through the garden gate to the courtyard, but you must see the hostess for a table. Entering the courtyard patio is lovely as there is some nice landscaping and water features that make it quite tranquil. There are tables of various sizes there or you can go inside where there's standard dining tables or in yet another area is the bar. It almost feels like three restaurants in one. I highly recommend sitting out in the courtyard patio if you're able to. It really is lovely. We had a group of people and our server, Kelly, was great! She took good care of us, and made recommendations. I was really impressed with the support staff who swiftly swapped out our empty water carafes for fresh, cold ones. I started with a bloody Mary with roasted garlic vodka. It was such a unique mix of flavors and I really enjoyed it. I decided for my brunch that I would have the buttermilk pancakes and scrambled eggs. I was pleasantly surprised that they offer sugar-free syrup, if you ask. My dining companions ordered the black bean breakfast and the Florentine omelet, and everyone seemed happy with their choices. I will definitely be back.

This place is Stunning!!! Finally got to attend a Wedding…read morehere!!! The drinks were Amazing with the Cocktail hour!!! I will be back to enjoy some drinks on the patio and hopefully listen to some music!!!

We enjoyed sitting at the bar, trying cocktails, and sipping Old Monroe's spirits straight up…read more Staff was helpful, but a couple of the young ladies behind the bar must still be training because they weren't prepared to answer questions about the spirits (one asked the other "what's tonic?" when reading a cocktail's ingredients.) The amount of whiskey in a pour varied greatly depending upon who served us, and it also seemed like my partner (male) always got about 25% more in his glass than I did (female). If they're low-key profiling folks and deciding how much alcohol they can handle, some of us are going to surprise them :-) The place is huge, with many seating areas and event spaces. The vibe is pretty sterile--not a lot of art on the walls, varying colors or textures, etc. Cocktails are well-balanced and well-made. We would have loved to try a few more whiskeys but several menu items were out of stock -- guess we'll have to come back again soon!

My friend heard about Naked Tiki Distilling in June and we visited for the first time last week…read more It's a small/medium space. We picked a table behind a wall. It was a little isolated from the main bar area. This is a "dark tiki" place. (Think of the Enchanted Tiki Room during the storm segment.) We liked the decorations, including the posters and records and especially the puffer fish lights over the tables. Some midcentury music played all evening. The volume was just right; I could hear my friends perfectly well. We drank 2-4 cocktails per person and these were good cocktails from a long menu. Some of the cocktails are made with the distillery's rum and I liked the flavor of it. The food menu at the establishment is more extensive than the menu I saw online. (I don't recall whether I saw that other menu on the website or a photo of it on a review.) We ordered pizza, loaded tater tots, and.... probably some meat item I didn't try. My friends liked the pizza more than I did. I thought it had too much sauce, but they commented that they liked the amount of sauce, so your take will depend on your preference there. The tots were good. Next time I hope to order a flatbread (white sauce). We ordered a couple of items modified or with questions about allergens and they were good about answering our questions and delivering as we ordered. Everyone seems to be experienced in table and bartending and know the ropes of the place. Our server was so nice. He spent a couple of minutes answering our questions towards the end of the evening. He told us about the membership program that costs $25/month and is worth it if you come at least 2x (or 1, depending on what you order, I think). I hope to return quite soon!

He stopped in on opening day. Tiki bars are right up our alley so we could not wait to see what…read morethey had in store. The inside was perfect, decked out just as I think a tiki bar should be. It's not a large space, but they managed to handle the crowd very well. Bartenders were super friendly and the drinks were very good. We had the Crab Rangoon which was plentiful and delicious. We will be back very soon!