Cafe Saint-Ex sits at 1847 14th Street NW, a bar and bistro that has anchored the corridor since 2003 and takes its name and aviation theme from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the pilot who wrote The Little Prince. Upstairs is a New American dining room and bar; downstairs is Gate 54, a low-ceilinged DJ bar named for an airport gate.
Who would love it: drinkers who want a neighbourhood bar with a real kitchen above and a late DJ room below. Who would hate it: anyone after a polished cocktail-den experience, because Saint-Ex is a long-running corridor bar, not a new speakeasy.
The two floors do different jobs. The ground floor pairs a bistro menu with a bar that fills after work, while Gate 54 in the basement runs DJs and a later, darker crowd on weekends. PoPville confirmed in February 2026 that the venue is open and renovating only its first floor, which settled rumours that the long-running room had closed.
Order a cocktail or a draft upstairs and a plate from the bistro menu, then move down to Gate 54 once the DJ starts. The kitchen runs a New American list that reviewers on Yelp, where the page passed 660 reviews by May 2026, return for as much as the bar. A drink upstairs and a late set downstairs is the standard arc of a night here.
What regulars say: longtime patrons value the staying power, the patio-adjacent corridor location, and the basement DJ nights, while the common note is that the room shows its age and the kitchen can run slow on a packed weekend. It plays as a dependable neighbourhood bar more than a destination.
Best time to go: an after-work weekday for the upstairs bar, or a Friday and Saturday night when Gate 54 opens downstairs. The 14th Street address sits in the middle of the corridor near the U Street and Logan Circle nightlife, which makes Saint-Ex an easy anchor before the night spreads along the strip.
The two-in-one format is the differentiator. Few corridor bars pair a full bistro with a separate basement DJ room under the same roof, and that split is part of why Saint-Ex has lasted more than twenty years on a block that turns over fast. The aviation theme gives the rooms a clear identity that newer bars copy.
The kitchen is a real reason to come, not an afterthought. The New American menu runs mussels, burgers, and seasonal plates that reviewers on OpenTable return for, and the bar pours a list of cocktails and local drafts that fills after work. The brunch service brings a longer food menu and a slower, daytime version of the room.
The crowd changes by floor and hour. The upstairs bar draws a corridor after-work crowd early, then Gate 54 in the basement pulls a younger, later group once the DJ starts on weekends. The two rooms let the same building serve a quiet dinner and a late dance set on the same night.
For a wider 14th Street night, Saint-Ex pairs with the corridor's cocktail rooms and dining bars. It earns a place among the best cocktail bars in Washington DC and our Washington DC live music picks. Map the rest from the Washington DC bar guide, or compare it across the global cocktail bars guide.
One more note for a first visit: the upstairs dining room takes reservations while the bar and Gate 54 run on walk-ins, so the plan depends on whether dinner or the basement set is the priority. PoPville's 2026 update confirms both floors are running through the first-floor renovation.
Sources: Cafe Saint-Ex official site (2026); PoPville (February 2026); Yelp (661 reviews, updated May 2026); OpenTable; Facebook.
