St Louis
You're flying out of St. Louis Airport, you have 90 minutes to kill, and you'd like to do better than a Pret. Good news: airport drinking has improved more in the last five years than the previous fifty. Pre-flight drinks at St. Louis Airport range from chain reliability to surprisingly polished hotel-style bars in the airport hotels. This is barsforKings's editor-curated guide to drinking better at St. Louis's airports.
Lafayette Square · $$$
St.
The Grove · $$$
Cocktail-and-tapas bar with one of the longest tequila lists in the Midwest.
Clayton · $$$
Heritage French-influenced cocktail-and-wine bar.
Cherokee Street · $$
Boutique cocktail-and-pizza bar in a converted storefront.
Want a real drink before flying? The fastest play is to get to airport hotels next door — most run polished bars that beat anything post-security. We list them at the bottom. If you've got 60 spare minutes pre-airport, see our shortlist of bars in St. Louis proper at the end.
Plays for St. Louis Airport: post-security, pre-security, lounges, and the airport-hotel cheat code.
Pre-flight drinks, hotel-bar reviews, and the openings we're watching across 200+ cities. Friday mornings, no filler.
Looking beyond St Louis? See our guide to the best airport bars worldwide, or compare airport bars city by city.