The Crow's Nest

Popped in for a pint during the Let Them Eat Art event last Friday night.  We did not order any food or stay long....simply passing through as we jumped from venue to venue in the neighborhood.

The layout and interior immediately made me feel like I was in a place I could grow to enjoy.  They have Stag on tap for a whopping $2.50.  You can't beat that.  They actually had a nice selection of tap and bottled beers, which will always win points in my heart.  Our server was super nice and funny so no qualms there.  

At any rate - will have to pop in again and perhaps sample the food menu.  It is certainly a place that appears to have potential.

A great hole in the wall,  with very pleasant service.  I've been several times and am always satisfied if not very pleased.   I've done brunch,  and dinner,  light snacking, and just sit on my ass casual drinking on the back patio.  I find myself in a quandary, because I want the place to do well,  but I don't want it crowded.  at the same time,  I don't want it to go away.  it's maplewood's little secret for small restaurant/bars.

Kung Fu movies playing on the wall inside,  and MC5 or Iggy Pop or the like quietly piped in for some avant garde ambience.

Food is always good,  from french toast to frog legs,  Meatloaf sliders to Waffle fries,  you can't screw up.  plus they have my favorite beer - La Fin Du Monde,  as well as a healthy selection of things besides the run of the mill AB products.

went again last night,  and actually pondered, "why is the service and food better here than some of the 'higher class' establishments?"

When this place first opened I was ecstatic!  I thought I had found my new bar in Maplewood!  As I had just moved back to St. Louis after 7 years in the mystical realm of Portlandia, it gave me a homesick vibe of PDX, but with just enough touch of STL that I felt I had found my niche!

The films that were shown, the records that were played, the ambiance and the really varied food selection was amazing!  Oh, and the beer!  A large tap selection, but still had my Busch in bottles for my whisky beerback!

Alas, something changed.  It almost became too self-referential and anti-STL vibe, instead of embracing the Keep St. Louis Weird it became a farcical version of the Hipster Hideout.  The bartenders and waitresses became snarly to the point of pissing me off and the outright lack of connection has turned me off of what was to be a gem of a place.

A case in point-  Now, I don't consider myself to be too much of a hipster, I mean I have Ray Bans but I wear overalls and I have friends who are not at the least "hipster".  I took a good friend of mine, a nice Christian woman who is over 45 and still likes her Michelob Ultra, to The Crows Nest.  Yes, she isn't the stereotypical customer for them, but she is a paying one, so you would hope her experience wouldn't be so different.  We didn't have table service and their kitchen had closed (even though it was only 8pm) so my friend saddled to the bar and waited... and waited... she flagged the bartender who nodded and returned to his phone (it wasn't busy- which is why I assumed they closed food so early) finally she got to order and he literally said "Really?  Michelob Ultra?"  My kind friend laughed it off as if it was a joke but I was SEETHING-  and I vowed to never come back.  

I walk by occasionally and look inside with longing... I want it to be the place I first went into- but I guess I will just have to settle for somewhere else.