TL; DR: Â A reprehensible establishment. Â My least favorite bar in Columbia, and I've been to Bey's. Â Out of town folks should avoid this place. Â Everyone should avoid this place. Â What follows ain't pretty.
I have regrettably been to the Columbia Flying Saucer over 40 times in the past several years, usually dragged along by friends, but not only has the experience been getting worse (if possible), this particular Flying Saucer shows zero signs of changing their ways, or even recognizing that their ways suck.
The 'atmosphere' is wretched. Â A huge box of a room designed to pack 'em in, absurdly loud at peak times, with a few idiot boxes and a projector screen showing the latest sports game. Â The bathroom has one sink and too few urinals, and is often out of the essentials. Â The porch is often filled with the polo-shirt wearing, shorts + sandals, 'Cocks' hat smoking set. Â If that's you, go for it.
The service, as called, could hardly be more incompetent if it tried. Â Every day is training day. Â I have frequently been given the obvious wrong beer, been charged for the wrong beer, been charged for beers I haven't ordered, been given a roll-eyes and the excuse of 'it's supposed to be dark, it's high gravity' when given the wrong beer, been given beer I haven't ordered, received beers that were a third foam in the glass or 2 inches low... I could go on. Â Unless you sit at the bar, you must wait 5, 10, sometimes 15 minutes for a 21 year old server sporting the pandering mini-skirt / tight shirt combo and an IQ as low as her neckline to wander over. THEN you get to place your beer order and settle in for the 5, 10, 15 minute wait for it to appear. Â Pray to Saint Gambrinus they get your order correct, or else you get to do it all over again. Â They should tip ME for having to sit through this idiocy.
The credit card payment system at this Flying Saucer seems to go AWOL frequently. Â The last time, my girlfriend was told to 'write your credit card number down on this sheet of paper and we'll charge it when it comes back up'. Â Ah, no. Â Absolutely not. Â There's a thing called a Square reader, which is free, and which I recommend to any bar to have as a backup.
The beer, ahh yes. Â The selection IS large, but, as all my exes will happily tell you, large does not equal impressive. Â A good third to half the 80 taps are beers no craft lover would ever order unless desperate ("Why yes, I would love to pay $6 for a cheater pint of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale!") and while promising and even fine beers do appear from time to time, it's up to blind luck if they will be served properly, at the right temp, in the right glassware, through clean lines. Â I regret to inform you that Flying Saucer does NOT clean their own beer lines, but leaves that up to the distributor of the beer. Â Better hope the Allagash rep has been by recently...
The food is, as expected, severely mediocre and overpriced.  If you must venture here, hit up  5 Guys next door beforehand.  Or, ignore my advice and pay $7 for two frozen pretzels.  Your call. Â
Really, it all comes down to the service. Â If I'm going to pay a premium at a bar for a beer, I'm paying for the atmosphere, the service, and to be with my friends somewhere cooler than my own house. Â Flying Saucer caters to the sexist, immature set who wouldn't know good service if they caught it in bed with their mother, and woe betide anyone expecting a fine beer bar experience who comes through these doors.
The last straw, for me, was when a minion at Flying Saucer posted a "Just Landed" beer post to their Facebook wall, alongside a picture of a fatal plane crash from Columbia. (Travis Barker) Â This should tell you all you need to know about the level of class at Columbia Flying Saucer. Â This is a blight on the craft beer scene and is desperately in need of new management, perspective, and attitude. Â
But it's not ALL bad. They do have a cool chalkboard Yoda drawn above the taps.
This is one of my favorite places to get a beer in Columbia because of the large beer selection. It is particularly good if you are in the mood to try a variety of different beers and are willing to branch out. The bartenders (for the most part) know what they are doing and the beer is not overpriced.
They have a variety of events throughout the week (like $3 pint nights or rare keg nights) and they have a fire sale beer that changes "daily" (fire sale: a pint of beer that's $3 for that day/night). There is outdoor seating available that is covered if it is cold or rainy and gives the bar a feeling of variety.
Now I should probably mention the waitresses. I've seen some other reviewers describe them as Hooteresque and the like and I've certainly heard of jealous girlfriends/wives being quite annoyed by their attire. Certainly I will say the intent here is to make the place seem "fun" and "interesting" for their largely male crowd but it is tactlessly clear they (the business I mean) are attempting (oftentimes successfully) to manipulate reproductive psychology to squeeze out money from the dunces (you didn't fool me though :P). The waitresses and many of the female bartenders are clad in rather tight shirts and short skirts and are virtually all young and attractive. This works to their favor for tips I'm sure. As waitresses, however, they are very attentive and usually personable. I haven't had a bad experience with their friendliness, helpfulness, speed and attentiveness which is saying a lot considering how often I used to go there (and how bad the restaurant/bar service in Columbia typically is). Many of the waitresses (and almost all of the bartenders of both genders) are knowledgeable about different beers and can give fairly good recommendations. I would probably avoid bringing your significant other if she tends towards jealousy although I have brought several female friends and otherwise who didn't seem bothered by it.
The food is meh and that's why its only 4 stars but I hear its a pretty good lunch place (I've only been for dinner). The restaurant itself is mostly clean depending on the number of people there. There are a variety of seating options: bar, tables, booths, and sofas. There are some arcade games and a dart board as well.
5 of us went to have quick supper. Ordered drinks & food. It took awhile then waitress came and said they were out of potatoe salad. Really? On Sunday  are u kidding? So fries we got! Never got drink refills either. It's like she disappeared! Then took what seemed like forever to get our food. Everyone has to go back to work to we wolfed down our food. and quite frankly it wasn't all that great. The best was the pretzel for appetizer. We have defiantly had better service n food at other Flying Saucers.  As we left we found out the cook and waitress were arguing...  We all felt very disrespected. No tip involved..
Review Source:The degradation of the women wait-staff is embarrassing. I'd like to say that their outfits are "cute" or "fun" but they aren't, they are exploitative and irritating. I'm not a promoter of eating at Hooters for the same reason and The Flying Saucer isn't going to garner any more respect just because they have a beer selection. No thanks.
Review Source:i was a big fan of this place. It has a massive beer selection. comparable to places in Manhattan like the ginger man. the food selection is great. it is along the lines of a typical beer hall with a few extras. which if that is what your are looking for (and should be) then this is the place for you.
Review Source:If you're a beer lover, this is heaven for you. They have a very extensive list of beers from all around the world and many saucers around the place. Like any bar place, there are TVs. They had I think two large big screens and when I was there visiting, there was a major football game going on so it's a great place to bring a group of friends to watch any sport event.
The prices are reasonable and from what my friends tell me, once you try all their beers, you get some sort of memorabilia. Being from out of town, I didn't opt in but I think that's a neat idea to drink more beer, lol. Service was attentive and all the servers (mainly all females) had skimpy outfits so I felt like I was at a Hooters.
I've been to Flying Saucer a number of times and after having dinner there tonight finally got around to writing a review!
Here are a couple of good food choices: Â The Spinach & Artichoke Dip is a hit. Â Their Goat Cheese salad is mouthwatering. Â LOVE their soft pretzels with the cream cheese and chive spread, delicious! Â The Tostadas & Queso dip will also not disappoint. Â
They have a very wide beer selection as other yelpers have already pointed out. Â I'm not a big beer drinker so I don't have an opinion on what to order but I have had some of their wine and everything I've had has been pretty good.
They have trivia night on Tuesdays and they're usually a blast. Â If you stick around until 9:00 they switch to "Adult" trivia and it gets more interesting. Â
Flying Saucer is a casual and fun space with good food and drink, friendly service, and a laid back vibe. Â One of the better downtown venues imo.
I am a card carrying, flag waving beer aficionado. Â I travel all over this country every week and I use the Yelp Mobile App to seek out cool beer spots. Â So I'm Columbia for two or three days and spotted the four stars rating right away.
I walk in around happy hour and if you had seen me you would have laughed out loud. Â I'm in this beautiful old building with a huge covered patio and I'm staring at a wall with 76 taps. Â I had to wipe the drool off my chin. Â It was definitely love at first site.
The beer list is impressive. Â Some others have commented that they would like to see more high-end choices. Â I would agree. Â Some folks have complained about warm beer. Â I would agree. Some of my choices were nice and cold and some were inappropriately warm. Â My service was excellent. Â Regarding food; I tried the Reuben-esque sandwich for $8.29. Â The sandwich was great and the jalapeno-kraut on it was fantastic.
Much has been said about the Tilted-Kilt style skirts the waitresses wear. Â I love a pretty girl in a short skirt but the kilt style is just wrong for this place. Â The owners need to rethink this.
Overall this was a four star experience for me and I would return in a heartbeat!
I have visited this place several times. Â My experience yesterday brought this place down two stars. Â They have a five star selection of beer, but they are lacking in other places. Â
I realize some beers are better served warm, but many are not. Â It is a tragedy that a place that serves so many great beers doesn't offer chilled glasses.
The food was truly a disappointment too.  I narrowed  my food selection down to three  choices and the server said definitely the hamburger.  The condiments and buns were fine but the hamburger was awful.  This is my only time eating here, so they may do better with other entrées.
Overall, I will visit again because of the great beer selection.
Love pint night here. Always great local beer options as well as all sorts of imports and non-local craft beer. Cool, relaxed atmosphere, but service is hit or miss. The food tastes ok, but I once got sick after eating here and a friend has as well.
Drink beer on Mondays and stick with the pretzels if you're absolutely starving.
The service is a little slow.
The chicken quesadilla is great!
Decent beer selection but really not enough high end choices. Â Kind of limited.
The beer is expensive... by expensive I mean like my average bill going there is $90+ for just two people. Â I want to say a bud light is like $4+ maybe. Â I've overdrafted my checking account countless times because I go there and underestimate how inordinately expensive there to just have a few beers. Â One time I couldn't buy my cat a new litterbox for 2 days until I got paid because I went to flying saucer for "just a couple of beers" and walked out with a $200 tab.
Such a fantastic place! I work for a brewery and it was really amazing to find such a gem in the middle of the bible belt. The staff were totally helpful and gave me time to geek out over all the taps. Our server was fantastic, didn't rush my Mom and I or pressure us into anything.
Safe to say, I will recommend this to anyone traveling to Columbia, or to that coast in general.
I knocked one star off for my entree, not the best. Also, when it started to POUR rain, I was rained on INSIDE. Haha, charm of the old building, I suppose. We just moved booths... Totally fine!
Good for sitting out on the patio on a nice day, and it's dog-friendly too!
We love to bring our pooch here and chill on the patio with a couple beers. Â The selection is great. Â Prices are about what you would expect at a beer specialty place: Â not cheap, but they won't break the bank either. Â Some of the food items are really good, and some are so-so. Â I've never been too impressed with the sandwiches, but other items on the menu are great. Â My favorites are Rocket Tots, Goat Cheese Salad, Pretzel with cheese dip, and the German sausage plate (the German potato salad that comes with it is excellent!!). Â The pretzels are better than any I've had before... very soft, buttery, and salty.
I've been going to the Saucer for about 6 years now and the service has had it's ups and downs. Â They don't seem to plan too well for big events. Â We went there before a concert one night and the place was completely packed but our apologetic server said they were on a skeleton crew and they were doing the best they could. Â Note to the management: Â When there's a major concert on the same night as a major USC game, chances are you will need all the help you can get.
Overall though the service is acceptable at worst and really good at best. Â The past few times we've gone, we've been very pleased with the service, but there have been a few "off" times too. Â Of course, if you're a guy it's a bit easier to forgive the occasional mediocre service considering the scenery.
The best time to go is mid afternoon when it's nice out and not crowded.
Best veggie burger I've ever had! And that's pretty tough to do as I am a picky vegetarian. I was visiting the area for 11 days and insisted that we go here 3x so I could have it! My boyfriend also really loved the Reuben. The beer selection is ridiculous but since I was just visiting, I skipped out on the UFO club and did a few "flights" where they give you 5 beers from a specific region. Definitely need to get back here ASAP.
Review Source:Very cool location for beer drinkers, which I am not. Â However, I did try one of their cider mixed drinks (Hummingbird H2O?) and it was pretty good. Â I figured I had to try something since they had such a large selection.
As for food, I ordered the bratzel and hippie hollow with chicken. Â The bratzel is their delicious pretzel covered in cheese and green onions. Â It also comes with pieces of bratwurst, but they were very small and minimal. Â The flavor of the bratwurst was also kind of bland. Â The spicy mustard that accompanies the bratzel will clear your sinuses if you're not used to it or have a bit too much in one bite. Â The hippie hollow is a pita with hummus, lettuce, and tomato. Â You have to request chicken. Â It was a decent pita sandwich, but not the best I've had. Â It probably wouldn't have tasted like much without the added chicken. Â The fries that it came with were also subpar. Â Most of them were really hard and inedible.
The service was excellent considering with had about 15+ in our party. Â Most of our food and drinks came out in a timely manner and the waitress was really friendly. Â If you're going to come here, come for the beer. Â You can have a better meal elsewhere.
What a great bar! Â We walked in looking for a place to hang out for a few hours after dinner and were very pleasantly surprised. Â They have an absolutely amazing selection of beers and mixed the custom cocktails perfectly (according to those in the group that had them). Â
There was lots of room  when we arrived so there were no seating issues.  One of the best parts of the evening was the adult (let's leave it at that) trivia.  What a blast!
The food was good but not great. Â Solid bar food though.
Are we to believe that men enjoy a large variety of beer served by women in pleated, plaid skirts? Â If you're one of those guys, this place will be much more enjoyable if you don't bring the sand to the beach...if you catch my drift. Â I've seen music here and even watched Wesley Clark campaign for president here. Â They really keep things moving at the Saucer. Â The beer selection is nice. The prices aren't exactly cheap...but what would you expect?
The food is...wait...what?...they have food? Â Who the hell comes here to eat?
Try: Â Maintaining eye-contact with your wife/girlfriend if you decided to bring the sand to the beach anyhow
Avoid: Doing all your drinking here...unless you love huge bar tabs
Beer to try: Â Corsendonk (Any they have)
Whoever came up with the concept behind the Flying Saucer is a genius.
First off, they have about 120 beers on tap. There is a "beer club" that you join where they track the different types of beer you try at the restaurant. Once you hit a certain number (80 types I believe), you are given a plate with your name on it to put on the wall, then given a $100 bar tab to party for one night with friends and what not. Then you start over and try to reach the next level by consuming another set amount of different beers in which you get another plate, party, etc.
Pure genius.
I was eating dinner with a local who comes in there often (he had his own plate) and he said he knows people that come in there ALL the time just because they are obsessed with "leveling up". He said the amount of money he spends in that place is ridiculous, and at the average price of $7-10 a pint, I can only imagine.
Next thing you know, they are going to figure out a way to have people battle with their plates such as with Pokemon. THEN I'll be on board :)
I miss flying saucer!! I haven't found a bar quite like it in the bay area (well 99 Bottles of Beers in Santa Cruz is the closest I've found)
You could always find me on a Tuesday night around 10pm for the Adult Trivia! We even won a few times...love love love the beer selection...almost too many to make a decision on...and you can't beat the $2.75 specials...oh how i miss you Flying Saucer :(
Triple B! -Best Beer Bar- It Has To Be!
Can you say BEER? Cool place inside and out! Nice upscale, casual atmosphere. Huge selection of beer, super nice people- You can't go wrong here! Even if you are just a casual beer drinker, or not even a beer drinker at all, you would be comfortable here!
The restaurant is bigger than it looks from the outside, big covered patio out front, plenty of seating inside. Ambiance is casual and comfortable! a place you could spend hours chit chatting and sipping...Nice big bar and plenty of tables.
They have two menus- one for food and one for "da beer" The beer menu is very well organized- it explains the different kinds of brews. They also have a "fire sale" brew of the day? for three dollars- the nice waitress lady started us off with a sample of this while we perused the extensive selections set before us :):):)
The food menu is jam packed full of good stuff- Â I wanted something spicy so I opted for the good ole American standby- Nachos! This went well with my Abita Purple Haze Beer-
"Abita Purple haze is an American-style wheat lager with raspberry puree added post-filtration. The beer pours a deep golden color with a purple "haze" and sudsy white head with a delicately sweet raspberry nose. This beer is a quenching, semi-dry wheat lager with a tart touch of raspberry in the background." Â
I tell ya any kind of beer you want or can imagine you can probably find here! I finished up with a Guinness Stout- Life's Good!
My wife ordered a turkey burger with jalapeno pesto mayo, red onion, lettuce, and tomato. She said, and I have to agree, it was one of the best burgers she has had in a long time! It was very good!
Definitely will go back! They have some Bratwurst and soft pretzels that are waiting for me!
This is a must try!
I'm going to be temporarily relocating to Columbia for a while, and I can see myself going back to Flying Saucer over and over again.
I love beer, but I'm also admittedly a bit of a beer snob, so Flying Saucer is absolutely my cup of tea (or pint of beer, if you like). The artichoke dip and Sheboygan side by side were delicious (oh, that wonderful spicy mustard!), and $2.75 pint night made my three already wonderful beers even more satisfying.
Inside, it's a little noisy, but the plush booths still make for a comfortable way to enjoy the night, and while our waitress did sometimes seem to blaze past at near the speed of sound, she was always very attentive when we wanted something. Overall, an excellent night. I'll be back.
I like this place for the atmosphere. The beer selection is great, but you can get that in some other places.
They can't really get credit for the beer being awesome. That's like saying the bottled water somewhere is really good. The liquor side of things is a bit pricey. They also refuse to split shots which is really obnoxious.
The food is very hit or miss. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's awful. I had beer cheese soup here one night that had HUGE chunks of corn starch in it. Boo.
The girls in plaid mini skirts is humorous. Must have been meant to be a "man's man" bar, but didn't end up that way, and the mini skirts just stayed.
This is not my favorite saucer. I'm making my way to all of them and this ranks smack dab in the middle in terms of service, quality and cleanliness.
the bartender was new and had no idea where anything was or if they were out of something. I know she's new so it's not he fault but it would have been nice if they provided her some help until she was more familiar with the selection and location of the beers.
The beer machine prints so slowly you'd think it was running on a DOS system (not the "Disk Operating System", but the IBM mainframe operating system of the 1960s). SLOW!
the beers were a good variety of local, domestic and international. A better selection than all the Saucers in Texas.
The women's bathroom is a disaster. Dirty, toilet paper dispenser ripped off the wall and sitting upside down on the floor, etc. And unfortunately, drinking lots of beer means I had to enter this room. I might have preferred a gas station bathroom
This is a fun place to go drinking when you are in town.
I first went to the one in Nashville, loved it, and I had to try this one.
Great waitress.
Great beer selection.
Great environment.
I was also lucky enough to go on a Thursday when they had $2 staff choice beers.
I was also lucky because it was IPA night.
I can't wait to come back and bring someone who has never been.
If I were a guy this place would get five stars, because then I'd be able to forgive our waitress, who wasn't stellar at her job but did have on a very short skirt. Â I guess they try to cater to the "let's have a guys night" crowd, because this bar was kind of a sausage fest.
Flying Saucer is the first place I've visited in my almost-a-week in Columbia that I've really liked and would go back to. Â This is a bar for beer lovers. Â They have dozens of taps and even more bottles, and the food is good, too. Â The tots came with a spicy sour cream dipping sauce that was awesome. Â I had a goat cheese salad that was also pretty good. Â The menu focuses on the beer and how to pair it with food, and they have a nice little cheese section if you're really serious.
2 blocks from my office and me and the guys eat there once a month or so. I also frequent it at night when my friend's 80's cover band plays on Saturday nights. 200ish beers 60 or so on tap from all over the world. The  service is great for lunch but a bit sluggish at night, but most due to the fact that there are so many people. The Beer Cheese soup is great. The Buffalo Chicken Wrap is solid as well. I would steer clear of the brats though. Just not up to par if you ask me. Beer sampler platters are pretty damn cool though. You can sit outside on picnic tables, inside on leather couches, tables,  big leather booths or at the bar. The "Beer Goddesses" are young, smart, pretty and quite funny. Just don't try to date them, my buddy learned that the hard way ;)
Great place for guys, large groups, or anyone who likes beer.
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