328 West Morgan Street
Downtown Raleigh, NC
Grub: $5-8
http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/raleigh
We hit The Flying Saucer with a couple of my husband's coworkers. I'd heard of it often, so was curious to try it out. It's one of several in the southeast region and is definitely a place designed to bring friends together for drinking and hanging out. It fully succeeds in doing just that.
I love walking into a restaurant that drips with personality, even ones that require their waitresses to wear tiny plaid skirts with boots and stockings pulled high.
There's a comfy living room set-up in the front with leather couches that amazingly don't come across as dirty like most furniture does in restaurants and coffeeshops. You can eat up there if you'd like or grab yourself one of the wooden tables or booths throughout the main dining room. An appealing patio is also available but it's still a bit too cold for that here. The walls are mustard yellow and covered with various saucers and plates, including the ones awarded to those brave souls that drink 199 beers or more and get to leave a victory quote for posterity. My college town of Santa Cruz has a similar concept at 99 bottles, but as theirs is a lesser challenge, they opt for small plaques on the wall instead.
The menu is designed to keep people chatting and drinking with recommended beer pairings for their pick-your-own cheese plates, appetizers, sandwiches, and salads. There's no rush to eat all at once; you can take as long as you want here. Not being a beer-drinker, I decided to try a barley wine that I found on their extensive beer menu. Lo and behold, I can drink them! Though not two bottles worth, I don't know how you beer drinkers can drink so much of the stuff and not feel like you need to be rolled away like Violet Beauregarde after a gum-chewing binge.
The cheese plates come with almonds, apples, olive tapenade, crackers, crostini, and spicy mustard in addition to whatever meats and cheese you choose. We also tried the bratwurst nachos that were served like the ones at Chili's, with individual chips weighed down with all the toppings. I'm not a fan of that style and the bratwurst just doesn't taste right on nachos but the Rocket Tots were great! They're a cross between tater tots and jalapeno poppers without all the oozing cream cheese that's standard in those. Instead, the cream cheese is in dip form on the side, a revolutionary idea, I tell you.
As a place to while away the hours on a weeknight with friends, The Flying Saucer is a great bet. And for these prices, the food stands up to the challenge of sustaining you through a few rounds.
5 stars
Most of my posts on nightlife feature a specific cocktail that I’ve enjoyed rather than focusing on the atmosphere of the bar, club, or wine bar that I’m patronizing. Largely, that’s because I care more about what’s in my glass than I do what’s playing on the speakers. However, I am far more likely to enjoy neighborhood dive bars and wine bars than I am a club or anywhere with loud music. I’ll still give the latter a try, and if the beverages are inventive and fun, I’ll be back no matter the soundtrack!