The 10 Best 3 a.m. Bars in St. Louis

Atomic Cowboy
(4140 Manchester Avenue, 314-775-0775)

Atomic Cowboy is more of an entertainment complex than simply a bar. The Grove mainstay has expanded and grown continuously since it opened fourteen years ago, with a dining area, a dance floor, a companion venue (the neighboring Bootleg) and a sprawling patio with its own bar and stage as well. Atomic is known for its regular live music and events, its kitchen churning out some of the tastiest burgers in town and a drink program sure to please your taste buds, regardless of the late hour.

Photo credit: Ryan Gines

In all, it can make for a wild scene. "I'm not a restaurateur, I'm a ringmaster," owner Chip Schloss memorably told RFT a few years back. "We're in the circus business here. If people walk out of the doors, shake their heads and ask what just happened, then I know they are likely to come back." That must explain why the place always seems to be packed.

Photo credit: Ryan Gines

BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups
(700 South Broadway, 314-436-5222)

There are 3 a.m. bars, and then there are 3 a.m. institutions. BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups is decidedly the latter. One of the oldest blues bars in the St. Louis area, the downtown bar keeps the live music (and the drinks, naturally) flowing well into the early morning hours, with a packed concert calendar bringing bands to its small stage every night of the week.

Photo credit: Ryan Gines

Some of St. Louis' finest blues, jazz and soul musicians frequent that stage — marquee names like Kim Massie, Roland Johnson and Marquise Knox, to name a few — and since the much-lamented closing of its like-minded neighbor, Beale on Broadway, in January that roster has only grown. Beale's closing may have put an end to the storied downtown Broadway "blues triangle" of yore, but the blues is alive and well within the walls of BB's.

Photo credit: Ryan Gines

DB's Sports Bar
(1615 South Broadway, 314-588-2141)

If a fourteen-year-old boy deep in the throes of pubescence were to design his ideal tavern, it would probably look a whole lot like DB's Sports Bar. Nailed all over the walls and even the ceiling, skateboard decks and snowboards form an important part of the decor. A bevy of flatscreen TVs (eight behind the bar alone) make it possible to watch pretty much every game or sporting event simultaneously. And best of all for the young and horny, the female staff members have a habit of wearing nothing but bikinis as they serve drinks.

Photo credit: Ryan Gines

Predictably, the bar's clientele is mostly male, but thankfully the vibe is more playful and fun than seedy or sleazy, as might be expected from one of the clubs on the east side. (Plus you don't have to go to Illinois — a big plus.) Just don't have too much fun, or you might earn yourself the dubious honor of "Drunk Fuck of the Month," complete with your photo displayed on the wall and framed with a toilet seat. Sure it's juvenile — but nobody does juvenile quite like DB's.

Photo credit: Ryan Gines

Flamingo Bowl
(1117 Washington Avenue, 314-436-6666)

Perhaps the best part about bowling is that it is one of the only sports for which alcohol can reasonably be called a performance-enhancing drug. Something about six or seven or fifteen beers just makes it so much easier to whip a fourteen-pound orb down the lane and act like it was all skill, not sheer luck, when that ball actually strikes the pins. It stands to reason, then, that a bowling alley that's open until 3 a.m. would be packed with the finest bowlers in all the land.

Photo credit: Ryan Gines

Enter Flamingo Bowl, downtown's brightly colored, retro-chic paradise for pinheads. With a bar that serves late and a kitchen that doesn't close until 2 a.m., you'll be able to find the perfect balance of inebriation necessary to achieve true 300-club greatness. Just don't get so sloshed that you start throwing the balls overhand. They hate that.

Photo credit: Sarah Rusnak

Gramophone
(4243 Manchester Avenue, 314-531-5700)

No, you're not drunk — well, maybe you are; this is a bar, after all. But there are indeed horrifying monsters staring at you in the bathroom of the Gramophone. A fanged lizard-like creature with a pulsing brain stands cross-armed at the door, his five eyes trained right at you. A dual-mouthed head with eyeballs embedded in its giant hands oversees as you do your dirty bathroom business. And that triangle-shaped thing with wings and light shooting out of its head? Pretty sure it's not to be trusted either.

Photo credit: Paul Sableman / Flickr

Escape this place, filled of late with the jaw-dropping murals of truly maniacal local artist Jason Spencer, and hurry to the counter for a sandwich, surely a source of solace. The Gramophone serves some of the best in town and serves them damn late, with a kitchen that stays open nightly until 2:30 a.m. Let the bread soak up some of that alcohol you've been imbibing so you can safely stumble home, then try not to think about the fact that those terrifying creatures will obviously be pulling some Nightmare on Elm Street shit on you in your sleep tonight. Sweet dreams!

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Mangia Italiano
(3145 South Grand Blvd, 314-664-8585)

So you had one too many gin buckets at CBGB (to be fair, one is one too many) and there's no chance in hell you're ready to try to make it home, let alone call it a night. Never fear, Mangia Italiano is literally within crawling distance. For years the bar has served as a meeting place for all the denizens of South Grand who have already drank its neighboring watering holes dry, and with good reason.

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

The staff is friendly, the drinks are fairly priced and, well, that mural is a sight to behold — a years-in-progress work depicting the history of the world as seen through the eyes of eclectic self-appointed artist-in-residence Wayne St. Wayne. Sadly, Wayne passed away in January after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer, but his vision lives on at Mangia. If you haven't been in a while, consider a trip to the bar as a pilgrimage of sorts, and be sure to raise your glass to a true south-side legend.

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Rooftop Terrace at Moonrise Hotel
(6177 Delmar Boulevard, 314-721-1111)

One of the greatest dangers of a rooftop bar — especially one that stays open late — is the likelihood that drunk customers will lose their balance and topple head over heels to the ground below, spilling their drinks in the process and subsequently demanding to be comped new ones by the bartender. It's a tale as old as time. But the minds behind the terrace atop the Moonrise Hotel have found a smart way to counter this inevitability: a rail, encircling the entire space and preventing patrons from plummeting. Clever!

Photo credit: Paul Sableman / Flickr

Now, instead of worrying about the perils at the edge, customers can focus on the other good things the bar has to offer: that incredible view of the city, the world's largest man-made moon rotating overhead and the bar's award-winning cocktail program. A cozy space with mid-century modern furnishings, the bar is unfussy but refined, replete with the nostalgic charms that serve as the calling card of Loop impresario Joe Edwards' empire. Add all that to the fact you'll finally stop falling off the roof for a change and you've got yourself a sure-fire recipe for a good time.

Photo credit: Kaitlin Steinberg

Start Bar
(1000 Spruce Street, 314-376-4453)

Successfully driving a motor vehicle from point A to point B without running anyone down or hurtling off of a cliff requires a certain amount of hand-eye coordination, but thanks to all the drinks you already consumed at that last bar you shut down, you currently have none. No worries, simply stumble down to Start Bar, St. Louis' premier entry in the trendy "barcade" category of watering holes, and get to work. With its selection of pinball machines and hoop-shoot games, in addition to a plethora of classic arcade consoles (Mortal Kombat, Pac-Man, NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, etc.), Start Bar offers more than enough challenge to nudge your addled brain back into a state of competence.

href="https://www.riverfronttimes.com/musicblog/2016/07/15/first-look-start-bar-opens-its-doors-this-week-mixing-booze-and-arcade-fun" target="_blank">Natalie Rao

Or perhaps you'd rather go the other direction here and add to that addling? With a full bar complete with boozy slushies and ice cream, Start Bar will have you incapable of making it around that Cruisin' USA track in no time. Pro tip: Start Bar only stays open until 3 a.m. from Thursday through Saturday, but Thursday is also a free-play day for all machines. Be prepared to call in sick Friday morning.

Photo credit: NAME Photo credit: Natalie Rao

Mike Talayna's Juke Box Restaurant
(1115 Hampton Avenue, 314-647-7600)

Truly, there is no better time for karaoke than that hour-and-a-half stretch from 1:30 to 3 a.m. It's the sweet spot, the witching hour, the moment where all the forces in the universe align for the amateur singer. You're loose, broken in, and all that drinking you already accomplished before you got to this point has finally released your inner showman, your inhibitions washed away like so much swallowed Stag. And what better venue for the Karaoke King of St. Louis to hold court than a room that looks like it was actually designed by a sentient disco ball?

Photo credit: Google Maps

For years Mike Talayna's Juke Box Restaurant has been the city's go-to spot for mirrored mirth-making and late-night legendry. Sure, those other drunks up there may be caterwauling away, deluding themselves with the aid of alcohol into thinking they can actually carry a tune. But you're not like them. You're better. Now polish off that drink and get up there, superstar — your adoring public awaits.

Photo credit: Ryan Gines

Pop's Nightclub
(401 Monsanto Avenue, Sauget, Illinois; 618-274-6720)

Pop's Nightclub is the 3 a.m. bar's 3 a.m. bar. While the others on this list do close at some point each night, Pop's doesn't know the meaning of "bar time." Suppose the staff at DB's or Atomic Cowboy is pointing you to the door, but you're still thirsty — Pop's has you covered. Each day the bar keeps the drinks flowing for all 24 hours, save for Sunday, when they shoo the drunks out at 8:30 a.m. and lock the doors until 11 p.m. to get a little cleaning done.

Photo credit: Ryan Kelley

Late-night trips to the east side frequently fall under the umbrella of "bad ideas," but traveling across the bridge in a desperate bid for more booze when every other avenue has failed is a rite of passage in St. Louis. Plus you just can't beat that parking lot's view of the sunrise when you wake up from a drunk nap in your car.

Photo credit: Jaime Lees