Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

This is definitely a gemstone in downtown Memphis for the beer connoisseurs. The multitude of plates lining the walls of people who have drank at least 200 beers there prove that point. They’ve got a huge selection to satisfy any beer craving that one may have. What I love most about the Flying Saucer is the chill environment. It doesn’t have all the bedazzle and flashiness that some other downtown bars have. It is a great place just to sit and catch up with friends without loud music blaring in the background. They’ve got indoor seating and a semi enclosed part where you can have the best of both worlds – be inside a bar while still being able to interact with people walking through downtown. Of all the times I’ve been here, service has always been great, even when they are super busy. I’ve only eaten appetizers here a few times, and they were always delicious paired greatly with a cold brew (highly recommend the pretzel!)They also have flash deals every night in which a selected beer is only $ 3.50! I highly recommend you take advantage of that.

Had a great time here last night. The best part of this place is, of course, the beer selection. And the location is pretty good, as well. It’s pretty good for groups if you can secure a table. The venue is quite large, but does get packed, especially after Grizzlies games. They have a daily «fire sale» where one of their beers will be discounted ($ 3.50/pint). The food that I’ve had has been decent, but nothing to die for. I would recommend coming for a few pints of beer with friends. They have 2 dartboards, which are usually «occupied» with people standing near them talking pretending they are playing darts. If you’ve never been here, I’d recommend getting a local flight or opting for a pint of some great local beer they have on tap.

We ran in here on our way to a show at the Orpheum on a Friday night. The place was a little empty, which made me a little nervous. I’m not used to seeing a bar on a Friday night with few people. Maybe it picks up later?
I loved the fact that my teen was able to come in too (service for minors until 7)! The service was really good and food delivered fast. A huge plus again since we were on a time crunch to make the show.
I had the buffalo chicken wrap that was served with a mountain of fries, which was very good. We also splurged on the molten lava cake with raspberry sauce. The girls loved it but it was way too much chocolate for me… I know, I’m super weird. They loved it which is all that matters.

This is a fun spot to go at night for drinks. They have a massive beer list! Theres a lot of seating and the staff was friendly.

This will be the shortest Unilocal review I’ve ever written. If you want to grab a quick beer in downtown Memphis, this is your place. There are more than 200 beers on tap. The pretzels are amazing. We went with the cream cheese and queso dipping sauces. Go for the queso. The bartender was great at suggesting new beers to try, based on your preferences, and she let us know the local haunts in Memphis to check out.

It’s noisy as hell but if you like beer, you can deal. Pretzels are amazing… Get the pretzels.

Love, Love, Love this place!!! Their beer selection seems endless, yet that doesn’t stop the servers from knowing each and every detail of those beers. It ridiculous how spot on their recommendations always are! Last night our waitress brought a bunch of different little tasters to our table and it was amazing. I don’t think I have ever been to another restaurant where they are so encouraging and hospitable in that regard. Our maybe it was just our waitress, Kushan (sp?). She was on point the whole night :).
As for the food, I got the kick-​ass chicken sandwich and it was honestly embarrassing how fast I devoured it. I’ll tell ya what, it was late and I hadn’t eaten dinner… so I won’t apologize. All their sandwiches looked really good though! And they come with a whole lotta french fries. Supah filling and definitely hit the spot!

Tons of beer, both on tap and in bottles /​cans. Darts and games to play. Huge space. They have music playing in the inside, but its a shame — they have a live band out in the front space and they shut the doors off, so you can’t enjoy it while seated at the bar. You have to order your drink and then go out to the front.

They have an excellent selection of taps, and quite laid back atmosphere on a Sunday night. We sat at the bar and the bartender was good at offering information & samples. It was odd that my girlfriend and I noticed a really negative vibe from the bartender. We’ll chalk it up to maybe she had a headache or something & we would definitely return the next time we’re in Memphis.

I had the best seat in the house as I selected to seat near the edge while people watching along with a great view of downtown– I must say that they space club with the side of cold potatoes was lip smacking– The space club had hot meats including ham, turkey all smoked along with lettuce tomatoes and mayo– I’d surely recommend this place for lunch

Flying Saucer is a mecca for beer loves/​enthusiasts/​drinkers. It’s got over a 100 beers on the menu and has a great weekend vibe to it. Pool tables, long tables for your big group of friends, casual laid back atmosphere and really fantastic ambiance. Whether it is to catch up with friends or bring a date or shoot some pool or even if you’re looking to get «lively» this place is the perfect location. It’s walking distance from Beale so it already is a great place to start off your night. The waitresses are really nice and are quick with their services.
Stop by for a pint, you should.

Stopped in while killing time waiting on other half to get out of a business meeting. Bar was dead (it is Thursday afternoon) but weather was great and the wife doors were open into the open air area which gave a great breezy relaxing atmosphere. Bartender was friendly, they have a TON of beers on tap, and prices were very reasonable.
I had the nachos, which are HUGE and loaded with guac. They were delicious! Great music playing. Will definitely be back next trip to Memphis.

Monday night was my night for abysmally slow service. Was it something about the full moon? Maybe staffing is low because it’s Monday, but that’s a pretty lame excuse. We sat in the outer room and got stuck ordering behind a group of 20. Any chance management could dispatch an additional server to help the poor waitress out out? Apparently not.
To be clear, I’m a fan of the FS under normal circumstances. The beer selection is awesome, the servers are very knowledgable and friendly and the food is generally high quality for a pub. But I’m steering clear on pint night, it just isn’t worth the wait for a $ 3 draft. Sorry.

Been here many many times. Oh that stool seating area that opens up to the street? All along the perimeter? Yeah, saw a homeless guy spit in a guys food for not giving him change. Ick.
Service is good only at the bar. At a table, I’ve had the servers spill food and knock over beers. They are also just so slow to coming back around so if they forget your silverware, you might as well just get up and go find someone.
Food is just plain mediocre. Kind of cool vibes on a Fri/​Sat as long as you bring a friend/​group. Going here alone is not something I recommend. You will be sitting there staring into the bottom of your glass bored out of your goddamn mind.
I wouldn’t go back.

Despite having spent 10+ hrs off and on in the car with my sister, we still wanted to find a place where we could chill, chat, and play some pool. We weren’t looking to spend a whole lot of dough, and Beale Street wasn’t calling our names, so we found ourselves at Flying Saucer (very close to the Holiday Inn on Union where we were staying). The space is beer hall’ish and was pretty empty when we arrived, but we weren’t looking for a party.
This place is a chain, and isn’t on a must-​see list while you’re in Memphis if it’s your first and potentially only time visiting the city, but with that said I really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere, and could see it as a place I wouldn’t mind hitting up every once in a while if I lived in Memphis to start a night or have a low-​key evening downtown.
If you read any of my brewery/​brew pub reviews, I am terrible at deciding what beer to order (and will occasionally just defer to a Bloody Mary), but love a good flight since I don’t ACTUALLY have to make a decision. Their flights are $ 10 and you get 5 pours. I went with the Local Flight and my sister went with the World Flight. We split a Farmers Plate between the two of us with two cheeses, two meats, arugula, olives, almonds, mustard and crackers. They didn’t have many Saisons, but the Goose Island Sofie was a nice light beer to enjoy during a game of pool. The waitress checked on us often and was very pleasant.
Granted, this is the one and only pool table I’ve ever played on a pool table in Memphis so take that as it is. It was $ 1.50 per game and a lot of the sticks table, and balls were kinda meh BUT, I enjoyed the open-​air atmosphere, and they also had darts, lifesize beer pong, giant Jenga, etc. for people to enjoy.
Just a word to the wise, last night (June 28) the ‘squitos in Memphis were bad so regardless of where you go, get some of that nice smelling Off to keep you from getting bug pinched on a patio.
I’ve since found that Flying Saucer’s are in other cities, and wouldn’t be opposed to checking out other ones based on checking this one out!

Update from our latest set of visits. Spent large parts of the BSMF weekend here with Jenn and J9 and the regular crowd. Thanks to the staff for being real accommodating for my plate party (#4) on Sunday. They squeezed it in even though it is one of their busier times. Also a big thank you to our waitress Morgan G (?) who helped make the afternoon a great experience. She did the beer picking for Jenn and all her picks were spot on.
Still have issues with the no cigar smoking rule, it took twice as long for this plate as the previous three.

I don’t drink beer but people love this place… I guess because of the beer… and their central location downtown. They have live music occasionally, which is nice, but I always stay away if they are charging cover. Maybe it is the LA girl still in me but I don’t pay cover… ever (which incidentally is why I haven’t been to Raiford’s in forever).
It is great for people watching, especially if you sit facing outside by the open window. And if you’re looking to flirt, this is definitely your place… but there is undoubtedly a type of person who goes here… and I don’t want to flirt with those type of people. Yeah, I have no idea what that means either.
Anyways, great place to catch a drink, people watch, and flirt… especially before (or after) a Grizz game or to kick the night off.

Awwwesome!!! I had an absolute blast tonight was trivia night tonight was my first time patronizing The Flying Saucer and I truly enjoyed myself the waitress did an amazing job she had great knowledge of the all the beers so we gave her free reign to pick for us and she was excited to guide us through I had fun…

The goofy name of this establishment belies serious beer-​bar cred and a cool pub atmosphere. Actually it’s too large to be called a proper pub – almost cavernous, really – but otherwise they have the aesthetic nailed. I sat on a couch, for pete’s sake. They actually have a plethora of seating options throughout the several rooms, one of which contains a pool table. Of course there are TVs but those are nearly ubiquitous now; people-​watching is a better pastime here.
The draft list was certainly extensive – a veritable book of beer. There are more staid imports than I care to see, but with so many options there was plenty of local and regional micro fare, as well as nationally known craft brands. A flight is a great way to try several.

In my last review, I stated I’d really only go here with groups because I had so many bad experiences with service. Over the past couple of months, when I have gone with groups, I have had really great experiences with service (and some more bad). So, its safe to say that, some of the wait staff is friendly, attentive, and welcoming while others are just horrible. Just go and hope you get service from the handful of great waitresses that work there.
I still love their beer selection. I often get the pretzel and it’s amazing.

Les centaines d’excellentes bières, servi par des jolies filles dans des jupes très courtes, plus une zone fumeur.
C’est tout qu’un visiteur français à Memphis doit savoir.