September 9, 2007: Phelan’s Pub and Grill is NOT the Bar in St. Louis for Today
1730 S. 8th Street
St. Louis, MO 63104
Phone number: 314-241-8282
For more information about bars and restaurants visit www.stlstuff.com
We had a terrible experience at Phelan’s on Saturday night. Before I get into that I will tell you about the bar. Phelan’s is located in the heart of Soulard, about a block south of the famous Farmer’s Market. I have some friends that live in Soulard and I can see the place from their front door. We were there on Saturday night to watch the Cardinal’s game because they have a few small T.V.s. Inside there is a small bar, some tables to sit, a golden tee machine, and dart boards. There eight of us that went and inside there was one other person at the bar.
The night started out fine, and we were ordering beers and mixed drinks like crazy. We watched the Cardinal’s game and we were having a good time. There was a group of four of us that had all of our drinks on the same tab. When it came time to pay, the receipt was a hand written tally sheet with what we ordered. I was very skeptical of this system. The four of us, two couples, and we drank three buckets and 10 mixed drinks. The bartender brought the tab over and it said $152, when I tried to figure out what my girlfriend and myself needed to pay the bartender kept snatching the bill out of my hands and demanded payment. As I got more looks at this bill it read three buckets for $49 and 10 mixed drinks for $42. The bartender kept cussing at us and demanded that we pay $152. I said no, and that I am walking out if you don’t add that up again. The bartender went and got a calculator, added it up and the amount came to under $100. I can’t believe she tried to make us pay an extra $50. While all of this is going on she is still cussing at us and giving us the finger as she is running our credit cards. I definitely saved my receipt from this night. Needless to say she did not get any tip at all and we will not be giving that place any more business. The sad part for Phelan’s is that we would bring a big group in every other weekend or so and we would be the only ones in there all night.
If you are thinking about going to a bar in Soulard do not go to Phelan’s unless you want to get scammed and cussed at while trying to have some drinks and give the place some business.
Prices: I don’t know they tried to scam us. Don’t go to this bar.
September 20th, 2007 at 8:17 am
I spend a lot of time at Phelan’s, and I think you are WAY off the mark. I do not believe that the bartender tried to scam you; I believe she may have made a mistake and you were correct in pointing it out, but she may have been hurrying you along because she had other customers to wait on. 3 buckets and 10 mixed drinks between 4 of you means that you had about 6-8 drinks between the 4 of you. That’s a lot of attention required for just your table when there are other customers.
Methinks that you all may have been a little drunk, and perhaps rowdy, even.
Saturday nights tend to be pretty busy at Phelan’s…the bartenders all have their own little crowds of regulars, and every time there’s a wedding across the street (or a reception down the street) Phelan’s gets hit pretty hard. I don’t think they’re very worried about whether you and your little group come back at all.
September 20th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
To shed a little more light on the situation that occurred at Phelan’s that night (I was there) - it was pretty strange how it all happened. For the entire night, the waitress was pleasurable and attentive. I even talked to her for a few minutes because the bar only had 1-2 other people in it besides our party. When some of the bills came into question she just started throwing her arms up in the air and snatching paper out of people’s hands. Simple questions were not responded to and it took her a good 10 minutes to recalculate the bill. In my honest opinion I think she had popped / snorted something just before closing and understandably wanted to get us out the door. She definitely wasn’t the same person that I talked to an hour earlier.
So it looks like STLstuff has given the thumbs-down to Phelan’s but it’s nothing more than one party’s opinion based on a singular experience. I’ve been there 5+ times otherwise and this was the only poor experience. Restaurant employees are like a revolving door anyhow, chances are this lady won’t be there when you are.
We won’t be around, but no one will care. Enjoy. They have a sweet internet jukebox.