Get cozy at STL's best fireside drinking spots

Nothing evokes autumn like indulging in your beverage of choice beside a roaring fire. Be it indoors by a cozy hearth or outside underneath the stars, celebrate that seasonal nip in the air with a quality libation and an open flame (not too close, mind you).

21st Street Brewers Bar
Rough-hewn wooden picnic tables and benches surround a stone pit piled high with cordwood that looks so real, I swore the fire pit was wood-burning, not gas. It makes for the perfect down-home bonfire drinking atmosphere, right in the middle of the city. Keep the chill at bay with a pint of beer from the extensive list of local brews and a hot pie from upstairs sister restaurant PW Pizza. 

Atomic Cowboy
Atomic’s ginormous back patio, complete with satellite bar, is a go-to for good times and live music. Once the temperatures drop, the space also plays host to one of the area’s premier fire pits — picture a human-sized birdcage full of flaming logs, and you’ll get the idea. Gather the tribe, order a couple pints and bask in the embers’ glow.

Fox & Hounds Tavern
Nip a smoky single-malt scotch by the glow of the rustic stone fireplace and speculate on how the other half lives. Under the gaze of a bevy of stuffed woodland critters, it’s the closest you’ll get to a legit European hunting lodge in the metro area. Relax and unwind like the lord of the manor. (Smoking jacket optional.) 

The Royale Food & Sprits
A quintessential neighborhood joint, The Royale features a convivial vibe inside and out. This fall, join the cross section of neighbors, neo-hipsters, amateur pundits and barflies of all types who gather ’round the red brick fire pit out back to talk politics, sports and the news of the day. Or just sip on a classic cocktail and quietly contemplate the flames.

Das Bevo
Kick it like the beer barons of old. Sink into one of the overstuffed armchairs in front of Das Bevo’s historic stone fireplace and toast the season with a stein of fine lager and a plate or two of kraut balls. If the great outdoors is more your speed, do your drinking around one of the custom spherical metal fire pits on the spacious patio.