Lemmons

Lemmons has okay food (pizza is Black Thorn, though, yum!). I stand by my statements about oddball furniture and great people watching. Also, it’s cool that they have trivia Wednesday and Thursday and free movies on Monday.
At some point relatively recently, they had pretty serious staff changes. Pretty much every time I go, there seems to be someone new. The service decrease is REALLY obvious. I understand that it’s a small place running with 2 – 3 employees, but that’s all the more reason to find staff who know what they’re doing and can handle a crowd. At this point, ordering something is not worth the frustration.

Great bartenders, awesome pizza and most weekends there’s local musicians. I love stopping in.

Went here for trivia night on Wednesday.
Really great trivia night. There are a lot of regulars and the trivia categories tend to be selected the previous week. Teams have the opportunity to win a free pitcher each round if they get the high score (there are 4 rounds) and they also get to spin the wheel for a drink special for the next round.
As for the venue itself, its a truly authentic dive bar. The décor and furniture are very authentic. There is no waitress service so you have to go up and get drinks/​food (they do bring food to your table though). The pizza is chicago style thick cruct and pretty good. Most of the other food (including the wings I had) was pretty subpar.
Overall, if you are looking for an authentic dive bar with some character and great trivia, this is worth a stop.

Even though the majority of the ceiling tiles are water stained and the chairs are seemingly a mishmash of South City alley garbage, Lemmons is a great neighborhood bar. Highlights include STL’s best bar trivia (Wednesdays and Thursdays), Black Thorn Pizza, a decent beer selection, shuffleboard, and foosball. If you can manage to not use the bathroom during your stay, you may be better off, but let’s not let a dingy bathroom deter us from a good time. Apparently, there are a lot of shows here too, but I have yet to attend any. Anyway, just another great bar bar in the drinking town that is St. Louis. Cheers!

This is an update to my previous review. It’s been a little while, but I’ve recently been back to Lemmons, and they’ve taken strides to improve their bread and butter: the music. They bought some better gear for their in-​house sound system, and the effect is very noticeable. It’s enough that I think it’s worth kicking this place up to 4-​stars. The sound is *much* better, now, and it makes things super awesome if you came for the music.

Slowly becoming one of my favorite hangouts!
Lemmon’s doesn’t have a whole lot of appeal. In fact, it’s a bit of a craphole. However, this aspect might add a little to its overall charm. If you’re looking for a dive, South City is full of them. But Lemmon’s is the dive of all dives!
Personally, I love how the management runs this place. It does a pretty good job appealing to both patrons and talent. As a musician, I’ve performed a few times at the pub, and I love how the people treat me. They try to keep things as fair as possible, and even if a musician doesn’t make any money, the experience is still worthwhile because of the free beer and pizza!
As a patron, this place is pretty great, too. The main bartender is a swell guy. He could easily come off as a gruff jerk, but he actually does a pretty good job of taking care of us when we come by. We recently went to a punk show there, and it was a solid experience overall.
Did I mention that Lemmon’s serves Black Thorn Pizza? Oh, hell yeah! However, it’s slightly different from the stuff served in Tower Grove. Someone told me that it’s Lemmon’s version of the Chicago style za, but it’s still pretty darn good!
They do have drink specials, but when they don’t, the beer can get a little pricey. PBR and Stag run $ 2.75 regularly. Yes, I’m a cheapskate! They do have a nice beer selection, but it goes up from there.
Finally, it’s a nice place to catch local talent. It ranges from metal to acoustic acts. On a good night, you might even see me on stage! The cover is usually pretty cheap. Local show covers have been getting out of hand, so it’s nice to have a venue that doesn’t overcharge at the door!
Like a good dive? Lemmon’s might be your place.

Honestly the place could use a face lift, having said that, this is one of my FAVORITE places in the City, The deep dish pizza is the best outside Chicago. (make sure you have time, each pizza takes 40 minutes to cook) They have plenty to do, Shuffleboard, and even board games. The live music on the weekends is hit or miss, but most of the time pretty good, and they do a improve night that I really enjoy (but the misses hates) It’s a good bar with the Best Pizza in STL,(yes it’s better than Pi) They always have something going on, movie nights, trivia, improve, music, Just a great place to hang out.

Great pizza, but their sister place, Black Thorn, is slightly better in my opinion (one of the two used to be called Black Thorn at Lemmon). I hope they don’t mind me saying that — I’m assuming it’s still the same owner since the pizzas are almost identical. Black Thorn just offers more toppings and more sauce (usually) and I’ve never waited more than an hour (I’ve waited more than an hour at Lemmons — although they were doing trivia at the time). That’s pretty much it. Great deep dish with a ton of mozz on a tangy sauce at a reasonable price.

Been here on nights when music and crowd was great also been here on nights when it was awful. Typical of most bars in that aspect. Went to free concert night before Thanksgiving and see why it was free some of the worst music I have ever heard but will be back just will scout bands better

Well-​priced bar. Lots of fun events.
On Mondays they have movie night/​buffet. You do have to order at least one drink, but you get to watch 2 movies as well as eat free pizza. You can get a bottle of PBR for $ 2.75. They also have beer on tap that’s probably cheaper.
Went a few times to see local bands. Never had to pay more than a $ 5 cover charge. Their lot seems small, but I’ve never had a problem finding an open parking space.

I try to be as honest in my experiences as possible, so I understand if people have different opinions on this place. I found Lemmons to be, on my first and only visit, not worth the trip.
I went to Lemmons on Thursday night for Trivia. I’ve been to a number of bars in different cities for trivia before, and have things I like and dislike. I have to say this was one of my least favorite trivia experiences.
Taking pieces of the event, it sounds like it could be good. Free to enter, winners of each round get free beer, good prizes at the end, drink specials for each round. But the atmosphere was quiet and awkward. No one really was talking, there was no music played for the 2.5 ish hours, the host was extremely nice but not very lively. It is undoubtedly a local-​event. The people who were consistently winning were obviously regulars. The questions were chosen in previous weeks by teams who were there, which sounds neat but yielded (at least for our team) impossible categories tailored to a very specific group that shows up every week.
The place itself is dive-​bar-​esque, but seems neglected. It’s almost as if it had its heyday in being a music venue then slowly started peeling off the layers til we’re left with the shell of something grungy.
For the record, we didn’t try the food but the pizza looked delicious. They have a respectable amount of local beers as well. Unfortunately, the beer is pretty pricey: $ 10 for a pitcher of Bud Light is kind of outrageous a stone’s throw from the brewery.
Maybe I was there on an off-​night, but Lemmons offered me no reason whatsoever to return or recommend. If you live in the area and have a close group of friends that you only go to that bar ever, perhaps it’d be good. The locals seemed to know the bartenders well. But if you’re looking for a fun night going out for drinks and some entertainment, there are many, many better options.

Free pizza and a movie… Why, yes I like both of these things. On a Monday night what else is there to do so what’s the harm in going to a South City dive bar for free pizza? This is nothing fancy but some one-​topping pizzas, meatballs and huge chicken legs — all for FREE along with a movie playing on a large TV.
I’m totally down.
This is the same pizza as Blackthorn but the crust isn’t deep dish nor your typical St. Louis style cracker-​thin crust. But it’s just thin enough but gives you a bit of a doughy crust, too. I really liked the sauce as it had a bit of a spice yet a sweet little taste, too. No meatballs for me because I wasn’t in the mood but the chicken legs? Oh, they’re good. Nice and crispy skin but a sauce that was nice a peppery.
They have a $ 15 minimum when using credit/​debit cards, luckily their ATM only has a $ 2 fee.

Lemmons is the typical neighborhood dive bar with a twist. My first venture there was for happy hour. $ 2 drafts until 7pm… on a Friday… what? Yes, you heard that correctly. Good draft brands like Sam Adams, Schlafly and Guiness. Sign me up.
Since my crew got there early we had the back area with free foosball and shuffle board all to ourselves. Once the unsportsman like conduct concluded, we devored a deep dish sausage pizza, thin crust pepporini pizza and wings. The wings were AMAZING! The pizza was AWESOME!
I definitely want to hit this joint up on Mondays for movie night with double features at 7pm and 9pm. I heard there is trivia night during the week and there is live music on Fridays starting at 9pm with a cover charge. The satellite juke box has everything in it so Prince, Brittany, Peter Gabriel and Weezer made it into the evening rotation. Lemmons is going to be on my list of happy hours spots to kick it very often.

Free Pizza Buffet??? Yes = AWESOME!
Although you can check this place out anytime and order the wonderful Chicago style «Black Thorn» pizza or just come in to have a drink and play some shuffle board, Monday movie night w/​free pizza buffet is the time to go!
Every Monday (with the exception of football season) they offer 2 (often cult classic) movies that begin at 7 and the free pizza starts rolling out at 8.
Let me give a word of caution; do not go to the buffet starving unless you want to join the stampede as the first few pizza’s are coming out of the kitchen.
I mean seriously, even though they bring out a new pizza ever 15 minutes or so, and in the end there is always plenty of food, you would think that the people running to get in line were just about to resort to cannibalism.
It’s also a very amusing people watching experience to see everyone else, whose eyes are darting back and forth trying to be the first to glimpse the kitchen door being opened, sitting on the edge of their seats ready to pounce on whatever is brought out — pretty darn funny!
However, if you can stave off your hunger until the crowd has died down, you will be rewarded with a new pizza every 15 minutes or so (alternating between veggie & meat) in addition to meatballs and chicken wings, (which remind me more of chicken legs) along with what’s sure to be an amusing flick!

Improv Comedy every Tuesday hosted by The Improv Trick’s David Imler. All St. Louis improvisers are welcome to join in on the jam. Only $ 1…that’s what ya call a comedy bargain.
Great Pizza and wings. You could have a burger, but why? This is St. Louis’ best Chicago style pizza.
Great trivia nights and movie nights, too.

I’ve been to Lemmons three times now, but last night was the first time we tried their Monday «movie and free buffet» night. They play two movies, at 7pm and 9pm and the buffet start at 8pm. The cook serves up whatever his heart desires, from pizza to wings and meatballs. However, don’t expect to get Chicago style pizza for free! The crust is neither thin nor thick.
We arrived around 8:15pm and things were pretty slow. I was starving and the only thing out was a cheese pizza. He bought the next pizza, sausage, out around 8:30. The pizza was really good. Nothing out of the ordinary, but being free it tasted even better. We had a few pieces and then waited to see what came out next. MEATBALLS. These were so good. I wish I had saved more room. Towards 9:30−10pm, he brought out some huge wings, but we were stuffed by then.
After a few beers each, our tab came out to $ 19. Not bad for dinner and a movie! My only suggestion is that they announce each week’s movies on their Facebook page.

Black Thorn Pizza. ‘Nuff said. Except I’m going to say more.
I love Lemmons. It was my home away from home when I lived in this neighborhood. Now the pizza — fantastic. I’m not a fan AT ALL of the thick crust style, but the Chicago deep dish and thin are great. Especially the Chicago style. It’s about 2 inches thick so you won’t leave hungry. I am a huge fan of the sauce, which has a spicy kick to it. I also like that they offer other bell peppers than green.
Other: VERY smoky bar, which cannot be avoided, unless you take your pizza to go. The atmosphere is definitely dive-​y. Good beer selection, great happy hour prices. On Mondays they show movies and have a free buffet. You just have to get out of the way of the stampeding starving college students who watch like vultures for them to bring out the food. Trivia nights are packed and have interesting topics (although I haven’t been there since the main trivia-​guy died). Various decent bands later in the evening.

If you like Chicago style pizza then this place is for you. It is first and foremost a dive bar, without a doubt. However they have pizza that will knock your socks off. To top things off they have a respectable 12 beer taps and have trivia every weds/​thurs.
The Deep Dish Pan style is a true ¾″ thick of crust. If you like pan style, it doesn’t get much better than this! The Chicago style is layered but unlike true Chicago style the sauce is under the cheese like most pizzas. This is not even and issue, because when you order and eat in nothing beats when they bring your pizza out and its all gooey and melty. I won’t even mention the thin crust, because with the previous two you shouldn’t even need to order the thin.
Besides the pizza Lemmons has the best Hot Legs I’ve ever had. Not hot wings, but Hot legs. They do chicken legs in place of hot wings and the sauce they use is sweet, tangy and very peppery. I’ve eaten my way around St. Louis and have never had a sauce come close to what Lemmons puts in their legs.
Did I mention the tap line? Budweiser, Bud Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Sierra Nevada, Goose Island Honkers Ale, Sam Adams, Schlafly Pale Ale, Schlafly Hefeweizen, Newcastle, Guinness, Amber Bach. Yes, I am a beer enthusiast.
You may have heard the pizza is the same at Blackthorne pub, and it may be the same recipe but its not nearly the same quality. I’ve been to Blackthorne, ordered the pizza and they served it to me raw. Then when I told them it was raw they put it in the oven till it was burnt black. It was like a mouthful of charcoal. Plus the servers/​bartenders are rude and act like they cannot be bothered.
Do yourself a favor and go to Lemmons. They know how to cook the food, I’ve never had anything come out burned or raw in the 5+ years I’ve been going there. Plus the bar staff is incredibly nice and attentive.

I went this past Tuesday for Improv Night! I must say honestly for $ 1 this is the MOST fun you will EVER have. The show was from 8 – 11 and they had different groups come up like the Bunk Bed Pizza Party Brigade. They did short and long form Improv.
Of course, I had to buy a Pizza since that is what Lemmons is known for! We ordered the flat pizza because my boyfriend doesn’t like the Chicago style. Bad idea! I thought the pizza we ordered was ok… but I saw the Chicago deep dish and it looked REALLY GOOD.
Lemmons is a chill hangspot. They have a bar, shuffleboard, air hockey, and the stage area. It’s a bit smoky but hey who really cares. I will definitely frequent here every Tuesday night for Improv. It’s definitely worth the money and I’ll try the deep dish pizza next.
Oh and they even have wifi… yippee!
Just in case you were curious the improv night is put on by Improv Trick.

It’s no secret that I love Black Thorn — both the pizza and the bar itself. So it’s probably not a shocker to learn that I also am a fan of Lemmons. It took me awhile to actually get here (5 years in the city and this is my first time here — that’s a shame!), but once I arrived, it felt like home.
I had been warned that the place is kind of dirty. And gross. And it is. But that won’t keep me away. The pizza is delish, the drinks are cheap and the bands I heard on Saturday night were worth going back for.
Is this somewhere to take your kids? Absolutely not. If you’re looking to entertain a younger crowd, go to Pizza-​A-​Go-​Go. And yes, you will have to wait awhile to get your food, but that’s just a small price to pay for the cheesy goodness that will be delivered to your table.
Four stars!