I’ll get the requiste french phrase out of the way right now. Le royale est très bon.

Popped down to The Royale last week, and it was great. I didn’t get a chance to check out the cocktail list that I’ve heard so much about, but I did see a Grade-A industrial sized juicer over in the corner.

With a killer neon sign out front and a picturesque fleur-de-lis mural (painted by my good friend Sarah Folkemer) on the side it’s a good looking space. The last bar in that space, The Real Bar, was kind of a dump. I’m really glad to say that the last space’s bad chi didn’t survive the transition.

The interior’s most noticable feature is the church pew booths that would look right at home in Dressel’s. A touch of dark wood never hurts to make a new room look old. Tangerine walls and a well placed map of St Louis make it feel inviting. It’s very St Louis hepcat cool.

The back patio is small, but it’s been done well. Green grass, a coolio metal dinosaur sculpture in the back, and lots of classy cafe seating under the lamp posts. There’s a nice fire pit surrounded by bales of hay. While we were sitting around the campfire mi amigo Gustav brought out some graham crackers and marshmallows for smores.

The way that it’s presented makes this one of the best new patios that I’ve seen. Tureen is a close second, but that patio was there when the space was The Southern Belle.

In a funny twist I saw cigar box lids being used as holders for credit card slips, which has been done at Brennan’s for a couple of years. Completly unrelated I’m sure, but the owner is a friend of Mark Brennan’s.

I need to get back down there to experience the food and the cocktail list.