Saints

The Skybar at Saints is usually hopping with revelers during the evenings. (Credit: Velocity file photo)

Saints -- and its dance-y upstairs sister, Skybar -- have all the makings of a fine club. The signage is discreet; it's easy to miss if you're not enough of an insider to know exactly where it is. The bars are loaded with all sorts of goodies, not just your standard Bud Lights, but also Guinness and Blue Moon. There's good food, and the bar's distinct components, for casual drinking and game-playing and dancing, are well-segregated.

But here's the catch -- Saints is in St. Matthews.

It's not like we're talking about the western coalfields of Muhlenberg County, but St. Matthews is remote (seven miles and plenty of confusing intersections) from Fourth Street Live, where you'd expect to find such an establishment.

There certainly are bars in Saints' neighborhood, but mostly Irish pubs and sports bars were the only dancing you'll see will be of the victory or Celtic variety. Or both, when the Celtics win a playoff game. There is a quaint ice cream shop and an even quainter used bookstore across the street. We're definitely not on Fourth Street anymore.

Saints is plenty spacious, particularly the stylishly decked-out Skybar. The booths are softly cushioned, and the area dedicated to billiards and Golden Tee offers room to sprawl.

Better still, Saints has good food, with pizzas that are particularly worth checking out. This is the best part of Saints -- upstairs at Skybar is where you'll most likely find the Party Crasher, while downstairs you're more likely to find a casual audience looking for a beer and grub. (This Bar Hopper's preference.) The next room over, you'll find folks more interested in the pool table.

Any way you look at it, Saints and each of its rooms -- each with its own bar -- has fun to offer without the hassles of downtown.

It's a bar and club that has appeal to those of us reared in this city's sprawling, packed suburbs. Here's a bit of irony, though: Saints' only real downside is that very much like a downtown bar, parking can be tricky.

Saints is open 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. Monday-Friday, noon to 4 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 4 a.m. Sunday.

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