Get ready for takeoff! Flight Club (7710 Forsyth), a high-end, tech-driven “Social Darts” venue, opens today in the former Cantina Laredo space in Clayton.
Rooted in the British tradition of darts, it marks the brand’s eighth North American location and 20th worldwide. The concept blends handcrafted cocktails and upscale sharable plates with an innovative darts experience, as well as advanced tracking technology developed by a NASA scientist.
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
Flight Club is open daily for lunch and dinner, with happy hour and weekend brunch also available.
Here’s what to know before you go.
The Concept
Flight Club is the world’s first “Social Darts” experience—a title that it has trademarked. Founded in London in 2015, the venue reimagines the classic pub game of darts for the 21st century, combining cutting-edge technology with an upscale atmosphere, craft cocktails, and elevated, shareable cuisine.
What sets Flight Club apart from traditional darts is its advanced tracking system (accomplished by a series of cameras), which provide instant and accurate scoring for up to 12 players and can support in-house multiplayer games for up to 300 people, ideal for tournaments and events.
The dartboards are made from premium sisal fibers, and the darts are regulation standard, a far cry from flimsy electronic boards with plastic-tipped darts that bounce away more often than landing on their target.
Groups are encouraged to reserve one of Flight Club’s eight semi-private oches (pronounced AH-kee, rhyming with hockey), the official throw line in darts. The cost is $15 per person for a 90-minute session or $17 on Friday and Saturday nights.
Players can choose from six games and throw from three skill-based lines: rookie, regular, and pro. Thanks to advanced technology, those who land the winning shot can relive the moment with an instant replay. Plus, additional in-game photos are emailed the next day, so guests can stay in the moment and enjoy the experience.
One draw of Flight Club is its affordability. “Our primary business is food and beverage,” says Toby Harris, CEO of State of Play Hospitality, which oversees U.S. operations. “The cost to play is intentionally kept low—we don’t want price to be a barrier for anyone looking to enjoy a game of darts.”
Another is Flight Club’s general accessibility: It’s a level playing field for a wide range of participants, and the game is easy to play regardless of physical shape or fitness level. “There’s a unique satisfaction in throwing a small, sharp metal object at a board and hearing that satisfying thud as it hits the target,” says Harris.
Add to that an intimate, cozy atmosphere that fosters connection, and the experience becomes even more special. “There’s just something about the close physical setting that enhances the fun,” Harris says.
“There’s something very civilized about a dart competition with friends or co-workers,” adds Kim Chute, vice president of marketing. “Nobody’s running, nobody’s straining, nobody’s sweating. And we’ve found that people enjoy throwing a dart more than they expect to.”
The Atmosphere
Upon entering, one look at the hobby horse and the sprawling bar, and guests understand the theme, what Harris calls “an elevated version of a Victorian pub with a fairground-infused playfulness” that adds to the magic and the energy.
If traditional bar darts bring to mind smoky dives and domestic draft beers, then Flight Club offers a completely different experience—more like a lively party in an upscale cocktail lounge. The deceptively spacious 6,250-square-foot venue is well-designed, winding through semi-private oches, each separated for a more intimate feel. With booth seating for six and stand-up tables in the main bar area, it’s hard to believe the space can accommodate more than 300 guests.
Although each location is unique, similarities include elegant, upholstered seating; sleek tufted leather couches; Victorian wallpaper with copious dark wood accents; British bric-a-brac, framed and unframed; Tiffany-style chandeliers; and LED ring lights everywhere, that flicker to the beat of the music.
Nods to St. Louis include an oche with musical instruments on its wall and miniature hot air balloons floating above three booths in an area for dining. There will also be a lit archway illuminating one corridor, mimicking the Arch.
Harris emphasizes that Flight Club is not a sports bar, though some strategically placed TVs are included—some oches have them, while others do not. “If people think ‘sports bar’ when they walk in, then we’ve failed,” he says.
The former Cantina Laredo’s 1,000-square-foot patio was a popular feature, but Harris notes that its floor-to-ceiling windows can create a “fishbowl effect”—the opposite of Flight Club’s inward-focused atmosphere. To enhance both privacy and appeal, the patio will be redesigned with white wooden trellises woven with greenery, softening the indoor-outdoor transition. A mix of furniture heights and lush plantings will also be incorporated to make the space more inviting, so the patio becomes an attraction in its own right but also contributes to the sense of intimacy and privacy.
Every oche in every Flight Club has a unique vibe with a different energy, Harris says, a detail that keeps his design team busy. Some oches are singles, accommodating two to 12 players, while others are arranged side-by-side or back-to-back, allowing up to 30 guests. Harris boasts, “You can visit half a dozen times and almost feel like you’re in a different place each time,”
The Menu
At its core, Flight Club focuses on high-quality food that suits the social, interactive nature of darts—meaning shareable dishes, as opposed to messy, sauce-covered chicken wings. Harris knew that people might expect typical bowling-alley fare, so he set out to completely defy those expectations and impress them with the quality of the food.
The result is a menu of standout signature dishes made with ingredients “that don’t involve a Google search but at a quality level you wouldn’t expect,” Harris says. Flatbreads are a staple, alongside other popular shareable dishes, such as bite-sized poke tacos, lobster elote dip, and Buffalo chicken sliders.
For guests looking for a full meal rather than shareables, Harris’ team is developing more health-conscious and entrée-style options. And while there aren’t any location-specific dishes on the menu yet, they are under consideration. “If we can deliver a truly exceptional toasted ravioli,” Chute says, “we’ll absolutely do it.”
On the drink menu, there are eight signature cocktails, and all are available as mocktails, Chute says, “so we adjusted the syrups, juices, and ingredients to make sure the N/A version was as drinkable as its spirited counterpart.”
While most Flight Club guests prefer cocktails, beer and wine are also available. The bar offers six beers on tap—five of which are local—along with a selection of cans and bottles, including five N/A options.
It bears noting that while Flight Club’s oches are reservable, the bar and dining tables are first come, first served.
The Backstory
Flight Club traces its origins to a pub in Devon in 2012. The brand opened its first location in London in 2015, and it was introduced to the U.S. in 2018 by State of Play Hospitality under a licensing agreement. Harris tells SLM that that the company initially focused on major markets such as Chicago, Boston, New York, and D.C. Once the concept gained traction, it expanded into slightly smaller cities—an approach that had already proven successful for Flight Club in the U.K.
“St. Louis fit perfectly into that strategy,” Harris says. It also helped that St. Louis was a sports-loving city, making Flight Club’s blend of “light, gentle, but genuine competition” a natural fit. “That was the macro reason,” Harris adds. “The micro reason was the real estate.”
The St. Louis location was previously home to Cantina Laredo, a second-generation restaurant, which reduced buildout costs, and its compact footprint was ideal for a smaller market. “Fortunately for us,” Harris adds, “Centene [the landlord] really liked Flight Club and was generous in helping with the buildout.”
At 6,250 square feet, St. Louis is the smallest Flight Club to date. By comparison, the Las Vegas location spans 16,000 square feet, while the New York location is 10,500. Moving forward, the ideal size for new locations will be 5,500–7,000 square feet, Harris says.
“When we saw how strong Clayton’s dining and cocktail scene was, we knew that a fun, interactive concept with a great food and beverage program would be well-received,” says Chute. “Clayton was the perfect place to introduce our slightly smaller Flight Club model.”
Chute also notes that while venues such as TopGolf and Puttshack focus heavily on gameplay, Flight Club offers flexibility. “You can play darts, but you don’t have to play darts. You can simply stop by and enjoy the great food and cocktails.”
Harris emphasizes that Flight Club is designed primarily for adults. “It’s not that we dislike kids,” he says. “We love our kids and other people’s kids. But we want to be clear about what makes Flight Club unique: It’s an adult venue. That said, we welcome families on Sundays.
“There’s a lack of high-end entertainment concepts in St. Louis, so we’re thrilled to be here,” Harris adds.
St. Louisans also have a chance to leave their mark on Flight Club by helping name its next new game, its seventh. Anyone from the U.S., U.K., Ireland, or Australia can submit a game idea, and the winner gets to visit four Flight Club locations, one in each country. Entries can be submitted here.
Beyond Flight Club, State of Play Hospitality operates two other game-based venues: Bounce, a ping-pong-themed concept (branded as Ace Bounce in Chicago), and Hijingo, an immersive, multi-sensory bingo experience. “Flight Club is our primary growth concept in the U.S.,” Harris says, “but we’re also working on bringing Hijingo to Las Vegas.”
