After Parlor fell considerably short of expectations, we decided to make Flint our backup plan for the final stop of the night.
And what a difference walking through a different door made.
Due to the late hour and my phone being nearly dead, I wasn't able to grab any pictures of the actual venue, but Flint still made a strong impression.
From the moment we arrived, Flint felt welcoming. We were served quickly, the atmosphere was comfortable, and, perhaps most importantly, they were playing The Princess Bride on the wall at a volume that somehow managed to be entertaining without making conversation impossible.
After the previous stop, it felt like we'd already lost a battle of wits. Thankfully, Flint kept things simple: good drinks, good atmosphere, no poison.
Nat and I tried a couple of drinks from the seasonal menu. She went with the Carrot Cake Martini, while I ordered the Pear and Spice Fizz.
Both were fall comfort drinks in cocktail form, and both were incredibly delicious.
The balance on each was excellent. Nothing was overly sweet, overly boozy, or falling into the basic-bitch pumpkin spice realm.
But the Carrot Cake Martini was the standout.
This was as close to drinking an actual piece of carrot cake as you're realistically going to get without someone blending a slice of dessert into a martini shaker.
Creamy, warm, spiced, indulgent, and somehow still a cocktail rather than straight-up dessert soup.
After the disappointment of the previous stop, Flint was exactly what we needed to salvage the end of the night.
If you're planning a Saskatoon pub crawl, I'd absolutely recommend adding Flint to the itinerary. And while I'd happily give Parlor another shot in the future, if I had to choose between the two for the crawl, Flint would be the one I'd make room for.
Flint didn't just save the night; it gave us a much better place to end it.