About us.

Antagonist Cafe is brought to you by the Founders of Protagonist Cafe and Pieces: Board Game Bar and Restaurant, all located in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis. Each of the three concepts have been curated to provide unique spaces for the community to gather.

Antagonist Cafe (est. 2024) is the spiritual twin of Protagonist Cafe (est. 2019) with one location on the North end of the neighborhood and one on the South end. Both cafes offer house-made sweet and savory pastries, freshly roasted small-batch coffee and espresso, and lattes.

About the building.

Antagonist Cafe is located at 2727 S. 12th Street next to the famed Anheuser-Busch Brewery at the edge of Soulard and a stone's throw away from Benton Park. The building is a beautiful art deco masterpiece designed in 1937 by the same architect behind the Soulard Farmers Market. It served as the Third District’s police station until the 1990’s when it was decommissioned and sold to a private owner who utilized it as an art gallery for nearly three decades.

When the building hit the market, we were worried it would be purchased by a developer, turned into modern luxury apartments, or used by an airbnb operator. We scheduled a viewing and the moment we walked in we fell in love with the hard lines of the original terrazzo floor, the intentional marble accents, and the ornate brass finishings. We immediately knew the Protagonist Cafe had found her Antagonist.

After three months of renovations, which included turning four jail cells into comfortable nooks where you would actually want to spend time, and the captain’s room into a functional roastery, Antagonist Cafe opened on December 2, 2024. While the jail cells that remain in the space might seem odd to keep, we wanted to try our best to maintain the 100-year old architecture of the building, and make something positive out of features that were once negative. We hope we have respectfully transformed and reclaimed the space for the community.

Our Coffee & Espresso

Our espresso and coffee beans are organic, fair trade certified, and roasted in small batches to ensure the freshest and highest quality coffee is poured into your mug. We roast all of our beans in-house at Antagonist Cafe. You can even watch us roast from a viewing window by the front entrance of the cafe!

Offerings:

Light Roast: Ethiopia (origin). Bright, Floral, & Citrusy.

Medium House Roast: Nicaragua (origin). Rich, Nutty, & Smoky.

Dark Roast: Guatemala (origin). Robust, Semi-sweet, & Chocolatey.

Decaf: Columbia (origin). Rich, Nutty, & Chocolatey.

In-House Bakery.

Enjoy our freshly made sweet and savory pastries made in-house. We have both gluten-free and vegan options available.