A Senior’s Rating of Every UMN Campus Bar (Sally’s Saloon – 10/10)

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STPGopher said:
Sorry, It's an old reference. They had this big multi day segment about the U of M hockey team and drinking. IIRC The video showed ONE upper classman with what appeared to be a beer. It was a ratings week "expose'".
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I remember it well. :)
 

I remember it well, too.

I also am doing the math, and suddenly realize that it happened SIXTEEN YEARS AGO?!
 



The player was goalie Jeff Frazee and I believe he was a sophomore. (and he liked Long Islands IIRC) Jeff Passolt was just incensed over it! He must have never drank at **checks notes** ST. CLOUD STATE! ;)

Funny thing is if they wanted to catch the team drinking they could have just gone to The Library (or whatever it was called then) after any game and they were always there. Hell drank with the whole team after the '02 title in Saint Paul :) Sally's was the other spot you could always find a hockey player with a pitcher.

No place beat Grandma's in Daloot though...back then all the Gopher fans would caravan up there and drink pitchers of LIs and kamis for $4. ($3 for Kamis) If you didn't care about seeing the game you could be "Pitcher Bitch" and sit at a table with all of the pitchers and protect them. (they had a finite supply so people cut deals or stole) Never paid for a drink all weekend being pitcher bitch and had some Gopher parents begging me for pitchers. I coudl have made bank. (though Troy Riddle's dad got one off me)
 


fmlizard said:
Minnesota is just different, as an urban school an $8 Uber ride from a grown-up downtown big city party scene. Athens probably doesn't have much of that. It's always put a damper on the Greek system, the on-campus bar scene, college football, etc. It's the salty with the sweet.
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Literally a major reason I came here... Mpls/StP is a big metro area that happens to have a major university in it. Madison for instance, is a GHOST TOWN in summer and would be tiny af without the uni, state capitol and all.

And if the Badgers weren't there, how would all of the local businesses brand themselves?? Badger Plumbing, Badger Auto Sales, Badger Bakery, Badger Hardware every damn business etc etc etc :ROFLMAO: I love the Gophs hard, but am kind of glad this city isn't absolutely obsessed with them to the level or Madison/Athens/Tuscaloosa/State College.
 

I suppose The Market at Malcolm Yards is technically not on campus, but can we call it as being in the same category as Town Hall? This is a great addition to the area at least.
 
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LesBolstad said:
Went to Bullwinkles after a Gopher football game this year and it was absolutely awful. Dirty, awful stench and no one was there. It was sad, as I have so many fond memories of that place in the 80's and 90's.
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The old Sally’s was a vomit hell hole. The men’s bathroom was absolutely putrid.

I suppose Sally’s is the place to see and be seen if you are a young pup.

What do I know? I am in the old people crowd now.
 
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BleedGopher said:
per John:

Stub and Herbs – 7.5/10

Stub and Herbs, called “Sterbs” by some, might be the most classic bar left on campus. It’s old enough that my alumni parents tell stories about it from the 80s. Inside there is a cozy vibe with old wood panels and Gopher memorabilia. To get to the bathroom, you need to go downstairs to the basement which used to be an old dance floor and it makes you think “If these walls could talk…” The best times I have had at Stub and Herbs have been the casual school night drinks. It’s also a great spot for alumni on game days with tailgates in their parking lot.

Blarney’s – 6.5/10

Blarney’s checks the box as campus’ Irish pub. It boasts a decent dance floor and has fun events for special holidays. Most times I have been here for private events and date parties. It has seen a demographic shift in my four years. As a freshman, it was known as a spot for seniors that was forbidden for campus minors, but Covid has seemed to reverse this trend. Overall they have solid food and a decent number of good tap beers. It’s kind of pricey. Never the first option, but I’ll sometimes stop in.

Burrito Loco – 9/10

“Bloco” may be the dark horse of UMN bars. At first, your friends will be apprehensive if you try to convince them to come with you, but they will be amazed. Every night there is some sort of deal. Amazing selection of beer on tap and cheap rail margaritas and fishbowls. You can have a good time for a little money. This is the unbeatable spot for weeknight drinking. Nothing tops sitting at the patio sipping on a Modelo on a warm summer night. Burrito Loco will always have a place in my heart.

Kollege Klub – 8/10

While arriving on the scene in 2019, Kollege Klub has quickly become the spot on campus. Notorious for being strict on fake IDs, the KK has become the spot for upperclassmen. While I do have sympathy for my younger self trying everything to get in, it’s nice to have a dedicated watering hole for upperclassmen only. FACs, Wine Wednesdays, 2-4-1’s on Tuesdays, the Kollege Klub knows how to attract business. In its short tenure on campus, it has become the old reliable for Gopher veterans.

Sally’s Saloon – 10/10

I’ve saved the best for last. Sals is the GOAT of bars on UMNs campus. It holds a sentimental place in my heart and the hearts of many from years of memories and cheap drinks. Freshman year, we would make the pilgrimage to Superblock to try our luck at getting into Sals. After months on campus, your crew would start to develop strategies to maximize success at getting in. If the bouncer let you in, you were in for a legendary night. While you tend to go to Sals less as you get older, there’s always a reason to keep coming back. 3 to 6 happy hours, watching the game, going just for the hell of it. Sally’s Saloon is a place we will tell our kids about decades from now.

mnrepublic.com

A Senior’s Rating of Every UMN Campus Bar

After four years at the University of Minnesota, my undergraduate journey is coming to an end. It is only right I review all the campus watering holes for future generations of Gophers to see. The average college student at the University of Minnesota will likely stumble into one of these bars...
mnrepublic.com

Go Gophers!!
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Got to have a drink in Stub and Herb's with my grandfather, who drank there as a student in the early 40's. He spent a long time looking at the photos and informed me they called it Sterbs back in his day.

Never missed Sally's when I left, but lots of the grad student crowd would go there in the mid/late 00s and I spent more time there than I'd like to admit. It was a short walk from Moos and Mayo and was routine to run into people there anytime after 4pm.
 



Dave H said:
The player was goalie Jeff Frazee and I believe he was a sophomore. (and he liked Long Islands IIRC) Jeff Passolt was just incensed over it! He must have never drank at **checks notes** ST. CLOUD STATE! ;)

Funny thing is if they wanted to catch the team drinking they could have just gone to The Library (or whatever it was called then) after any game and they were always there. Hell drank with the whole team after the '02 title in Saint Paul :) Sally's was the other spot you could always find a hockey player with a pitcher.

No place beat Grandma's in Daloot though...back then all the Gopher fans would caravan up there and drink pitchers of LIs and kamis for $4. ($3 for Kamis) If you didn't care about seeing the game you could be "Pitcher Bitch" and sit at a table with all of the pitchers and protect them. (they had a finite supply so people cut deals or stole) Never paid for a drink all weekend being pitcher bitch and had some Gopher parents begging me for pitchers. I coudl have made bank. (though Troy Riddle's dad got one off me)
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The Library usually had more than its share of piss drunk, looking for a fight type dudes, inside and outside it (in my experience).
 


Quarter tap night at Big 10 was a mainstay of my college years during the mid/late 80s. Between that and their subs, that bar should've been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and never been allowed to be torn down.
 

GopherPoke said:
I suppose The Market at Malcolm Yards is technically not on campus, but can we call it as being in the same category as Town Hall? This is a great addition to the area at least.
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Right.

But just like the majority of downtown bars, this place is $$$$ for the average broke undergrad.

I imagine that most undergrads want "undergrad bars", where the scene is cheap (ie, crappy) drinks and a hype crowd in their low 20's.
 


Gophers_4life said:
Right.

But just like the majority of downtown bars, this place is $$$$ for the average broke undergrad.

I imagine that most undergrads want "undergrad bars", where the scene is cheap (ie, crappy) drinks and a hype crowd in their low 20's.
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Don't all "broke undergrad" parents get later evening texts asking for venmo's to skip the line at Sally's? What's a few bucks....Ha.
 

Who remembers the "Improper Fraction" on Washington ave? I think it later became a place called "Birds"? Then eventually Sally's right? (someone please help verify this)
 

Gophers_4life said:
The patio there is too amazing to just let it sit unused. Did Town Hall or someone take it over to at least provide summer service on the patio?
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I don't think so...they sort of expanded their own outdoor area. It is ripe for something to go in there though.
 

2nd Degree Gopher said:
Haven't been there in years, but it was probably the spot I frequented most often back in the day, so I am sorry to hear the current iteration didn't live up to the past. To be fair, in the 80's and 90's during my Bullwinkle's heydays, it was sort of a dirty place and it did have a noticeable funk to it. It wasn't empty though.
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Yeah, the bathrooms there were let's just say, interesting. The smell...and by 10 PM the floor was soaked, along with the TP rolls. Still went there but, man.
 

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