L'il Help on Visiting MSP

[From the Barn]

Our crew consists of guys in their late 40s. We all went to Cal together in the early '80s. Big Chill with an '80s soundtrack and no knocking up others' spouses. A premium on local color and uniqueness for bars, meals and gameday, but we'd like to squeeze in a high end memorable dinner on Saturday night.

Memorable dinner? Fogo, learn it, live it, love it, unless you already have one in CA.

 

[13 Lined Ground Squirrel]

Hit the polka bars for some local flavor. Gasthof's and Nye's.

 

[Oski Wow Wow]

Polka bars?!? That sounds promising. What's the deal with Nye's?

Is there a cool place for mini-kegpin bowling?

We're staying at the Marriot City Center. Is that considered Downtown or the Warehouse District?

Dunno if you know Chicago very well, but is there a music club like Kingston Mines?

Sounds like there's waaaay too much stuff to do, so we'll have to be mildly ambitious gluttons and drunks.

 

[GoAUpher]

Polka bars?!? That sounds promising. What's the deal with Nye's?

Is there a cool place for mini-kegpin bowling?

We're staying at the Marriot City Center. Is that considered Downtown or the Warehouse District?

Dunno if you know Chicago very well, but is there a music club like Kingston Mines?

Sounds like there's waaaay too much stuff to do, so we'll have to be mildly ambitious gluttons and drunks.

Downtown

 

[MinneNoVA]

Welcome to Minnesota...

Thanks so much for your help. The older parts of Cal's campus remind me of Big Ten schools and Midwesterners are always so much nicer than everybody else in America, so it's always pleasant when Cal plays a Big Ten school in sports. That funky dropoff from the floor in Williams Arena always intrigued me. Was in San Antonio for the Sweet Sixteen in 1997 when the Gophs made the Final Four. Have only been to Minnesota on bidness during Winter, so looking forward to getting out and exploring. Some of the horror stories about ginormous killer mosquitoes scared the crap out of me, but hopefully we'll survive. Would like to suck it up one Winter weekend and see Gopher hockey, hoops, and go ice fishing.

I hope you enjoy your stay in the Twin Cities and are treated with respect. Unfortunately, some of the Cal undergrads were less than gracious after the game at Berkeley. They certainly displayed quite a lot of C-L-ASS. I hope, win or lose, that our fans have a bit more respect for you and your Cal colleagues.

Enjoy the game, and Go Gophers!

 

[tikited]

Our crew consists of guys in their late 40s. We all went to Cal together in the early '80s. Big Chill with an '80s soundtrack and no knocking up others' spouses. A premium on local color and uniqueness for bars, meals and gameday, but we'd like to squeeze in a high end memorable dinner on Saturday night.

I have to say that Berkley is the nicest campus I have ever been to. Nicest isn't even the word to use I guess. How anyone gets any work done there is beyond me. So close to San Fran. and Oakland... Yes Oakland--I always have fun there. Beautiful, good sports, etc... Great place to skip class.

P.S. Go to Nyes for sure!

 

[Oski Wow Wow]

I hope you enjoy your stay in the Twin Cities and are treated with respect. Unfortunately, some of the Cal undergrads were less than gracious after the game at Berkeley. They certainly displayed quite a lot of C-L-ASS. I hope, win or lose, that our fans have a bit more respect for you and your Cal colleagues.

Sincerely sorry to hear that. Cal definitely has a problem with frat row being so close to the stadium, and, as inferred earlier, Northern Californians have an edge to them which is closer to the Northeast than the Midwest or the South. The Stanford and 'SC games are especially nasty for visitors in Berkeley (cue Cal's serial troll amythicalprogram).

As I expected, everyone has been extremely helpful and gracious in answering my inane questions. The contrast between this board and the Maryland board (Cal's opponent on Saturday) is unbelievable. Thanks again to everyone for your hospitality.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

Polka bars?!? That sounds promising. What's the deal with Nye's?

Is there a cool place for mini-kegpin bowling?

We're staying at the Marriot City Center. Is that considered Downtown or the Warehouse District?

Dunno if you know Chicago very well, but is there a music club like Kingston Mines?

Sounds like there's waaaay too much stuff to do, so we'll have to be mildly ambitious gluttons and drunks.

since you asked......nye's polonaise room was voted "the best bar in america" by esquire a couple years ago. every friday and saturday on the "old side" of the bar they are home to "the world's most dangerous polka band". on the "new side" there is nye's piano bar featuring "sweet" lou snider on friday/saturday. it is a very old and revered establishment in minneapolis. from your hotel it is north on hennepin ave. on the other side of the mississippi river across from downtown minneapolis in nordeast, so it is an easy trek to there from your hotel in downtown mpls.


esquire article about nye's: http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1006BESTBARS_147
nye's website: http://www.nyespolonaise.com/


my personal recommendation is for you and your crew to check out this website (it is called thrifty hipster.com). it is a great resource to answer a lot of the questions you have regarding minneapolis/st. paul bars & pubs and to a lesser extent restaurants. along the top are various geographic areas you can conceivably visit on your trip. taking into consideration that you are staying in downtown minneapolis i would focus on the following tabs:

thrifty hipster website: http://www.thriftyhipster.com/minneapolis/

on friday (both before and after the twins game):
-downtown
-northeast (a.k.a nordeast)
-uptown

on saturday (both before and after the minnesota vs. california game):
-university (this general area is closer to the u of m and the east bank campus where tcf stadium is located)


to answer your question about kingston mines in chicago. never heard of it, but it looks like it is a blues club. i do not really seek out blues clubs, so i would ask that someone else on gopherhole.com who might be a blues fan to try and fill you in on that one. off the top of my head i believe you could check out "famous dave's bbq & blues" in the uptown area of minneapolis - it is south of downtown mpls on hennepin ave.

if you are a fan of good jazz music i would recommend the "dakota jazz club and restaurant" on nicollet mall in downtown minneapolis. they are a very well respected jazz establishment throughout the midwest.

 

[From the Barn]

Polka bars?!? That sounds promising. What's the deal with Nye's?

Is there a cool place for mini-kegpin bowling?

We're staying at the Marriot City Center. Is that considered Downtown or the Warehouse District?

Dunno if you know Chicago very well, but is there a music club like Kingston Mines?

Nye's was was voted best bar in america a few year's back, and has a 173 year old woman who does karaoke at the piano.

As for as music... this should work. http://www.dakotacooks.com/

 

[From the Barn]

Apparently I should type faster.

 

[Sour1729]

I used to frequent Kingston Mines when I lived in Chicago and sadly Minneapolis doesn't have anything that can even hold a candle to it.

 

[Sour1729]

And since nobody has really mentioned much about Uptown, your crew might like that too. Since you gave a Chicago mention I'd say Uptown compares most favorably to Wicker Park in Chicago. It has kind of an artsy/young professional/independent vibe.

Lots of places there like Stella's, Chino Latino, Uptown Bar, etc. It is probably one of the most energetic areas of the city and not a far cab ride from your hotel at all.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

I used to frequent Kingston Mines when I lived in Chicago and sadly Minneapolis doesn't have anything that can even hold a candle to it.

true. but, to be fair trying to compare the long-standing blues tradition and scene in chicago to just about anywhere else in the country (with the excetion of say st. louis, new orleans, new york and maybe philly) is like trying to compare apples to oranges. it is just not a fair fight.

 

[oak_street1981]

I had a polish dog at the Wiener Circle on Clark one

I used to frequent Kingston Mines when I lived in Chicago and sadly Minneapolis doesn't have anything that can even hold a candle to it.

week ago from tonight and meant to head west to Halsted to hang at the Kingston Mines or BLUES, but instead ended up back at the Big Bar at the Hyatt where I was staying.

The GF grew up by the Lincoln Park Zoo and felt go down there for a few days and get into the soothing waters near the North Avenue Beach. The weather sucked, and I rode the EL, went to a Cubs game, and generally drank too much.

I usually do not like hotel bars much, but the Big Bar on Wacker is great.

Earlier the Wiener Circle was great, and I had a few beers at the neighboring pubs, but missed out on retro club Neo.

Best late night place ever:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDoxZQWgYKU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bshtrPtrM5U&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak4fr18wn2s&feature=related

 

[Oski Wow Wow]

Nye's gets huge ups all around. We're definitely going there. Kingston Mines has awesome music, but an added bonus is that the lead singer of the house band (The Chitown Hustlers) is a midget (Kid Dynamite). It would be awesome if y'all could arrange for Khalid El-Amin to be home and appearing at Nye's that weekend.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

Nye's gets huge ups all around. We're definitely going there. Kingston Mines has awesome music, but an added bonus is that the lead singer of the house band (The Chitown Hustlers) is a midget (Kid Dynamite). It would be awesome if y'all could arrange for Khalid El-Amin to be home and appearing at Nye's that weekend.

nice....

 

[Oski Wow Wow]

OK we're starting to narrow this down, but still have a few questions.

One of my friends really wants to go to First Avenue. Looks like Lucinda Williams is playing on Friday night at 7 PM?!? Do they really have shows that early and is there usually an opening act? I'm taking a hardline stance that we can't bail on baseball until at least after the 7th innining stretch, but First Avenue is allegedly a pretty cool spot.

We're all in on game day and may start in Dinkytown and work our way down to Stadium Village, but that may be too ambitious. How crowded were the spots in Stadium Village on Saturday?

If Cal wins, we'll likely be sloppy drunk and if they lose, we'll for sure be sloppy drunk, so a pretentious foo foo dinner on Saturday night looks a little silly. Either way we'll drink to California 'til we wobble in our shoes. Does Gathof have good German food? I lived and worked in Germany and can appreciate good German food. Usually I have two traditional German dinners interspersed with Greek and Italian (Oski sei Dank for guestworkers) during a week long business trip to the Vaterland.

What's the weather forecast for Saturday? I heard rain earlier which would hurt Cal's speed. We had some nasty light and booms in the air on Friday night and I thought it was revenge for our godless hippie commie ways, but it was just a rare thunderstorm in the Bay Area. I think the new stadium has field turf and Cal was fine on wet field turf on Saturday. If the weather's nice, we'll probably go to Pracna.

Thanks for your patience, input and feedback.

 

[Omega015]

One of my friends really wants to go to First Avenue. Looks like Lucinda Williams is playing on Friday night at 7 PM?!? Do they really have shows that early and is there usually an opening act? I'm taking a hardline stance that we can't bail on baseball until at least after the 7th innining stretch, but First Avenue is allegedly a pretty cool spot.

First Ave really does have shows that early. Most shows end at 9:30pm and then they open it up as a club afterwards.

 

[Gut Cassidy]

Nye's gets huge ups all around. We're definitely going there. Kingston Mines has awesome music, but an added bonus is that the lead singer of the house band (The Chitown Hustlers) is a midget (Kid Dynamite). It would be awesome if y'all could arrange for Khalid El-Amin to be home and appearing at Nye's that weekend.

I haven't been to Nye's in about a year, but frequented it when I was a student at the U. Just a heads up, it is cash only and you must pay as you go. No tabs as far as I remember. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[TubbytownUSA]

What's the weather forecast for Saturday? I heard rain earlier which would hurt Cal's speed. We had some nasty light and booms in the air on Friday night and I thought it was revenge for our godless hippie commie ways, but it was just a rare thunderstorm in the Bay Area. I think the new stadium has field turf and Cal was fine on wet field turf on Saturday. If the weather's nice, we'll probably go to Pracna.

Thanks for your patience, input and feedback.

High of 73 and sunny, only 10 percent chance of rain.

Probably in the mid 60s most of the game

 

[freshtrout]

Looks like you have a plan in place ... Do get to First Ave .. expecially if you can see Lucinda Williams... With that in mind and Nyes in place, if you have time and like great pizza (you may not have enough time however) head to Washington Ave and to Black Sheep (500 Wash Ave North) Local brews, good salads, and (IMO) the best pies in town...then head to the Twins game.
Can't go wrong with any of the suggested bars near TCF Stadium .. just get there very early, S & H should be insane by 9:30 ..
The 112 Eatery could 'fit' for a late dinner Sat night.... Casual and serving very late...(it's where the local chefs go for dinner after their places close) Over the past couple of years, the best meals I've had in the TC's have come from the 112. Before heading into the 112, drop in at Saffron (across the street from the 112) for a drink-nice bar.
Hells Kitchen is a great choice for Sunday breakfast....
Hope you have a great time visiting....

 

[skoalvikings]

Hells Kitchen is a great choice for Sunday breakfast....

Amen to that!

 

[RodentRampage]

If you want to try a real Minneapolis tradition, you can get a Juicy Lucy - it's a cheeseburger with the cheese inside of the patty. Matt's Bar at 35th Street an Cedar has it (although they spell it Jucy Lucy) as does the 5-8 Club at Hwy 62 and Cedar also has it. The two places both claim to have invented it, it's quite a rivalry.

 

[Im All Right]

And here's where I'll differ: go to Pracna on Main in St. Anthony Main that night for dinner. It's got a great patio on the river with a great view of downtown and the old milling district and a really good beer selection, and good food. It's also the oldest continuously operated bar in Minneapolis (since 1890). From there you can walk up the block to Nyes (another really famous bar) or even another block up to Whitey's Saloon or Bulldog NE. From there it's also a short cab ride downtown to Brits and the Local, or the other direction to Gasthof's

THIS^^^^

St Anthony main is the place to go for a nice dinner on the river. Get a patio seat and enjoy a very pleasant view with pretty reasonable prices. I don’t really recommend on particular bar/restaurant, but check out the area, you'll find something nice.

I also 2nd the suggestion to look into Uptown, much much nicer than downtown IMO, you might actually get a table and be able to enjoy your beer. DEFINTLEY check out Stellas rooftop patio at night, unbelievable view of downtown.

 

[Oski Wow Wow]

Sincere thanks to all for your gracious hospitality and helpful suggestions. It's gonna be a blast. Got an incredulous e-mail from one of my friends today, "you're delusional if you think I'm getting up at 6 AM for breakfast". I calmly corrrected him that we had to be in line for breakfast at 6AM. That shoots Al's Breakfast in the head, although I'd still like to check out Dinkytown and the campus before heading to Stadium Village and the game.

A couple of years ago I met my former Cal roommate on Big Game Day at 8:30 AM to get in line for Cal/Stanford water polo. There were people who had slept out overnight. I was disgusted and muttered, "no wonder the rest of the country hates and mocks us". We went to the Bear's Lair (on campus pub) instead which opened at 6 AM on Big Game Day. Was embarrassed to admit that a) as undergrads we would have slept on cold concrete to be first in line at 6 AM and b) I knew the chairs we were sitting in came from Pottery Barn. Yikes.

 

[holereader]

Friday/Saturday

Friday night after the Twins game to to Nicolet Mall - the Local and then Brits

Saturday before/after the game - Stub & Herbs and Sally's by the Stadium then downtown for a pub crawl

cab to Runyons for some wings - walk up to Imperial Room then to the Loon. From there go to Gleuck's and then onto Lyon's Pub - from Lyon's you can get back to Nicolet Mall and go to the bar at the W Hotel (trendy spot) from there to Zelo and then back to Local and Brits for the close

Bloddy's Sunday morning at Ikes with the Sunday brunch and your back home

 

[Donovan]

So you're telling me when you have visitors in town the first place you take them is St. Anthony Main? *YAWN*

Okay, maybe we are seeing a difference in what people want. Dinner and hanging out in St Anthony Main is a great place for a good peaceful dinner at Vic's or Pracna and a great view. Then a nice walk in the new St. Anthony Falls Park and walk across the Stone Arch Bridge to the new Guthrie Theater. Great evening in my old 43 year old eyes. Maybe you find that a YAWN, to each there own.

http://www.vicsdining.com/

As others mentioned, if you wanted to cab it to Uptown, Stella's rooftop bar is pretty cool, and Chino Latino's.

http://www.stellasfishcafe.com/

http://www.chinolatino.com/

And yes, Black Sheep Pizza is great, but it is a bit off the beaten path if you don't have a car:
http://www.blacksheeppizza.com/

As far as breakfast Saturday morning, I'm with you, no way 6 AM at Al's. I'm trying Blarney's Pub & Grill in Dinkeytown per suggestions on this site. But if I were you I'd grab breakfast at Ike's which is close to your hotel. Great food:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ikes-food-and-cocktails-minneapolis

 

[UptownMaroon&Gold]

Has anyone mentioned late night food places??? If youre out celebrating a Cal win, or drowning your sorrows from a long night, and still in the mood for some good eats.... In uptown, the Uptown Diner open 24 hours, good after bar crowd, large portions, breakfast anytime.

Or if your still around campus, Santana's down University Ave across 35W, that was always our traditional 3am meal. You'll probably see some football players there, we always did. (circa 2001-05)

 

[Oski Wow Wow]

Thanks again for all your gracious help and hospitality. We had a blast and I apologize for not resposnding sooner, but some pesky unplanned travel cropped up. Plus I've been in the fetal position sobbing about the curses of Cal football for two weeks.

Didn't make it to 7 Corners, but went to Brit's and the Local on Friday. Both good spots. Somehow wandered into an old school sports bar a block from the 'Dome before the game Got in some cheese curds and walleye fingers, but didn't have any sockeye derivates, so missed out on Minnesota culinary bingo.

Metrodome was as quirky as expected, but was really cool to be there during the pennant race. Tigers were staying at our hotel. Rooting for the Twins and hope Mauer gets resigned. Somehow made it onto the big screen singing some some crappy Journey song (redundant). Finished up the evening with Glueck's and Lyon's (?).

Mysteriously heard the Cal fight song on Saturday morning and looked out the window to see the Cal band serenading the team as they left the Radison across the street. Lightrail/bus was easy to Stadium Village, although the bus was a little crowded. Had breakfast at Stub and Herb's. Fun, old school spot. Ran into some Cal friends who had gone to Gasthof's on Friday night. The concierge at the hotel kinda bagged on Pracna/Vic's. Popped into the lobby of Williams Arena.

New football stadium is pretty schweeet. Kicks the crap out of the new Stanford Stadium (a psuedo minor league baseball stadium surrounded by the world's largest Taco Bell). Been to football games at five Big Ten schools (Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Northwestern, U) and the Bank was easily the loudest stadium. Nice atmosphere and you have a good thing going there.

Went to Sally's and Big Ten after the game. Grain Premium is tasty and very thirst quenching on a hot day. Liked the Surly beers too. The Polish beer at Nye's-not so much. Big Ten has some tasty subs.

Fortunately my pirate talking buddy didn't yammer on too much, but we did encounter tons of pirates all weekend. Who knew MSP had a monopoly on Somali cabbies? Gasthof was pretty fun. Food was decent and we were all over the snuff/schnaps action. Gasthof's Oktoberfest is actually more German than the real thing in Munich. Didn't hear any John Denver tunes, hear "Hey Baby" every five minutes, or see any drunks being piled up and hauled out on carts.

Absolutely loved Nye's. Kinda blew off the big lounge room and made a beeline for the narrow old school bar. The band playing polka versions of popular songs cracked us up. Very cool spot.

Didn't realize we needed breakfast reservations at Hell's Kitchen and forgot about Ike's, so we went over to Dinkytown. Al's line was ridiculous, so we went to the Library. Was surprised to see more Packer fans than Viking fans on that Sunday. Cool to see so many Aaron Rodgers' jerseys (back when Cal had a decent QB). The walk across campus was very cool. Really nice campus.

We really loved our trip and your recommendations helped make it for us. People were really nice and we barely scratched the surface on seeing everything. I'll be rooting for the Gophs and Twins going forward. Thanks again. Cheers.

 

[13 Lined Ground Squirrel]

Was surprised to see more Packer fans than Viking fans on that Sunday..

Unfortunately, the Twin Cities have a problem with Wisconsonite illegals swimming across the river to steal low paying jobs. We need a better funded border patrol and some kind of electrified fence.