Cuzzy’s

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Field Rating

7

out of 10

Watch your dollar bill get absorbed into the wall.

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All Minneapolis Dive Bars

The Basics

507 N Washington Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55401

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In Short

An enduring cornerstone of Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood, Cuzzy’s takes the dive bar tradition of lining the walls with dollar bills to the extreme. Low on frills, Cuzzy’s endures thanks to its prime location in a growing part of the city and an outright refusal to bend to the whims of a changing landscape outside of the bare walls and a sign outside that reads “Open til closed.”

Field Note

The North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis has a reputation as an up and coming part of the city, an area of converted warehouses in the grand tradition of urban gentrification. As the scene evolves, Cuzzy’s remains largely unchanged, a short squat building little more than a brick rectangle in the middle of an area that once served as the primary shipping hub of the city. Those roots show through, Cuzzy’s marked by little more than a red sign, some green paint and a half stone façade.

The walls, patches of the ceiling, the baseboards, the crown molding, even the disco ball that hangs from the ceiling houses a handful of dollar bills.

The competition for diviest dive bar can sometimes feel like a race to the highest per capita coverage of dollar bills to wall space, and though that’s a little simplistic about what makes a dive bar great, Cuzzy’s may just win that race regardless. Sure, the bar area is covered, but so too are the walls, patches of the ceiling, the baseboards, the crown molding, even the disco ball that hangs from the ceiling houses a handful of dollar bills.

As far as amenities, Cuzzy’s runs thin, in a good way, sticking to the basics with a handful of low tables running one wall of the space, a basic wooden bar along the opposite wall. Though difficult to see underneath the dollar bill wallpaper throughout, Cuzzy’s keeps alive the dive bar tradition of vertical wood paneling, capped by painted black ceiling tiles. Underfoot, mosaic tile ties together the space, making for a brighter than usual dive bar interior.

An extensive back patio stretches off the rear of Cuzzy’s, making for a dive bar beer garden of sorts.

Perfect for the North Loop location within walking distance of downtown Minneapolis events, an extensive back patio stretches off the rear of Cuzzy’s, making for a dive bar beer garden of sorts when the weather cooperates. Plastic picnic tables mix with low metal chairs surrounded by a wooden fence, otherwise known as the outdoor version of dive bar interior wood paneling.

And that’s the story of Cuzzy’s, a North Loop Minneapolis institution watching the neighborhood grow up around it without doing so much as lift a finger in response. There may be a TouchTunes on the wall and a handful of televisions for distraction, but the dollar bill-laden walls command the right kind of dive bar attention, making for the type of no frills drinking environment befitting a town with the roots of Minneapolis and a neighborhood like the North Loop.