Minneapolis Dive Bar Guide

The Perfect Storm

The Upper Midwest is the right kind of weather-fueled breeding ground for hard-drinking dive bars able to withstand deep tranches of snow and humid summer heat. Minneapolis is, in a lot of ways, the perfect dive bar city, a community that embraces drinking and great food, a love affair so strong that the region’s signature food, a hamburger patty with a molten cheese core, was born, arguably, in a dive bar in the middle of a residential neighborhood. And though the true heritage of the Juicy Lucy is a debated historical footnote, the two main options are a dive bar and an ex-speakeasy that opened in 1928, two robust options.

The Nordeast, a neighborhood just across the Mississippi River from the city’s urban core, holds the city’s densest concentration of dive bars, a corridor with some of the purest Minneapolis has to offer, from a timeless brick rectangle like Jimmy’s Bar & Lounge to a green glowing outpost under a Ferris wheel like Tony Jaros’ River Garden. Beyond, amazing dive bars are built into the fabric of neighborhoods throughout the region, like The Nook with its subterranean dollar bill-lined bowling alley dive bar or The Spot, opened in 1885, its wood panel exterior looking it might just fit in during the 1800s.

And there’s more to the food here than the Juicy Lucy, though Matt’s Bar is an excellent place to start the pilgrimage (and it’s spelled “Jucy Lucy” according to them, of course). Dusty’s Bar, another Nordeast luminary, offers the dago, a variation on a hamburger made with ground pork. And Gopher Bar, maybe the last great dive bar in downtown St. Paul, is deservedly famous for coney dogs served with meat sauce (not chili) atop split Texas toast-style buns.

Food, drinking, dive bars, these things go hand in hand, and Minneapolis provides a perfect storm, resulting in neighborhood after neighborhood each with its own CC Club, its own Palmer’s Bar, creating a dive bar inventory of sorts hard to rival in the Upper Midwest and elsewhere.

Minneapolis Dive Bar Reviews

Ranked Order

Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Gopher Bar

Downtown St. Paul has changed over the years. Gopher Bar and its signature coneys have not.
Review Rating: 10 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

CC Club

The ultimate neighborhood dive bar. Corner spot, early hours, family vibe, spacious interior.
Review Rating: 10 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

The Nook

It’s an underground bowling alley dive bar that serves Juicy Lucy’s. What more needs to be said.
Review Rating: 9 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Dusty's Bar

Grab a dago, get some soup and basically forget that Minneapolis winters exist.
Review Rating: 9 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Palmer's Bar

Palmer’s is home to maybe the smallest stage in the city, a staple that opened in 1906.
Review Rating: 9 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Jimmy's Bar & Lounge

The phrase that comes to mind is “no nonsense,” from the sign out front to the booths that line the space.
Review Rating: 9 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Matt's Bar

At Matt’s, it’s called a “Jucy Lucy” and the perfection that comes from a tiny bar-side flattop is amazing.
Review Rating: 9 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Tony Jaros' River Garden

Under a Ferris wheel and home of the Greenie, a lime & vodka cocktail, the green glow is pervasive.
Review Rating: 8 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Terminal Bar

Terminal Bar takes wood paneling to the extreme, barely allowing windows amid its wood-lined facade.
Review Rating: 8 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

The Spot

Visiting anything open since 1885 is an honor, let alone a dive bar that serves Hamm’s.
Review Rating: 8 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Northeast Yacht Club

King of the Port of Minneapolis, the Yacht Club anchors the Nordeast neighborhood.
Review Rating: 7 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Cuzzy's

The dollar bill game is strong at this downtown-adjacent dive where even the disco ball is tagged.
Review Rating: 7 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Spring Street Tavern

Let’s say you need a Bloody Mary at 8 AM and a shot at 1 AM. Spring Street has you covered.
Review Rating: 7 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Mayslack's

Renovations are afoot here, but original booths and an amazing ceiling have held firm.
Review Rating: 7 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Vegas Lounge

Assault your ear drums with this relentless hot box of a late night karaoke dive bar.
Review Rating: 7 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

The 1029 Bar

Meat raffles, bingo nights, pull tabs, every gambling vice is indulged at this neighborhood dive.
Review Rating: 7 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Moose Bar & Grill

Take everything good about a sports bar and dial it up one notch – with a dash of karaoke.
Review Rating: 6 of 10
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Schooner Tavern

Recipient of a pervasive renovation, the bones here can still be seen, dating back to Prohibition.
Review Rating: 6 of 10

Minneapolis Neighborhood Crawls

East Bank Extended

Bier Stube - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior
Sliver of dive bar life & late night karaoke along the Mississippi River.

Juicy Lucy Loop

Beck Tavern - Columbus Dive Bar - Interior
The endless search for molten cheese-filled beef continues.

Minneapolis Nordeast

Mickey's Dive Bar Columbus
The most potent concentration of dive bars in a city made for dive bars.

Minneapolis Dive Bars Not Yet Reviewed

Must Visit Recommendations

Unfortunately, we have not yet been to every single dive bar in the city, but there probably a few more punch cards on our livers, so we’ll make it there soon. In the meantime, the curated list of dives below comes highly recommended by a variety of friends, online sources and drunks.

North St. Paul

Neumann's

2531 7th Ave E
North St Paul, MN 55109
Google Map

East Bank

Otter Saloon

617 Central Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Google Map

Northeast

Shaw's

1528 University Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Google Map

West Seventh

Skinners

919 Randolph Ave
St Paul, MN 55102
Google Map

Hamline-Midway

Turf Club

1601 University Ave W
St Paul, MN 55104
Google Map

Other Dive Bar Options

Reader Submitted

Bull's Horn

4563 S 34th Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Google Map

Reader Submitted

The Joint

913 Cedar Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Google Map

Reader Submitted

Willard's Liquor

738 Thomas Ave W
St. Paul, MN 55104
Google Map

19 Bar

19 W 15th St
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Google Map

331 Club

331 13th Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Google Map

Arcade Bar

932 Arcade St
St. Paul, MN 55106
Google Map

Frenchman's

1400 E 66th St
Minneapolis, MN 55423
Google Map

Grumpy's Northeast

2200 4th St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
Google Map

Half Time Rec

1013 Front Ave
St Paul, MN 55103
Google Map

Knight Cap

1500 4th St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Google Map

Lyon's Pub

16 South 6th St
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Google Map

Merlins Rest

3601 E Lake St
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Google Map

Mortimer's

2001 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55405
Google Map

NE Palace

2500 4th St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
Google Map

Shantytown

8512 Pillsbury Ave S
Bloomington, MN 55420
Google Map

Ted's Recreation

1084 Larpenteur Ave W
St Paul, MN 55113
Google Map

The Cardinal

2920 E 38th St
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Google Map

Uptown VFW

2916 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55408
Google Map

What Did We Miss?

9 + 15 =

Browse All City-By-City Listings

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This