Nightlife
A casual drive through the Twin Cities might lead you to think that Minnesotans have a serious drinking problem. There are hundreds of little drinking holes throughout the region, sometimes spaced less than a city block apart. The truth is that Minnesotans just like to be together, especially in the winter.
If your idea of a night on the town is catching a good live band, you’re in luck—nearly all the bars and coffee shops in the Twin Cities metro area offer at least one night of live music every week. There are clubs that cater to just about every musical taste you can imagine.
1. The Cabooze
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 338-6425
Address: 917 Cedar Ave.
Description: Since 1974 the Cabooze has opened its doors to nationally recognized touring rock, folk, and instrumental acts as well as many local bands. The Cabooze features musical acts Wednesday through Saturday. It has a large dance floor for those who don’t feel like just standing around, as well as the largest bar in the Twin Cities.
2. Club 3 Degrees
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 781-8488
Address: 113 North Fifth St.
Description: Kind of a rarity in the Twin Cities, Club 3 Degrees is an alcohol-free, smoke-free nightclub for audiences of all ages (until 11 p.m., when the club allows only those 18 and over). The club mostly books politically correct punk bands and Christian rock, but the occasional acoustic act makes its way in now and again.
3. Club Underground
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 627-9123
Address: 355 Monroe St. NE
Description: If you’re an adult, Club Underground is about as close as you’re going to get to partying in your friends’ basements while their parents are away. Unpretentious—to say the least—Club Underground gets the job done, and gets it done loudly. Microbrew aficionados and fans of gentle acoustic strumming can look elsewhere, because Club Underground is about drinking Bud and rocking out. It’s also home to (on Sunday) a weekly comedy show and (on Monday) pub trivia in the least “pub”-like venue in town.
4. Fine Line Music Cafe
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 338-8100
Address: 318 First Ave. North
Description: Offering a blend of folk music, adult rock, and funk, including many local bands with dreams of making it big, the Fine Line is an intimate, comfortable club on good nights and extremely packed and uncomfortable on bad nights. A small menu with American basics such as salads, steak, and pasta is available on nights featuring national touring acts.
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Address: 701 First Ave. North
6. 400 Bar
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 332-2903
Address: 400 Cedar Ave. South
Description: The owners’ former association with Soul Asylum helped bring people into the club when the band was big, but it’s the club’s reputation as a good venue to play that brings the bands in now. Everything from alternative rock to folk to blues acts (and everything in between) from all over the world make this club a regular stop on their tours.
7. Ground Zero/The Front
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 378-5115
Address: 15 Northeast Fourth St.
Description: Ground Zero offers diverse theme nights three times a week. One of the club’s most popular dance nights is “Bondage a go-go,” where every Thursday and Saturday dancers perform relatively tame S&M; some patrons dress in corresponding attire.Besides the large dance floor, Ground Zero has a smaller, cozier lounge room, the Front. Theme nights include Funky Friday, with old-school soul, disco, and R&B; and Astro Lounge, with disco, hip-hop, house, and whatever the DJ feels like playing.
8. Hexagon Bar
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 722-3454
Address: 2600 27th Ave. South
Description: The Hex is in the middle of nowhere (in other words, it’s not downtown, Uptown, Northeast, or on the West Bank), and some nights it feels like the neighborhood bar no one’s discovered; other nights it’s so packed that it feels like no one’s discovered any other neighborhoods. There’s lots of space to pack, too: One half of the venue has tables and a stage for music, while the other half has pool tables. The bar hosts a strong lineup of local indie-rock bands, and on the first Saturday of every month it hosts a now-legendary Surf Night, where the Dick Dales of the 21st century swing their axes with a vengeance.
9. Kitty Cat Klub
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 331-9800
Address: 315 14th Ave. SE
Description: No, the Kitty Cat Klub is not too good to be true—it just feels like it. A sprawling, funky venue furnished in a style that might be best described as through-the-looking-glass Victorian, the KCK serves drinks at surprisingly decent prices. A favorite spot for couples looking to cuddle in one of its many deep couches and for groups of people of all ages who feel too old for, say, the Library, the KCK hosts an impressive and growing lineup of music both acoustic and electric, as well as dance nights with DJs. (The dance floor is small, which just means you have to get friendly all the faster.) The stage doesn’t offer the greatest view lines in town, but the ambience is warm enough that no one seems to mind.
10. Lee’S Liquor Lounge
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 338-9491
Address: 101 Glenwood Ave.
Description: Lee’s hosts live music almost every night, and covers generally run $5 or less for the local and touring acts. The sight lines are good, and the bar is clean and comfortable, despite its slightly rough-around-the-edges roadhouse feel. This is the type of place where you’re equally comfortable tossing back a few beers while bobbing your head or doing your thing on the dance floor. And who doesn’t benefit from rockin’ music, wood paneling, and taxidermy every once in a while?
11. Mayslacks Polka Lounge
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 789-9862
Address: 1428 Northeast Fourth St.
Description: This place can be the best bang for your buck so far as seeing live music. The cover is rarely more than $3, and bands usually play for a good two or three hours—and for the low cover, you can see anything from a brand-new band made up of neighborhood kids to a major label act. The downside is that there are rarely opening bands for acts, so by the time the headliners are finished playing, they’re sometimes panting, out of breath, and usually very drunk. The sound system is better than you might expect from a neighborhood bar. The beer’s moderately priced, too, and on football/soccer/hockey/bartender’s-in-a-good-mood nights, the lounge has some really great specials.
12. Terminal Bar
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 623-4545
Address: 409 Hennepin Ave. East
Description: Most of the patrons of this bar are people from the neighborhood who like to stop by after work for a beer and college kids coming to see local bands perform on the small stage in the back. The draft beer is a little high priced, but there’s a popcorn machine always full of popcorn, and if you ask nicely, you can always sample the bar favorite, a hard-boiled egg on a Ritz cracker with a little mustard. The cover charge, if there is one, is usually very cheap.
13. Triple Rock Social Club
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 333-7499
Address: 629 Cedar Ave. South
Description: The Triple Rock Social Club is the punk rock bar and restaurant of the Twin Cities. It is owned by Erik Funk, a member of legendary local punk band Dillinger 4. The jukebox is particularly interesting—filled with a surprisingly eclectic range of music, from punk to R&B to metal—patrons’ selections never cease to amaze and create an interesting atmosphere. Also of note is the wide selection of beers on tap, a dozen at last count. The Triple Rock’s menu contains sandwiches, salads, burgers, and one of the Twin Cities’ largest selections of vegetarian and vegan items.
14. Whiskey Junction
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 338-9550
Address: 901 Cedar Ave.
Description: With lots of local music and beer and food specials, Whiskey Junction, just down the street from the Cabooze, attracts a slightly grungy crowd, including plenty of students from the nearby University of Minnesota and Augsburg College. Two bars keep thirsty patrons busy, and the Whiskey has several pool tables and TVs, often flickering with various sporting events (the bar is the base for the unofficial Cleveland Browns Fan Club, making a brave statement in Vikings country). Whiskey Junction has an excellent selection of tap beers, including the local favorite, Summit, as well as rarer finds on tap, such as Beamish Stout, Boddington Cream Ale, Fullers India Pale Ale, and Paulaner Hefe Weizen. The bar also serves bar food, such as burgers, pizza, sandwiches, hot wings, and salads.
15. The Whole Music Cafe
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (612) 625-2272
Address: 300 Washington Ave. SE
Description: The Whole, originally called the Gopher Hole, occupies the basement of Coffman Union on the University of Minnesota–Minneapolis campus. The 40-year-old venue has a venerable history, including early days as a coffeehouse featuring folky songsters and poets and later as a haven for new wave, punk, and indie-rock bands and their devoted student (mostly) fans. When Coffman Union underwent a $71 million renovation, improvements to the Whole included such coveted features as bathrooms and a rocking sound system. But the architects wisely left the gritty, down-in-the-cellar atmosphere much as it always has been, a nod to the tradition of this little underground club in the heart of the university.