Minneapolis has over 400 bars, but most are forgettable. Generic sports bars with 30 beers on tap and no personality. Hotel lobbies masquerading as cocktail lounges. These ten are different — the bars with craft, character, and bartenders who actually give a damn about what they're pouring.
We spent a year visiting bars across every neighborhood, from Northeast dive bars to North Loop cocktail spots to South Minneapolis neighborhood taps. We talked to bartenders, tried the signature drinks, and watched how places treated regulars versus tourists. Last updated January 2025.
1. Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge
Northeast Minneapolis • $ • Tiki bar, riverside patio, pizza
Psycho Suzi's is a tiki bar on the Mississippi River that doesn't take itself seriously and doesn't need to. The drinks are strong and cheap. The patio is enormous — 200 seats overlooking the water. The pizza is better than it has any right to be. This is summer in Minneapolis: Mai Tais in plastic tiki mugs, boats docking at the bar, sunset over the river, and absolutely zero pretension. They've been doing this since 2003, and the formula hasn't changed because the formula works.
Pro Tip
Go on a weekday afternoon in summer. The patio is half-empty, the river is calm, and you can actually get a seat. Order the Jet Pilot (their strongest drink) and the pepperoni pizza. This is the move.
2. Marvel Bar
North Loop • $$$ • Craft cocktails, speakeasy vibe, no menu
Marvel Bar opened in 2008 in a North Loop basement and immediately became the city's most serious cocktail program. There's no menu — you tell the bartender what you like (spirit, flavor profile, mood) and they build you a drink. The atmosphere is dark and intimate: low ceilings, booth seating, candlelight. The bartenders are artists who happen to work with booze. Drinks are $16 and worth every penny. This is where you go when you want to be impressed.
Pro Tip
Arrive before 8pm. Marvel doesn't take reservations, and weekends get packed. Tell the bartender you like whiskey-forward drinks with citrus — they'll make you something perfect.
3. The 331 Club
Northeast Minneapolis • $ • Dive bar, live music, neighborhood classic
The 331 Club has been a Northeast dive bar since 1945. It survived urban renewal, gentrification, and three generations of neighborhood change by staying exactly what it is: cheap beer, strong pours, a stage for local bands, and zero interest in being anything fancier. The ceiling is covered in dollar bills. The jukebox is legendary. The crowd is artists, blue-collar workers, and people who've been coming here for decades. This is the real Minneapolis.
Pro Tip
Check the live music schedule — they book excellent local acts most nights. Get a High Life and a shot of Jameson for $6. Sit at the bar and talk to whoever's next to you.
4. Travail Kitchen & Amusements
Robbinsdale • $$$ • Molecular cocktails, tasting menu bar, experimental
Travail is technically in Robbinsdale (just outside Minneapolis), but it's too good to skip. The bar program matches the restaurant's experimental approach: molecular cocktails, smoke, unusual ingredients, presentations that surprise you. Order the "Trust Us" cocktail tasting — five drinks that progress through flavors and techniques. It's expensive ($60), theatrical, and unlike anything else in the Twin Cities. This is bar-as-performance-art.
Pro Tip
Sit at the bar counter, not a table. The bartenders explain each drink as they make it, and watching the process is half the experience. Make a reservation — this place books out weeks in advance.
5. Parlour Bar
Downtown • $$ • Craft cocktails, burgers, classic atmosphere
Parlour Bar sits underneath Cosmos restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. It's been the after-work spot for downtown professionals since 2009 — dark wood, leather booths, exposed brick, cocktails made correctly. The bar program is serious without being precious: classic cocktails executed perfectly, seasonal specials that make sense. The burger is one of the city's best. This is what an adult bar should be: sophisticated, comfortable, unpretentious.
Pro Tip
Order the Old Fashioned and the Parlour Burger. Sit in a booth. This is the perfect date night or business meeting spot — conversation-friendly and classy without trying too hard.
6. Tattersall Distilling
Northeast Minneapolis • $$ • Craft distillery, cocktail room, grain-to-glass
Tattersall makes its own spirits in a Northeast Minneapolis warehouse, then serves them in an attached cocktail room. You're drinking gin, vodka, aquavit, and liqueurs made 50 feet from where you're sitting. The cocktails showcase the spirits without gimmicks. The space is industrial-chic: high ceilings, big windows, communal tables. Tours of the distillery are available if you want to see how it's made. This is Minneapolis's grain-to-glass movement done right.
Pro Tip
Try the aquavit — it's a Scandinavian spirit that makes sense in Minneapolis. The Orange Crema liqueur is unexpectedly excellent in cocktails. Do the distillery tour if you're interested in craft spirits.
7. Barrio
Multiple locations • $$ • Tequila bar, Mexican food, rooftop patios
Barrio has three Minneapolis locations (Uptown, North Loop, and Grand Avenue in St. Paul), and all share the same formula: excellent tequila selection, creative margaritas, solid Mexican food, and rooftop patios that make summer in Minneapolis worth the winter. The margaritas are dangerous — made with real juice, quality tequila, and served in glasses the size of your head. The guacamole is made tableside. The atmosphere is loud, fun, and packed on weekends. This is where you go to have a good time.
Pro Tip
Go to the North Loop location for the best patio. Order the tableside guacamole and a Classic Margarita with Espolòn Reposado. Pace yourself — these drinks sneak up on you.
8. CC Club
Uptown • $ • Dive bar, late night, no bullshit
CC Club opened in 1934, the year after Prohibition ended, and it hasn't changed much since. This is Uptown's classic dive bar: cheap drinks, dim lighting, punk rock on the jukebox, and a crowd that ranges from artists to service industry workers to people who've been drinking here for 40 years. There's no craft cocktail menu. No exposed brick redesign. Just a bar that pours strong, charges fair, and stays open until 2am. This is what dive bars used to be.
Pro Tip
Order a Grain Belt Premium and a shot of whiskey. Don't expect food — this is a drinking bar. Go late (after 11pm) when the service industry crowd shows up.
9. Young Joni
Northeast Minneapolis • $$ • Wood-fired pizza, cocktails, hip atmosphere
Young Joni is technically a restaurant (wood-fired pizza, Korean-inspired dishes), but the bar program is excellent enough to warrant a spot on this list. The cocktails are creative without being weird: seasonal ingredients, unexpected combinations, drinks that actually taste good instead of just looking impressive. The atmosphere is stylish — industrial-chic with vintage details and booth seating. This is where you go when you want good drinks, good food, and an environment that doesn't make you feel old or young, just present.
Pro Tip
Sit at the bar and order a seasonal cocktail plus the Korean Fried Chicken pizza. Make a reservation on weekends — this place is popular for good reason.
10. Nye's Polonaise Room
Northeast Minneapolis • $$ • Piano bar, supper club, Minneapolis institution
The original Nye's closed in 2016 after 65 years, breaking Minneapolis's heart. The new Nye's reopened in 2018 in a different location, carefully recreating what made the original special: piano bar singalongs, supper club atmosphere, enormous cocktails served in vintage glassware, polka music on weekends. It's nostalgic without being kitsch, retro without feeling forced. This is Minneapolis embracing its past while moving forward — a bar that knows what it was and refuses to become something else.
Pro Tip
Go on a weeknight for the piano bar — request a song, sing along, embrace the nostalgia. Order a classic cocktail and the walleye dinner. This is Minnesota supper club culture at its best.
Why Minneapolis Bars Work
Minneapolis bars don't try to be anything other than what they are. The dive bars are actually divey. The cocktail lounges take craft seriously without the pretension. The neighborhood spots serve their neighborhoods. There's no scene-chasing, no trend-hopping, no desperate attempts to be Brooklyn or Portland or anywhere else.
That's Minnesota in general: unpretentious excellence. Good bars, good drinks, good people. No bullshit.
