Alarys
139 E. 7th St., St. Paul; 651-224-7717
Alarys is a bit like Hooters, but not quite as classy. So there are a LOT of dudes, and a lot of cops—the bar is dedicated to the Boys in Blue and decorated with cop memorabilia from around the country. It is also, oddly enough, the only Chicago Bears bar in the city, so on game day, refugees from Chi-town have a home here. So to recap: boys in blue, booze, and Da Bears. Also, word on the street is that the servers don’t put on “the outfits” until 9 p.m., so plan accordingly.
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Biff's Billiards Sports Bar & Grill
7777 NE Highway 65, Fridley; 763-784-9446
At the northern edge of the second-ring suburbs, two bright-red billiard sticks shoot like alien antennae toward the heavens. Welcome to Biff’s, a large, well-built pool hall-cum-sports bar popular for its darts and billiards leagues. The regular denizens tend toward well-made-up college-age gals and somewhat older guys with curious patches of facial hair. If you find yourself there on a Tuesday, a tiny crew of karaoke aficionados will high five you even after you defile Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way.”
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Billy's on Grand
857 Grand Ave., St. Paul; 651-292-9140
Billy’s is a family-friendly restaurant for burger and rib lovers during the day, but as the night wears on and the kids go nighty-night, it turns into a friendly neighborhood sports bar—the sort of place where Vikings and Packers fans alike can share their joys and drown their sorrows. Inside, there are three separate bars with thirty-five televisions, six plasma screens, and two large screens, so the onscreen action is never very far away. The clientele is more eclectic and boisterous during the summertime, when the Billy’s patio scene kicks into high gear. Weekend evenings are especially crowded, but if you like beer, cheap eats, lots of bustle, and no frills, head to Billy’s.
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Brit's Pub
1110 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.; 612-332-3908
After a long day as a cog—an important cog, but a cog nonetheless—in one of downtown's many corporate wheels, all the crowd at Brit's wants is a pint, a Scotch egg or two, and a game of lawn bowling or Cosgrove Trivia Challenge before retreating to one of the pub's many dark corners to watch a football match.
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Cardinal Bar & Tavern
2920 E. 38th St., Mpls.; 612-724-5837
They may not scream “NORM!” when you walk in, but the Cardinal Tavern feels like a pub where everybody knows your name. Located off the 38th St. Light Rail stop, the Cardinal has all the necessities of a good neighborhood bar: regular clientele, cheap beer and wine, a large menu of greasy food and plenty of pool tables and dart boards. The cozy Longfellow location may not look like much, but whether you’re cheering the Twins or competing in the bar’s karaoke contests, the Cardinal Tavern is a reliable place to make a few new friends.
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Champion's Saloon & Eatery
105 W. Lake St., Mpls.; 612-827-4765
Champion's Saloon & Eatery is a south Minneapolis institution of sorts--the sort that would call a place that serves food an "eatery." Essentially a neighborhood sports bar with grub, Champion's serves a staunchly working-class clientele in an iffy neighborhood, and the evening crowd is often described as "rough." For those who aren't so rough, it's the sort of place that requires a careful risk-assessment before entering. At the end of the day, though, Champion's is no more and no less than a large, neighborhood dive with a big island bar in the middle. If you're content to sip your suds and watch the game, it can be a fun place to hang out, and if you''re a writer looking for characters, you will find several novels' worth here on any given night of the week.
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Dan Kelly's Bar & Grill
212 S. 7th St., Mpls.; 612-333-2644
Dan Kelly’s sounds like it might be an Irish bar, and it might, but only if serving Guinness and tacking a shamrock or two on the wall makes it so. What Dan Kelly’s really is is a comfortable, middle-of-the-road watering hole/burger joint that does a killer happy-hour business because of all the nearby office buildings and thirsty workers therein. The action tapers off after the dinner hour, when it becomes an odd and rather subdued oasis in a part of town where there isn’t much action after 7 p.m. It’s also a popular rallying point before and after Vikings and Twins games at the Dome. The burgers and sammies are tasty, the appetizers huge, the prices reasonable, and the staff friendly—so if you’re in the mood to just drink, eat, and talk, DK’s will suffice. Just don’t ask for much more.
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Dubliner Pub
2162 University Ave. W, St. Paul; 651-646-5551
This modest St. Paul pub is known to pour some of the best Guinness in town, and can be a lively place to have a drink, especially on St. Paddy's Day. They host a variety of Irish folk music groups pretty much every night, and even have Irish dancing on Wednesdays. Many of St. Paul's so-called "Irish mafia" hang out here, but they don't look any different from anyone else—except that sometimes they're friendlier. If you're looking for a casual, authentic Irish experience, you could do worse than the Dubliner.
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Goby's Grille & Pub
472 Snelling Ave. S., St. Paul; 651-690-5731
Cheap beer and big, tasty burgers are the main draws at Goby’s, which appeals to a clientele underserved by most other establishments in the St. Paul’s Mac-Groveland area—namely people who are interested in cheap drinks and foods that ooze. Goby’s management has never met a piece of sports memorabilia it didn’t like, and the place is always relatively dark inside, even during the day. Thursdays are buck-a-beer night, so a lot of people with less than ten dollars in their pocket head to Goby’s to make a night of it. On weekends, college students who can’t get into nearby Plum’s spill over and turn the place into an interesting social-science experiment. If you want to fit in, wear jeans and a John Deere hat.
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Hubert's Bar
601 Chicago Ave., Mpls.; 612-332-6062
Hubert’s is the de facto Twins/Vikings bar, since it’s just a line drive from the Metrodome’s F Gate. In the winter, Vikings fans pour in for a brew or two before the game, and those who couldn’t score tickets (or wanted to save their money for important things, like nachos) stay well into the fourth quarter, drowning their sorrows in PBR. Twins fans get the advantage of the three-season back patio, where they grill up brats and serve oversized cans of domestic and imported beer. Arrive early on game days if you plan on scoring a seat. And a warning: no game tends to equal no crowd, so you might want to get to Hubert’s before the slew of new stadiums are finished.
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