Scooter’s 1635th bar, first visited in 2023.

I had a Castle Cream Ale by Castle Danger Brewery.

617 Central Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
United States
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(612) 331-4169
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Scooter’s 1634th bar, first visited in 2023.

Bartender: “What can I get for you?”

Me: “Oh, the Maple Bacon Old Fashioned. I came here specifically for that!”

Bartender: “Oohhhh, I’m sorry, you must have looked at our online menu. That is horribly out of date. We don’t have that anymore.”

NOOOO!!!! NAVIN WAS RIGHT!!!!! DON’T TRUST WHITEY!!!!

Bartender: “The espresso martini is pretty good.”

Me: “Ok, I’ll take that!”

Bartender: “Oops, we’re out of martini glasses. Is a wine glass okay?”

Me: “Sure, as long as it’s still the same amount.”

Don’t worry, Trey Westbrook, despite this being named “Probably The Best Espresso Martini In The Whole World”, yours is still better.

Other pics from this visit:

I was hungry but wanted something quick, so I got the fried walleye strips appetizer.

Technically this is a trough, but only if you and your very close friend are more slender than most. For those of us with BMIs over about 6, this is effectively just a wide urinal.

400 E Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55414
United States
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(612) 623-9478
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Scooter’s 1632nd bar, first visited in 2023.

Much of the menu was stuff I just wasn’t in the mood for at that moment, so rather than getting a few small pours I opted for a full pour of Stout And About (a stout, duh).

This picture was specifically to remind me that yes, there is outdoor seating, but for obvious reasons no one was using it today:

945 Broadway St NE Suite 188
Minneapolis, MN 55413
United States
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(612) 930-4606
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Scooter’s 1631st bar, first visited in 2023.

This is a massive German beer brewery with a huge indoor beer hall and a massive covered outdoor area that was getting a lot of use despite the weather.

Even with all that seating, there was no place for me to sit. I had to just kind of find a spot sort of out of the way to stand and drink my beer. Because of this, I opted to have just one beer: Mostly Umlauts (German chocolate stout).

Out in the parking lot three drivers were apparent morons and parked in such a way that created a third row, blocking one of the drive paths and completely boxing in three other vehicles. By the time I left one of those trapped vehicles had managed to escape after a properly-parked car across from it left.

I didn’t need to worry about the parking lot though, as from here it was a short walk to the next place.

1315 Tyler St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
United States
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(612) 276-6911
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Scooter’s 1630th bar, first visited in 2023.

I had the Flavorwave IPA and the Mexican Honey Noir (Mexican dark lager with honey). The later was a substitution when a barleywine that I had been interested in was missing from the tap list. It turned out I should have asked — as I was leaving I saw someone ask for it and they got it. It must have been a special release that wasn’t on the board. Dammit.

Though I remembered to collect stickers as most places, this was the only brewery where I found a shirt in my size that I liked.

711 NE 15th Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55413
United States
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(612) 843-5090
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Scooter’s 1629th bar, first visited in 2023.

It was quite crowded, but I was lucky enough to find a single open seat at the bar. I had the Double Cream Coffee Dream (cream ale) and the Peanut Butter Honey Double Trifle Stout (basically a drinkable dessert).

There was a soft serve machine behind the bar that they use for certain beer drinks. Someone to my right ordered one, the bartender went over and looked at the machine, came back shaking her head, then got up on a stool and erased that item from the menu. So I didn’t get to see what that would have been.

1300 NE 2nd St
Minneapolis, MN 55413
United States
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(612) 259-7283
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Scooter’s 1628th bar, first visited in 2023.

This would end up being my favorite of today’s breweries, and if I didn’t have such a long list planned I could have easily spent another hour here.

I had The Purpleest Tooth (imperial stout aged 21 months in port wine barrels) and You Can Have the Crown (imperial stout w/o adjuncts). I would like to have had quite a bit more but I’d have to end the day much much earlier if I did. Consequently, I also missed out on another hour’s worth of puns from one of the bartenders.

From here I revisited NE Palace (last visited August 2006, see that post for the updates). My plan from there was to then “re-visit” Stasiu’s, now known as Stanley’s Northeast Bar Room, from which my plan was to walk to Dangerous Man Brewing by way of Grumpy’s Bar, Jimmy’s Bar & Lounge, and Shaw’s Bar & Grill — all dive bars spaced roughly every 2 blocks along the way. Unfortunately most of the sidewalks had not been cleared and with all the slush I was running low on dry socks to change into, so I sadly decided to cut this walking dive bar crawl and uber directly to the next brewery. I’ll have to try this run again sometime when I’m here in better weather.

Like the previous brewery (which I forgot to mention in my recap of it), this is a co-op, meaning patrons can and do buy shares of ownership in the brewery. Hence this sign (“Drink Like You Own The Place”):

The beer garden was unusable due to the snow, this picture was just to remind me that they had one:

2506 NE Central Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55418
United States
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Scooter’s 1627th bar, first visited in 2023.

8 to 10 inches of snow had fallen overnight, and getting the roads cleared was apparently taking a lot longer than usual according to the locals. Consequently it took me about 30 minutes to get my Uber ride here, something that had usually taken only a few minutes the previous two days. I got out of my car in one snow drift and had to cross another to get inside. Along the way I lost my glasses in the snow (I still had my sunglasses on so didn’t notice until I was inside and ready to change them) but amazingly was able to find them.

This new brewery is right on the bank of the Mississippi River, and while I was enjoying my beer a group was gathering for a tour event that was being delayed due to so many people running late due to the snow.

I had the Lavender Uprising (IPA infused with lavender), Sweater Weather (porter), and Down By The River (pilsner).

I was supposed to go to 56 Brewing next, but due to the long lead times to get rides (which is why I ended up getting a third beer here) I decided to cut 56 Brewing in favor of the portions of my itinerary that were clumped closer together.

If you look closely you can see the river out the back window. I would imagine that in the future when the weather allows, there will be some sort of outdoor seating here.

1712 Marshall St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
United States
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(612) 440-4570
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Scooter’s 1147th bar, first visited in 2016.

I had the Sky-Five! (IPA) by Bauhaus Brew Labs, and also learned that in certain cases bacon-wrapped little smokies in a brown sugar glaze do taste good.

1900 Marshall St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
US
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(612) 788-9069
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Scooter’s 1146th bar, first visited in 2016.

I had the Coffee Bender (brown ale) by Surly.

2501 Marshall St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
US
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(612) 315-4997
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Scooter’s 173rd bar, first visited in 2006.

2025 W River Rd
Minneapolis, MN 55411
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(612) 529-7745
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Scooter’s 172nd bar, first visited in 2006.

825 E Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55414
US
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(612) 331-8781
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Scooter’s 171st bar, first visited in 2006.

Bartender: “What can I do for you?”
Brandon: “Two Bud Lights, please.”
Bartender: (in a snappy tone) “Well then you had better have some ID on you.”

The relationship deteriorated from there despite several attempts to patch it up. Several times the bartender came and stood right next to us watching us drink, making us rather uncomfortable. Then finally he started telling us about the building and we thought maybe he was finally warming up to us, until he encouraged us to take our drinks to the piano bar in the back. Just trying to get rid of us. We still have no idea what we did.

112 E Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55414
US
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(612) 379-2021
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Scooter’s 170th bar, first visited in 2006.

729 Marshall St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
US
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(612) 378-9702
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Scooter’s 169th bar, first visited in 2006.

801 Marshall St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
US
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(612) 378-1740

Scooter’s 168th bar, first visited in 2006.

Notable in the news for being busted by ASCAP –for having karaoke on September 6, 2007, without paying royalties.

1029 Marshall St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
US
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(612) 379-4322
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Closed, but a new bar has opened in the same location.
Now Stanley’s Northeast Bar Room

Scooter’s 166th bar, first visited in 2006.

2500 University Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
US
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(612) 788-2529
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Revisited 17 years later in 2023, scroll down for more.

Scooter’s 165th bar, first visited in 2006.

The patio…

The biggest change I noticed was all the flatscreens everywhere, including four behind the bar configured into one giant screen. The other change I noticed is that the pool table we offended in 2006 was nowhere to be found. I was worried I had remembered the pool table story wrong all these years (like attributing it to the wrong bar), but one of the regulars assured me there used to be a pool table and showed me where it was. I joked that after how badly my friend and I played on it in 2006 they probably took it out back and shot it.

Where this standalone counter is now is where the pool table was that we defiled 17 years earlier:

For most of my visit the “4 panels as 1″ screen was being glitchy, but a few minutes before I left someone worked on the settings and got the upper left screen back in synch.

2500 4th St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
US
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(612) 788-2305
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OUT OF BUSINESS
Closed Jan. 31, 2007, due to smoking ban.

Scooter’s 164th bar, first visited in 2006.

We ended up making it to 35, but one place we made absolutely sure we visited was Sully’s. After all, how could we pass up a place that gets online reviews like these?

* “As a young woman, I was crazy to go in there alone. I am lucky I made it out of there not drugged or something. The staff is not very pleasant either.”

* “It’s way below a DIVE bar. Don’t bother checking it out.”

* “Watch your back while tossing down the real cheap beer”

* “Danger! Danger! Watch yourself! For those who crave excitement, check this place out. Drug deals in bathroom are a constant. ”

* “I wish giving this bar zero stars was an option. ”

* “Don’t wear your nice clothes, as you might get a little blood on them in the scrap you’ll find yourself in after a few too many rounds of Jim Beam.”

* “So put on your steel-toed boots and brass knuckles, and head on down to Sully’s. Where the men are men, and so are the women.”

* “Sully’s, where livers go to die. Truly a manifestation of end-stage alcoholism, this is the spot from whence the four horsemen of the apocalypse shall arrive to wreak havoc upon the earth as judgment day draws nigh.”

* “I simply cannot stress to you how god awful this place is. Horrific traumatic memories flood my mind and my senses are transported to its urine scented pint glasses and feces stained walls just thinking about it.”

* “A scummy dump. Every “patron” in here looks like a meth user/dealer. If you’re looking to get harassed or assaulted, this is the place for you.”

There was no way we were passing this up!

We arrived at Sully’s at 2:55 on an overcast Saturday afternoon. Like most places in Minneapolis (and I wish more places in Kansas City), parking was in the rear so we entered through the back door.

Because of the Minneapolis smoking ban there was no tobacco smell to mask the base odor of stale urine, faint remnants of vomit, and a faint but sharp odor that was reminiscent of the spray of a male cat.

We made our way down the narrow corridor to the large rectangular bar, where I ordered an Icehouse and my friend ordered a Bud.

We spied a Silver Strike machine and decided to play. My friend accidentally chose a female character so he made sure I did as well. I had never actually played before, so after losing the first game he gave me some pointers. I came back to defeat him for the next two games.

Meanwhile an intoxicated biker was trying to make song selections on the adjacent Internet jukebox but could not figure out how to use it. He asked for our help, so my cohort helped him find and play Still Loving You by the Scorpions as well as some Helloween, Metallica, and Black Sabbath. Eventually he decided he no longer needed help, and expressed this by grabbing my pal’s arm and pushing him away.

Despite this minor scuffle we were a little let down. This was not the diviest dive we have been to, and it wouldn’t even come close to being our scariest bar experience that day. (That would come about 3-1/2 hours later and will be the subject of a future post.) Still, this was a place that definitely met every single one of our dive bar criteria and was well worth the trip.

As we left the bar we were cornered by a pair of drug dealers in the parking lot. They were selling prescription drugs and were especially pimping their Vicodin.

“How much is that going for?” my friend asked.

“$2 a pill,” replied one of the dealers.

“Hmmmm…..” my friend paused as he feigned interest, “Naw, I’ll have to pass. I can get them much cheaper from the hospital I work at.”

As we climbed into the car I took a picture of the drug dealers to remember them by.

Sully’s was located in the Nord East area of Minneapolis, on the east side of Central just north of Lowry. Unfortunately it has closed, the smoking ban has been cited as the reason for it’s demise. As of this time we have been unable to confirm if another bar has re-opened in its place, and there is information that a neighboring food processing facility may have expanded into this location. It appears Sully’s is now just a memory.

2519 Central Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
US
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(612) 781-6658

Scooter’s 163rd bar, first visited in 2006.

Just before we left one of the customers wanted to watch ESPN but nobody knew what channel ESPN was on. “This must be a gay bar,” quipped Brandon.

UPDATE

Re-visited exact 10 years later to-the-day, on August 12, 2016. The outside had been spiffed up a bit but the inside was exactly as I remembered it. (Minus the “all employees must wash genitals” sign that apparently left with a soap dispenser upgrade.)

This time we had The Greenie, their signature drink for about the past century, that in 2016 we either didn’t know about or were too nervous to try. I don’t know what’s in it, but it cured both of our hangovers and we were ready for the day after finishing it.

2500 Marshall St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
US
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(612) 789-9728
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Scooter’s 162nd bar, first visited in 2006.

2519 Marshall Streeet NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
US
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(612) 788-9069
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Scooter’s 161st bar, first visited in 2006.

1319 Marshall St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
US
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(612) 378-2118
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There is rumor that the new owner (a long-time bartender there) is being forced by the Halek family to change the name, the proposed name is “Ya Baby Sports Bar” after an inside joke between him and one of the regulars.

Scooter’s 160th bar, first visited in 2006.

2024 Washington Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55411
US
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(612) 522-9866
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