6 picks · Northeast

Best Neighborhood Bars in Northeast

The neighborhood bars we send people to in Northeast Minneapolis. Part of our full neighborhood bars guide and the Northeast neighborhood guide.

Spring Street Tavern

A neighborhood bar that happens to make excellent bar pizza. Cracker-thin crust, charred edges, served in a room that looks like nothing has changed since 1972. That is part of the appeal.

Vegas Lounge

A Lynchian bar tucked just over the Northeast border. Velvet curtains, dim red light, and a karaoke setup that has launched a thousand questionable life decisions. You either sing or you watch.

Tilt Pinball Bar

Two dozen working pinball machines, a fryer running all night, and zero pretense. The kind of place where you arrive at nine and leave at one wondering where the time went and whether you are actually any good at Medieval Madness.

Grumpy’s Northeast

The Washington Avenue Grumpy’s is gone, but the Northeast one carries the name proudly. Cheap beer, pull tabs, a jukebox that knows what it is doing, and the kind of unbothered crowd that makes a dive a dive. Open until close, every night.

331 Club

Live music nightly and never a cover charge, which is the whole pitch and it is a good one. A divey corner room in Northeast that books local acts seven nights a week and lets you wander in for the price of a beer. Catch a Sunday bluegrass brunch set and you will understand the loyalty.

Otter’s Saloon

A dingy, beloved karaoke dive on the SE end of Central Avenue that opens at eight in the morning and means it. The kind of room where the regulars know the KJ’s name and a Tuesday night can go sideways in the best way. You either sing or you buy a round for whoever does.