Adrian’s Tavern

Awesome burgers that are bigger than you expect. Cheap food and cheap drinks.

Adrian’s is a no frills neighborhood watering hole (so long as you’re not looking to wet your whistle with any hard booze — they can’t help you there).
The interior of Adrian’s has a smaller bar area and a number of booths with a few TV’s scattered about for taking in the game. They also have a few video games in the back for those that don’t want conversation with their pint. Their beer list has most of the usual suspects with a couple of non-​macro options available as well. From a food standpoint, the food is just that, food. It’s not a place I’d recommend coming hungry, but they’ll fry up whatever Sysco product you want should you be feeling peckish.
Overall, it’s a fine place to grab a pint if you’re in the neighborhood and looking for something low-​key.

This place is totally endearing. Don’t come here expecting your food to be gourmet or the beer list to have Belgian Trippels.
Come here for a decent, classic beer, sit at the counter and watch the bartender/​cook fry up some tasty bar food.
This place is totally a neighborhood bar and it feels inviting in the way that a neighborhood bar would feel. It’s not trying to impress anyone.
There’s also a couple tables outside, with chairs that smell like the sweat of a thousand old men. BUT, great for people watching on Chicago Ave.

What a cool place! It is, as others have said, the very definition of a neighborhood bar.
This review will be an ode to the cheese curd. Adrian’s will always hold a special place in my heart. It was here that this North Carolina boy had his first exposure to cheese curds.
Adrian’s does this Minnesota treat right. They flavor literally exploded in my mouth and I ended up gorging myself on an entire order. I tried them at other places and they just didn’t taste as good. The burger was delightful and was cooked perfectly.
The flavors in the food are surpassed only by the friendly faces. Although I’ve only been once, it feels like a place where it’s easy to become a «regular.» That’s because of the staff — they know how to make every guest feel welcome. Whoever does the hiring is brilliant!
For a local dive with a classic neighborhood feel, check out Adrian’s. If you’re lucky enough to stumble on it, you won’t regret the visit!

This is what a neighborhood bar should be. Bartenders are friendly and willing to chat. You can get beer on tap for under $ 4 when it’s not happy hour. You want the food special? It’s a cheeseburger basket. Always. It comes with fries and you didn’t pay over $ 10 even if you subbed potato salad for the fries for a whole 50 cents extra. It was a mere $ 6(.50), the burger was nice and greasy (I swear there’s gotta be some garlic in the butter they slather on the toasted bun) and the fries good and crunchy (and not too greasy). The bar is wooden and no frills and I didn’t even notice the arcade machines in the back. If they still have Mortal Kombat I’m gonna have to drop some quarters there. I never mastered the joystick and during what seems like a fraction of a second to get in that fatality I always blow it, so Johnny Cage it is: forward, forward, forward, high punch!

Great little towny bar. The staff is super friendly and ensures you are never without beer in hand. Small town dive-​bar vibe. Fabulous.

This place is a great little neighborhood dive. I like the relaxed environment — if I come in wearing a hoodie with no makeup, there’s no judgement. It’s definitely not a fancy place, my husband loves it because it’s the closest thing to an old-​man bar he’s found in our area. The inside is a little run down, but that adds to its charm. The restrooms are downstairs in the basement, which has an alarmingly slanted staircase and floor…
The beer selection isn’t as extensive as some other bars, but I think the cheap prices make up for the smaller selection. We usually find 1 – 2 new beers to try there, which is pretty good.
I’ll confess I’ve never tried the food here. I probably won’t. This is a place I like to come for a beer, not really a place I’d think of for dinner. That doesn’t mean you should/shouldn’t eat here. The employees are always friendly to us and check in appropriately about refills, etc. They seem a lot more «real» and generally pleasant than the staff at many other area bars.

On my search for the best burgers in town, a coworker said that Adrian’s is her favorite. I know it is not traditional, but I like the addition of grilled onions and the option to ads bacon. You say that I can have bacon for one American dollar and I am on-​board. I like that you can upgrade to fries. I like that they grill the buns. I wasn’t blown away by the beer selection, but it was ok. I loved our server. She was so down to earth and charming. Small town vibe, indeed.

Have you ever heard the saying ‘Too Soon to talk about it’… I have waited almost a week to even think back to this experience. Let me start from the beginning about the food, service, and overall experience. I gave it a chance after reading a review in MPLS ST Mag.
First of all — it was my birthday and I wanted to try somewhere new with a friend. We walked by the neighboring restaurant and almost went in there but decided we would check out this restaurant. We walked in and there was NO one in there except 2 people sitting in the book with their feet up. We were standing to be seated and the guy in the booth said ‘seat yourself’. We did. Then i set my phone on the table and he comes over with a rag and said ‘please lift your phone so I can wipe the table”. I looked around — NO TABLES WERE WIPED OFF!!’ I almost died and wanted to leave. AND to fast forward the guy ended up taking out the garbage right through the restaurant which brought flies past us — talk about losing appetite!
When asking the waiter about what he recommended… he said ‘ehh it is like all other bar food…‘
We tried the Juicy Lucy — Not to be a Juicy Snood — but it wasn’t a good burger. My friend’s had NO cheese in it. The baskets are serviced with normal rippled potato chips so I would upgrade to the fries (which didn’t wow me). However we did try the deep fried beans which was delicious and 1919 on tap!
Overall — I wouldn’t go here at all. The service alone let me down and food didn’t wow me.

I grew up with this place in my neighborhood and have made a couple visits since I moved out of the neighborhood. I knew it as a 3.2 beer joint even before I knew what a 3.2 beer joint was. This is the place where I was introduced to the Juicy Lucy and their signature Lurtzie Burger (named after Benchwarmer Bob I believe). We used to get excited when our parents would take us here because of the food, video games, and the novelty of eating in a real bar.
The Lurtzie Burger was my favorite burger when growing up. It’s really just a bacon cheeseburger but it remains special for me. I actually prefer Adrian’s Juicy Lucy over Matt’s for the most part, probably because of size. Adrian’s burgers are tasty in a greasy kind of way. However, we have experienced a couple occasions when a Juicy Lucy from our multi-​item to-​go order wasn’t done quite right.
My memory might be failing me, but I think their fries have changed over the years; they used to serve krinkle-​cut fries with their baskets. Also, the menu seems to have expanded (or perhaps I had tunnel vision about their menu when I was a kid). They also serve real beer now along with wine.

Been to Matt’s or 5 – 8? Would you go back there? Do it…
As for Adrian’s, I would say it is the JV team when comes to «dive burger joints.» In an area that is so close to Matt’s and 5 – 8, I’d expect more. Not the best burgers, not the worst. I’d still rather go here than a place like 5 guys or smash burger (simply because I hate corp America — and the kinds of people in those places).
I will say this: the service was above amazing. We left a 50% tip simply because the guy who was serving us went way beyond expectations.
The way we left it is this way: if one of my friends said, «hey let’s go to Adrian’s» I’d say sure. Otherwise, I’m picking Matt’s (or Blue Door if I’m in St. Paul).

I have to agree with the most recent Unilocal reviews on this place. The only reason we came here was because we had a Twin Cities Deals that was expiring but I am not so sure it was worth the drive over the river.
The waiter/​bartender/​everything person who took our order was accommodating and nice enough despite the fact that he forgot to tell one of us that they were completely out of what she ordered until the rest of our orders came. I think he probably forgot what she ordered but it was quickly resolved when they brought her second choice promptly and did not charge us for it. I thought this was a really nice gesture considering we had the $ 20 off cert to begin with.
The Juicy Lucy’s were not that good at all, I have to rank them at the bottom of the Juicy’s we have tasted. The jalapeño poppers tasted worse than the ones you get at the grocery store in the frozen food aisle. Arby’s and Sonic’s poppers are ten times better than these if that tells you anything.
The fries were nothing special either. All of it was just ok… Interesting place, looks like a bunch of regular neighborhood people but most definitely not Worth a special trip over. I feel bad giving this place a two star review because its the kind of place you REALLY want to like but sorry Adrians, its just not worth my trip over the bridge to come here again.

The food here was edible, plain food. Nothing special. The burger reminded me a little of cafeteria food, but really who cares? It’s a bar and bar food. Beer is beer. The service was alright, albeit inattentive, but who cares? It’s a neighborhood bar. The décor, well… who cares? Have I mentioned it’s a bar?
Here’s why this place gets docked one star for me and probably should be docked two. We were in a couple of weeks ago, in the evening, late enough for my own child to be long asleep, for a burger and a beer. I had fond memories of Adrian’s from my husband and spawn free days. We settled into one of the big booths and checked out the menu. Sitting behind us was some greasy haired disinterested mother and her two small spawn. I’d say they were 4 and 2. Spawn Mommy spent the ENTIRE time we were there screeching at her spawn to «get down» «come here» «stop it» and poking away at her cell phone with her giant bedazzled trailer park nails. The spawn spent two beers and one burger’s worth of time running up and down the aisle, climbing onto stools, and generally being annoying. Seriously. It’s a bar! It was like drinking a beer in a WalMart. The staff clearly knew this trashy chick and her young and did absolutely nothing. She was almost treated like a relative, which is why it would have been very uncomfortable to bring it to the manager/owner/overloard/whoever’s attention.
I guess I’d go back… no… I probably won’t. There are just too many other options in my neighborhood.

Solid burger with friendly service and decent beer selection. If this place was in my neighborhood I’d be here every weekend, it has that small town vibe to it. The bathrooms are a little scary, but I can live with it. They have a retro arcade for the kiddies and young at heart.
If you don’t like your burger greasy, I recommend going elsewhere. And their Juicy’s? they dont mess around, they put cheese in the midle and on top.

I freaking love this place! I have only been here once, but I can’t stop thinking about it. My mouth waters whenever I think about the food — and my brain feels very happy when I think about their beer selection…
Pretty good beers on tap– good price too. The menu was filled with typical tavern food (burgers, fries, cheese curds, etc) and it all looked freakishly appetizing to me…
My only complaint… parking. Ugh, this place is in a very busy area of town & parking can be a little hairy…
I’ll update my review once I go back for a second visit…

Looking for a juicy Juicy Lucy? Stop in here and order it with an «upgrade» to french fries (they’re good). This place appears to be a dive-​type bar, but the food is damn good, and the service is very much small town and courteous. Our server let us know that it would take extra time to make the Juicy Lucy, which was appreciated!
The beer selection is very good, with an added bonus of Delirium Tremens on tap, and not pricey at all. There were a number of other good beers on tap: Two Bell’s offerings (Best Brown Ale and Two Hearted), and some local choices from Summit, including a seasonal.
In the back of the bar there is a really great video game area, with a pinball machine and some vintage games like Ms PacMan.
This place is a little gem in South Minneapolis… and definitely worth a stop on any Juicy Lucy tour in the Twin Cities. Yum.
Only downsides: parking can get tricky in the area with so many good businesses on the block, and the bathrooms are small, and on a slant… which makes it feel like you’re taking care of business in a fun house.

Pretty good beer selection for a divey «up north» kind of bar. Stopped in for a drink after dinner at Pepito’s. It’s in a nice area that is about as much of a destination spot as there is in South Minneapolis. The Parkway Theater and Pumphouse Creamery are both within a block. I think there is a new brew pub opening up on the same block too.
It’s a small place, maybe 12 booths and seating for 10 at the bar. You have to walk downstairs to get to the bathroom, if that is a concern. They have quite a few retro arcade games in the back, Mortal Kombat, Captain America, a driving game, Ms. Pac-​Man, and a few more.
They serve burgers and other bar food. It seems like it would be a pretty kid-​friendly neighborhood bar during the day time.

I like it but the bathrooms leave a little something to be desired.
But the beer is good, the burgers are good, the people watching is good and its kind of a townie bar which is always nice to find.
Also the wings are pretty good. Still searching for the best but these are decent.

This is my neighborhood Pub!!! My favorite place to be besides home. Good food good people and a beer for any taste. The staff is amazing… everything you want in a neighborhood bar!

First off, I usually only go on Saturday’s with my son after basketball. That means Molly is working the bar which is reason #1 to go. Before we sit down, a pint of Bell’s Two Hearted for me and a mug of 1919 root beer for my son is waiting for us. Love that… I feel like Norm.
Next, go with a burger… any burger. Greasy or juicy (depends on your perspective) but I say awesome. Friend onions and extra pickles for me, plain double burger for my 75 lb son (he eats his weight each day) and a ½ order of fries and you have the best greasy burger combo in Minneapolis. And yes, I’ve been to Matt’s and Lions Tap and they are good but IMHO they come up behind Adrian’s.
To top it off, cheap video games in the back for the kiddies to have some fun and not cost you a fortune.
When you are done, stop in at Turtle bakery for a cookie or next door for an ice cream.
This ‘hood is closing in on Linden Hills…