Fourth Street Saloon

I saw 4^th St Saloon when I passed by the intersection with Donny Dirk’s and whatnot, and with the huge mural I was intrigued, so I stopped in on a weeknight: a little busy, but not overcrowded. It’s cash-​only of course, and yeah, it’s in one of the city’s roughest neighborhoods, so you’d probably want to leave a little while before closing time, particularly on weekends. For sports they have a couple of projector screens above the bar, pool tables in the room behind the bar, and they have specials like $ 4.50 pitchers of Old Style some nights. It’s easy to chat with other patrons who were quick start up a conversation. One thing I wasn’t expecting was that the bathroom wasn’t in bad shape at all, especially for a saloon. A bonus is that they’re hoping to maybe get a kitchen going at some point in a neighboring empty space, so for now Heggie’s it is.
4^th St Saloon is definitely not for everyone (especially for douchy bros looking to get up in someone’s face), since it has been the site of some serious incidents in years past (getting into a verbal altercation would be unwise to say the least). It may be the «worst» bar in Minneapolis, but if you’re from another city like I am and have been to bars on the other side of the tracks, then you’d most likely take 4^th St over most of those any day. When the owner of your city’s most dangerous bar, over 100 911 calls in one year for fights, shootings and stabbings, tells you that this is not a good place for you because there are a lot of unhappy people around here, you re-​evaluate your bad bar barometer. Also, the area has seen baby steps in improvements and I had a good time.

I grew up in a neighborhood like this in San Diego so I was not worried for myself but rather for my vehicle (Yes i know, i have a car that I like that much) And i know I am only adding to today’s laughable perception of what north Minneapolis is but have you picked up a newspaper lately?
Ok. I rest my case.
Now If you can manage to take a big gulp and show no fear as you pass through the metal detectors you will be alright. This should make a lot of people feel right at home, at least those who went to the high school Depicted in «Dangerous Minds».
Those of you who haven’t already fled before seeing the bartender, it only gets… wait a minute, alright, it only gets better.
Large roomy bar, cheap liquor, the kinda bar where no one gives a hoot of who you are, what you do and what your wearing.
Now if you can unnerve your fear of north Minneapolis, this is like any other dive bar in the big city, the only difference is, this is a diamond in the rough kinda bar. And I mean rough.
You can see some really great bands like, «the cash and carry band» and «the tight fit band» the latter actually had a BBQ cook off here back in June. Great time.
After being cooped up in this loud music venue, you can always step out and literally walk to some great joints in the area Olympic Café, BJ’s Liquor Lounge, Good Sports Bar, Donny Dirks Zombie Den and Halek’s Bar all within walking distance from here.
Although in this part of town where one is worried for their car walking in the middle of the night alone might be a bad idea.