Best new bars of 2010

As I looked over the past year, I noticed my favorite new bars were often sequels, reworkings or offshoots of existing establishments. That brings me to the conclusion that we're either out of ideas in the Twin Cities nightlife scene or we're simply home to really smart bar owners who know when they have a good thing going.

1. Psycho Suzi's: As far as oversized kitschy tiki fortresses go, this one lived up to the hype.

2. Town Hall Tap: What makes this place such a great neighborhood bar? Beer lovers all over the Twin Cities now wish they lived at 48th and Chicago.

3. Depot Tavern: Yeah, it's a no-frills bar. But it's First Avenue's no-frills bar, and the best place to get a bacon-wrapped megadog after seeing your favorite band at the Twin Cities' favorite rock club.

4. Surdyk's Flights: With its sleek design and impeccable menu of wine, beer and cocktails, the small bar gave travelers a good reason to get to the airport early.

5. Uptown Cafeteria: Say what you will about the street-level lounge, the rooftop deck made a strong case for Uptown's best view.

6. Kieran's Irish Pub: Among the handful of bars that opened in anticipation of Target Field, only Kieran Folliard's massive Irish transplant hit a home run.

8. Prairie Ale House: If you miss the old owners at Town Talk Diner, one of them has built a sequel of sorts in Eden Prairie.

9. Thom Pham's Wondrous Azian Kitchen: He closed Azia and is knee-deep in financial squabbles (lawsuit against his sisters; owes back sales tax to the state), but I still need somewhere to eat my cranberry puffs and look good doing it.

10. Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill: OK, this might not be everyone's cup of beer, but the massive honkytonk in St. Louis Park kept the Twin Cities nightlife economy alive in 2010. I'd tip a cowboy hat to that.

501 CLUB CLOSING Now some bad news. For bar owner Jarret Oulman, the Metrodome's roof collapse not only spelled doom for a miserable football season, but also bad news for his own business, the nearby 501 Club.

"If you want to call it the straw that broke the camel's back, you could," Oulman said.

"The long and short of it is: It's a tough environment for what we were trying to do in downtown. And it wasn't successful," Oulman said. "It costs more money than we made."

The Oulmans made some changes last summer in hopes of turning the business around. A wall was built between the bar's performance space and the upstairs restaurant area. The 501 also began charging a cover for certain shows.

In some respects, the odds were stacked against the bar from the start. The 501 opened during a shaky economy, parking was a headache and the Twins moved out of the dome. Still, the bar carved out a nice niche for local music and drew good crowds for its weekly trivia nights on Wednesdays and Sundays, which Oulman hopes to incorporate into the 331's schedule.

In the meantime, the show must go on. The 501 has a New Year's Eve gig with Doomtree's Sims (10 p.m. Fri. $12). And the club's final weekend includes the bands Buildings and the Central Division (9 p.m. Jan. 7. $5) and Curtiss A (9:30 p.m. Jan. 8. $7).

"For the next week and a half, we want people to come in and say 'Hello' and say 'Goodbye,'" Oulman said.

612-338-3848. www.501club.mn.

THE REST OF THE RIPS Here's a smattering of bars and clubs that closed in 2010: 414 Soundbar, Azia, Rumours & Innuendo, Gladius, Subo, the Old Pub, Ringo, Picosa, Palomino, Harry's and the Nook (it'll be back).