The north side of Minneapolis is about to get another new drinking establishment, just as soon as the owners finish getting all the carpet off the walls.
Robb Jones, former bar director for Gavin Kaysen's restaurants, and Spoon & Stable bartender Elliot Manthey, are opening Meteor Bar sometime in December (check facebook.com/meteor.bar for an opening announcement). That's good news for cocktail lovers, frequenters of the burgeoning fine-drinking district beyond the North Loop, and, well, just about everybody.
The idea was simmering for at least eight years. Whenever Jones or Manthey traveled around the country, they'd hit up the 'it' lounges in other cities, Jones said.
"They all have their fancy cocktail bars, and it's a very ritualistic thing, there's a lot of song and dance to it," Jones said. "And the places we modeled this after, our favorite bars, are the bars that the people that worked at those places go to when they get off work. The elevated dive bar."
Industry haunts, insider favorites, the places your high-end restaurant bartenders drink at themselves. Something all these bars had in common was the lack of "pomp and circumstance surrounding the cocktail culture," Jones said. "You just go and hang out and have a really great cocktail."
To that end, Meteor is keeping it simple. Classic cocktails — daiquiris, manhattans — at around $8; a "higher concept" section ("We'll do some weird stuff, too," Jones said); and a thoughtful pairing list of the perennial beer and a bump. The prices are inclusive of tax, by the way.
Food is minimal: frozen pizzas are all that's guaranteed as of now.
The bar takes over a turn-of-the-last-century building, at 2027 N. 2nd St., that previously hosted Stand Up Franks, Donnie Dirk's Zombie Den, and most recently, the immersive cocktail party/art installation Mr. Steven's Snuggery.
