Meet the guy who brought Alary’s Bar back to life in downtown St. Paul

When the previous owners announced last year that they were closing Alary’s Bar, they promised it wouldn’t be dark long. Fast-forward to this past weekend, and those promises have seemingly come true.

Bill Collins, a 1987 graduate of the University of St. Thomas, bought the bar in February and immediately set about keeping some things the same. Alary’s remains a bar for Chicago Bears fans and for St. Paul police and first responders. But there’s one major change: No more scantily clad female servers.

Eye On St. Paul swung by Alary’s at 139 E. 7th St. to visit with Collins and talk about what made him reopen a bar that was both a downtown institution and more than a little notorious for some patrons’ behavior, including Winter Carnival Vulcans abusing servers in 2005. This interview was edited for length.

Q: Why did you buy Alary’s?

A: It was a great opportunity. You know, I own Camp, which is around the corner here. And business there has been spectacular. This bar has one thing you cannot buy — 75 years of history. To be able to say we’ve been open since 1949 is pretty amazing. When Alary’s closed [in 2023], it isolated Camp a little bit. This was kind of a stop between the action in Lowertown, around Mears Park and Dark Horse and Barrio and Bulldog. This just restores that link, keeps the vitality going.

Q: This remains a Chicago Bears bar, right?

A: Yep. But for hockey season, it’s definitely Minnesota Wild. Our intent is to focus on east metro sports teams: the Wild, the Saints, the Aurora. And then as soon as we get a name for women’s professional hockey, we’ll be that as well.

Q: Alary’s has a long history and not always the greatest reputation. Didn’t it start as a strip club?

A: Burlesque.

Q: What do you want it to become?

A: There’s an opportunity for it to be the east metro hub. There’s really not a great soccer bar in the east metro, with not just a focus on the Loons but European soccer. We’ve got a couple of staff members that are huge soccer fans that are anxious to come in and open up at 7 a.m. for the European matches. Clearly, this will be the place to watch Bears games. And also just a little bit more of a nicer environment in which to do it.

Q: What about the old squad car doors decorating the walls?

A: The previous manager was really conscientious and made a huge effort to get those all returned [to Alary’s], but we are in touch. We are working on getting a squad door so that the cops can come in and sign the doors again.

Q: What indications do you have that the police are coming back?

A: Oh, a lot of them have said so. We are going to do the same thing for police that we do at Camp: free food and drink when they’re on duty, and then 50% off on their off-duty. There’s just an acknowledgment. Thank you. Those guys have had some rough years and we got to be thankful for the guys that stayed on the job, because a lot of them have thrown in the towel.

Q: What made you want to get into this business?

A: We built the Lowry Theater in the Lowry Building and had dinner shows. We did bingo and Tony and Tina’s Wedding. And we started to learn a lot more about how the bar business works. It’s really fun and fascinating.

Q: With Camp and now Alary’s, you’ve bet on downtown St. Paul. Why?

A: Well, I live in Minneapolis. But St. Paul has always been home to me. I went to St. Thomas. I think the first 10 years I lived up here I went to Minneapolis like four times, you know, and I never knew that the Marshall Street bridge was the Lake Street bridge. You know, it all depends on how you’re looking at it. We’re doing really well at Camp, so there’s clearly demand, there’s clearly a vibrancy down here, especially when there are events.

Q: Given the 75-year history, do you feel some pressure with that?

A: Oh, God, yeah. You know, Bears fans have high expectations. But I think we’re ready for it. You know, I grew up in a Chicago family. We were season-ticket holders at Soldier Field. Yeah. And I also own a farm in Wisconsin and sort of picked up being a Green Bay fan there. And Camp is a Green Bay bar. When they’re playing [each other], there’s potential for something special. I gotta figure out exactly what it is. But I think that the regulars have been talking about a traveling trophy that goes between the bars depending on who won the last game.

Q: How did this become a Bears bar?

A: The original owner, Al Baisi, played for the Chicago Bears. He moved here and he and a guy named Larry Lehner bought a bar downtown. Al lived until, like 2005. Once, Al was shot in the face with a shotgun after driving a married waitress home one night, and they never found the guy who did it. The rest of his life, he was mostly blind. There used to be above where the kitchen area is a sort of little apartment where he’d stay most of the time.

Q: Tell me a little bit about you. You grew up in Chicago?

A: Yep. I have seven older brothers.

Q: Eight boys? No girls?

A: Nope. Mom was amazing. My brother Mike said at her wake that for the first 15 years of his life, he thought her name was Your Poor Mother because that’s the only way you ever heard anyone refer to her.