Minneapolis Bottle Shops

walk down washington to town hall for food and drink. after that, you'll get all sorts of recommendations about taking ubers all across the metro, but if you're on washington then you should do what i recommend first and then go from there.

 

1010 Washington Liquor is between your hotel and Town Hall Brewery. They have a good, not great selection, and reasonable prices for downtown.

Day Block Brewing is also between your hotel and Town Hall Brewery. I would suggest eating there, and having a beer then moving on to Town Hall for more beers. Republic is a beer bar across the street from Town Hall. They've been named one of the best beer bars in the country multiple times. Go there too.

 

Definitely check out Republic and ask for the specialty taplist and/or look for the chalkboard above the bar. You're not in the best area for shops are you just looking to see what we have on our shelves or something specific?

 

Any access to a car? Or only looking for walkable recommendations?

 

One could do Fulton taproom, Town Hall, Republic, Surly beer hall & even Barrel Theory pretty easy if willing to spend some time on the light rail and walk a little.

 

You don't need a car. Take the light rail - the Blue Line - south to 38th street ($1.75 and 7 stops later). From there, walk across Hiawatha, down to 41st and boom: Elevated Liquors. One of the best bottle shops in the state.

 

Surdyk's is walkable (less than a mile) from your hotel (assuming that's 3rd Ave. and not 3rd St.). It's a rather legendary Minnesota liquor store, and, while its beer selection no longer is near the top of the heap (because others have surpassed it), you'll still find plenty of local options. It should have cheaper prices than any downtown store too.

As for restaurants, none of the places mentioned so far other than Surly is known for having particularly good food (Republic, Day Block, and Town Hall would be the standard order for the rest from best to worst, but none of them gets foodie buzz). If you're looking for beer foremost and food is an afterthought, Republic probably fits your criteria best (although there are closer if lesser options as well, including a HopCat if you're feeling homesick).

 

I actually find the food at Day Block to be quite good, but if I were to suggest a place with a really solid tap list and one to satisfy the foodie type then Butcher and the Boar would be my obvious selection.

 

Piggybacking on this thread, I will be staying downtown at the Marriott next week and wondering are Surly beers readily available at these beer stores? Any other local IPAs worth buying to take home to Maryland?

 

Plenty of 3+ month old Surly!

I would keep an eye out for Lupulin Hooey or Blissful Ignorance. I doubt Fair State Spirit Foul will still be around, but grab it if you see it.

 

Republic has an extensive tap list and will have Hooey and Dreamyard on tap. In relation to Washington and 3rd, there are plenty of good options in the north loop (Spoon and Stable, 112 Eatery, Bar La Grasa, etc) plus I like Zen Box Izakaya the opposite direction on Washington.

 

Not an IPA but keep an eye out for 2016 Surly Darkness on the shelves. You may have to check some of the off-the-beaten path stores but a bunch hit stores pretty quietly this past week.

 

Not sure if this is the appropriate thread or not, so I apologize in advance if not. I'll be driving south through the twin cities on 35 tomorrow and would like to stop at a bottle shop or two. Any recommendations for shops close to 35 (or breweries with to go beer)? If I could stop at a couple places in the same area that would be great. Thanks in advance!

 

35E or 35W? Assuming 35W - Zipp's. Also, check to see if Wild Mind has any more crowlers of DDH Velvet Crush.

 

Add Stinson, South Lyndale and Blue Max to your list of potentials.

 

South on 35 for bottle shops. (just a few)
Stinsons
Zipps
South Lyndale
For Brewery
MPLS Town Hall
Day Block
Wild Mind

 

Going south on 35W you can detour on 55 and stop at Elevated and/or Zipps, hop on 62 and stop at Wild Mild, then get back on 35 all without going out of your way more than a mile or so. Could even add Town Hall west bank for growlers to go fairly easily. Town Hall Lanes and Northbound would both be in shouting distance if you want some food or pints on site. Three cheers for a city with basically no traffic and a nice freeway system that runs through the heart of the metro area.

 

Thanks to everyone for their help. Was able to find plenty of 3 week old Surly at the downtown Target. Liquor store half block away had cases of 2016 Darkness.Plenty of decent beer bars in area and really enjoyed the Surly brewery.