I Like Ike's

Interestingly, I live in New York which, arguably, has more great restaurants and bars than any other city in the world. On the other hand, the bars in the airports leave a lot to be desired. On the other hand, I grew up in Minneapolis and return there on a regular basis. Although Minneapolis has a number of very good restaurants and bars, its airport really shines. In terms of bars and restaurants it is easily one of my very favorite airports. If I have the time I may do a whole blog on them. Of course the big problem is that you actually have to go through airport security, which means having a ticket, to visit them. This is a pity, really. With the new light-rail system that goes right downtown you could easily visit the airport just to have a few drinks and dinner. But I am not going to buy an airplane ticket just to do that.

Ike's


Ike's is a recent addition. They first opened a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis that I visited (not for the first time) back on September 19th, 2005 when I was hitting my 1000 bars. It was, in fact, bar number 800 and you can see that I liked it. I spotted the one in the airport when I flew into Minneapolis on Thursday but didn't have time to stop. Luckily I did have time to stop before I headed back to New York.

In fact I had enough time to have a wonderful steak dinner with a half-bottle of a nice red wine. Again, most definitely not your typical airport food. Before dinner I did hit the bar for a beer.

Barman at Ike's Bar


A tip of the hat to Betsy Grierson who recognized my tee-shirt in the above picture and wanted to know if I had actually gotten buzzed at the Chainsaw Sisters.

I had a local beer, Summit Extra Pale Ale, brewed by Summit Brewing Company in St. Paul. Crisp, hoppy, and quite delicious. Minneapolis and St. Paul are known as the Twin Cities and, of course, are the home of the Minnesota Twins who actually play in Minneapolis and really should be known as the Minneapolis Only Child. Now the New York Jets and the New York Giants both play in New Jersey. Go figure. We won't discuss why The Twins are the only baseball team that I can think of named after a state instead of a city. The New York Mets and Yankees are named after the city of New York, not the state, and actually play in the city. But anyway, I digress.

Note: The Flower Guy from Miami Petal pointed out that the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, and Arizona Diamondbacks are also baseball teams named after states and not cities. Barman should stick to what he knows best; bars, not baseball.

Michelle Doyle also pointed out that I forgot about the Colorado Rockies. Damn, I could have sworn they were a hockey team.

If you get a chance, be sure to stop in at Ike's. You can do this even if you are a Democrat because Ike's is named not after Eisenhower, but a relative of the owner's.