Gluek's Restaurant & Bar (Minneapolis, MN)

My wife had an OVation gig nearby at the Graves 601 Hotel but I had some time between dropping her off and the performance, so a pint seemed like a good idea when I fortuitously walked by Gluek's. Sitting at the end of the bar near the door, the house beers were directly in front of me.  Ordered an IPA, which was tapped out, so started instead with a Gluek's Red: dark amber to brown with a dirty white head; mineral, caramel and wheat bread in the nose; sweet caramel on top of a chewy breadiness with the mineral note in the background. Perfectly adequate amber ale but not a new favorite. However, this Cold Spring Brewery made beer is better than drinking a Leinie's Red.

Gluek's Red with tap list

I occasionally tell a story to prove that I have the coolest wife in the world, which includes Gluek's. It was May 17th, 2000 and my buddy John, who had been KISS ARMY since he was a kid, invited me to a KISS concert at the Target Center. We started the evening at Gluek's to get primed for the show, drinking with the idea that we had an entire concert before going home.  However, the bar, full of KISS fans, started to buzz with whispering that the concert was postponed until the next night. A trip outside to see the Target Center marquee confirmed that the band was trapped in Chicago by weather. I called Gloria from the bar pay phone and said we'd try to sell the ticket since the show was postponed to our 15th wedding anniversary.  My very cool wife said I'd been looking forward to this for a while, my first big time rock concert, and that I should go.  After confirming her opinion in the next morning and planning a weekend celebration for the anniversary, John and I repeated the night at Gluek's and had a memorable time of head banging at the "farewell" KISS tour.

I remember the food at Gluek's being good in preparation for the concert, but I didn't have time to confirm that memory today. I had a draft of Surly Furious to test the beer serving with a more familiar beer.  Well served, maybe a half a step short of 100%, but I don't have any real problems with the drafts I sampled.  Music was too loud sitting near the door, but then it changed to a guy running trivia.  Interesting trivia set up: no cell phones, internet, and a team member had two minutes to bring up a piece of paper with the answer on it.  A throwback that seemed appropriate in a local landmark since 1934.  A beautiful old bar that has seriously expanded drinking options to a perfectly respectable beer list since my last visit.  I'd be happy to find myself at Gluek's again, hopefully returning a bit faster than last time.