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St. Paul: Neither thrifty nor hip?

by Jay Gabler •

My friend just introduced me to ThriftyHipster.com, which I suppose as a thrifty hipster who spends even more time online than the average thrifty hipster I should already have been acquainted with. I appreciated the site’s easy navigation and unusual color scheme (pink and blue, suggested hues for the garb of the babies you’ll stumblingly conceive after enjoying the drink specials the site makes it all too easy to find), but was taken aback to see the second-rate status to which my hometown is consigned.

front row seat is the blog of jay gabler, the daily planet’s arts editor. to keep up on the local arts scene, follow artsorbit on twitter and subscribe to arts orbit weekly.
The neighborhood listings across the site’s header read as follows: Uptown, Downtown, Northeast, South, University, GLBT, St. Paul. So not only does the entire Capital City count as a single neighborhood, it’s appended to the end of the list as a seeming afterthought following GLBT—which, though a significant demographic group, is not a neighborhood. It’s as though the site is saying, “Welcome to ThriftyHipster.com! Let us help you find delicious and affordable comestibles. We’re here to help you if you live in Uptown! Downtown! Northeast! South Minneapolis! Dinkytown! If you’re gay! Or even if you live in St. Paul! Believe it, thrifty hipsters, it’s true.”

When you go to the St. Paul page, the backhanded compliments continue. “St. Paul is less of a late night club spot,” the page reads, “and more an area for dining and chilling with friend’s on different patios.” (Either there’s a misplaced apostrophe there or the site editors neglected to mention specifically which parts of your friend you might be seeking to chill with.) “St. Paul is a beautiful and quiet city that offers many upscale attractions like the theater and gourmet dining.”

The site’s specific recommendations for thrifty and hip St. Paul watering holes, though, lead me to question just how familiar with the Capital City the site’s editors are. The two venues spotlighted as staff picks are Alary’s Bar, where the site indicates you’ll find 20 new 50” plasma TVs and one alarmingly tanned man, and the Happy Gnome. Are those two bars truly the thriftiest, hippest selections from a list that includes the Artists’ Quarter, Big V’s, and Station 4? If you want to really roll up your sleeves and get thrifty, there are a few Rice Street establishments you could take into consideration. As for hip, there’s West St. Paul, the next Northeast. The site’s list even misses some obvious choices that fall well within the hipster’s gentrified safe zone: the Blue Door Pub, the Groveland Tap, the Chatterbox Pub.

Seriously, check that town out sometime. It’s real easy to find: you just get on Lake Street and turn like you were going to the Town Talk Diner, but then just keep going straight. If you hit Wisconsin, you know you’ve gone too far.

Published on 12/3/08. Photo: Marty’s Bar in West St. Paul. Photo by Nick Busse (Creative Commons).

Comments

Anonymous's picture

Thank you!

Thanks for highlighting the much overlooked and underestimated STP!

David Wilson's picture

Did they miss all the nightspots in St. Mark's Parish? Damn!

Were do all the thrifty hipsters meet?

St. Mark’s Parish of course. Or Merriam Park to you non-Catholics.

The Daily Planet should get the “Mayor of Merriam Park” to take you on a tour of the parish’s watering holes, gin mills, blind pigs, and speakeasies.
He can be found every Friday and Saturday night sitting on his front porch giving directions out to all the St. Thomas students who are looking to tie one on. “O’Gara’s? Just keep walking thataway >>>>>.”

The Mayor isn’t as forthcoming and helpful at 2:15 AM when the kids are struggling to find their way back to the dorms though.

Anonymous's picture

Overlooked, and we like it that way

If we were to be suddenly overrun by outsider hipsters looking for the next cool thing, we’d lose our spots at our locals, which are already doing well, thank-you very much. St. Paul has many creatives, eccentrics, college students and a diversity of settled ethnic communities with interesting restaurants and shops. Those of us who live here know this. Those of you who don’t, I’m not telling you where all the “hip” stuff is, you can find that for yourself, which should be easy, it’s everywhere. And the West End, not West St. Paul is the New Nordeast, according to the Rake. Of course, you need vision, a sense of adventure and imagination to live here. And that should be the first requirement of being a “hipster.” As to the directionally challenged, if you can find your way around Paris, London or Rome, you can handle St. Paul, if you dare…

MPLS guy's picture

Don't make me laugh St. Paul

Trust me St. Paul, no “hipsters” are going across the river in search of a “cool” place to hang out in St. Paul, because they don’t exist over there. SP rolls up it’s sidewalks at 8:30 PM sharp every night of the week. I mean for Christ sakes, you can’t even keep any businesses in DOWNTOWN St. Paul, let alone other areas. You stay in your podunk burg, and we will stay in the center of thriving nightlife know as “Minneapolis”.

Cyn's picture

St. Paul Hip Spots

Great work, Jay. Being a Mpls. residence myself, merely a river away from St. Paul, I’d like to add (in addition to Big V’s, and the AQ!) the Turf Club is hands down one of the best music venues in town and has been for years (and you’ll see much migration of Mpls. hipsters there). There’s also the Strip Club, brought to us by the Town Talk Diner guys, very excellent, and Eclipse Records to name but a few. The Black Dog Cafe has Fantastic Merlins (one of the best experimental jazz bands in town on Fridays, and various hip hop and political musical events on different occasions. For years, the Clown Lounge hosts the best jazz nights on Mondays including Fat Kid Wednesdays (although those nights are so hip its crowded so maybe that is was a secret best kept quiet?) So, in my opinion, as a longtime music lover/reviewer in this town, Thrifty Hipster sounds like they need to get out more, even across the river.

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