When Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge moved from its original location to flashier riverside digs two years ago, owner Leslie Bock retained ownership of her restaurant/bar's original location.
Now Bock -- who is also the creative (and ownership) force behind Donny Dirk's Zombie Den -- is proposing to convert that space – a former drive-in at 2519 Marshall Av. NE. – into another thematic property she's calling Betty Danger's Country Club. "Betty Danger's will be a country club for the other 99 percent," she said.
A mini-golf course is the first of many attractions. "It's going to look like a 1950s country club," said project designer Jim Smart of Smart Associates of Minneapolis. Picture a dining room serving what Smart describes as "Minn-Mex" fare, a split-level bar and a covered patio with a taco-and-beer hut.
The real talker is a slow-moving, 60-foot, Italian-made Ferris wheel ("Or a 'Vertical Revolving Patio,'" said Smart with a laugh), with gondolas designed to accommodate eating, drinking and view-taking.
"You'll get your beer and your taco, you'll queue up and then you'll be able to take in the beautiful new Lowry Avenue Bridge and downtown Minneapolis," said Smart. "It's going to be quite spectacular."
The project was approved by the Minneapolis Planning Commission earlier this week, and goes before the city council later this month. If all goes as planned, the restaurant and bar could be open by the end of the year, with the Ferris wheel debuting next spring.
