Nightlife: Drinking locally

With all the doom and gloom surrounding our aching economy, you'd think the little guy would be in trouble.

But the Twin Cities has seen the opening of several neighborhood bars in recent months. Here's a look at three that stand out.

Chatterbox Pub After a few rounds of Jenga last Monday night, John Bryde and his wife, Stacey, switched to a game of "Super Mario Bros" at the new Chatterbox Pub in Minneapolis. Bryde, 36, hadn't picked up an old-school Nintendo controller in a long, long time.

"It's bizarre; this place is like hanging out in my parents' basement," he said.

Beer and a board game, with a side of "Super Mario Bros." That's the Chatterbox. After months of delays, the bar has opened its third location near the corner of 44th St. and France Av. S. on the Minneapolis/Edina border. The white paper that plastered the windows of the old Cafe Bicko space for so long has finally come down.

"People keep coming in and saying, 'Are you really open?'" manager Michael Deranek said on opening night.

It is, complete with couches, eight-bit Nintendos and stacks of childhood board games.

The Chatterboxes tend to take on the characteristics of their neighborhood. The original in south Minneapolis is well-worn, just like your parents' basement. The one in St. Paul's Highland Park is bigger, slicker and more refined. The new one is just like nearby Linden Hills -- quaint and homey.

It's smaller than the other two, forgoing an actual bar for more seating. It's still all beer and wine (no hard liquor). On opening night, patrons were happy just to have a bar open late -- a hard thing to come by in this neighborhood.

Tickles What's in a name? A lot if you're a gay bar called Tickles.

General manager Joel Janssen's boyfriend suggested the name.

"When I heard it the first time, I said, 'What?!'"

All late-night innuendo aside, Janssen said the funny name actually refers to that old phrase, "tickle the ivories," because Tickles is a piano bar.

And a sports bar. Yep, it's a gay piano/sports bar. The bewildering combination (piano in the front, sports in the back) isn't lost on its proprietors.

"It's kind of an oxymoron," Janssen said.

The concept is reflective of its owner, Roy Caples, who wanted a mature gay piano bar, and Janssen, who worked for years in a busy Lakeville sports bar called Babe's.

The longtime friends met 20 years ago while playing pool at the Gay 90s. Now they have their own gay bar, tucked into a quiet corner of northeast Minneapolis, just off Central Avenue in the old Margarita Bella. Tickles opened Nov. 14, keeping the old place's woodwork, but adding new tables, a grand piano and four flat-screens.

The atmosphere is casual but sophisticated (like Camp in St. Paul), with a dozen wines by the glass and some high-end scotches. It's definitely an after-work spot, with a two-for-one happy hour.

Piano players serenade the bar Thursday through Saturday, bringing in an older crowd than the bustling downtown gay clubs.

"We want people to come out who don't usually come out," Caples said.

With that name and this concept, they shouldn't have a hard time making a splash.

Blue Door Pub St. Paul bargoers are famous for being loyal to their neighborhood burger-and-beer joints. The latest one getting all sorts of attention is the Blue Door Pub. Surrounded by antique stores at the corner of Fairview and Selby avenues, the tiny (50-seat) bar has been packing 'em in since opening in September.

Owners Jeremy Woerner, 31, and Pat McDonough, 32, know their burger-and-beer niche -- both worked for almost a decade at neighborhood favorite the Groveland Tap. The Blue Door's burger concept: all Jucy Lucys (nine varieties).

The pub's classic-sounding name hints at the prior establishment, the Puerto Rican restaurant Puerta Azul.

"I wanted something that had a timelessness and had been rooted in the neighborhood," Woerner said. "I was also reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes at the time."

The duo's remodel includes painting the "turquoisey" door a solid blue, replacing the carpet with hardwood floors, adding booths and a small bar with seven stools.

For such a small place, they pack in a lot of fun diversions. One wall is covered with giant chalkboards. "There's a lot of 'Hang Man' going on," Woerner said. There's also a mini-arcade room with Golden Tee, Big Buck Hunter and Bags. Flat-screens dot the walls.

Like the Chatterbox, the pub serves only beer and wine. But the tap selection is admirable, with a dozen drafts -- many local.

Woerner said they want to be another haven for beer geeks. On Dec. 21, the bar will tap a keg of 2008 Surly Darkness, the sought-after Russian Imperial Stout that's been drying up around town since its Halloween debut.

For beer fans, that's a great start.

thorgen@startribune.com • 612-673-7909