Leslie Bock's five favorite bars

In Leslie Bock's world, zombies and tiki gods are good for business. But when she's off the clock, the owner of Psycho Suzi's and Donnie Dirk's Zombie Den can't get enough of the Twin Cities' old-school haunts. "My favorite places to go for a drink have virtually nothing to do with the actual drink," Bock said. "I go for the feeling." Here, Bock takes us on a tour through the nostalgic side of nightlife.

MANCINI'S LOUNGE

"My absolute favorite. It's like a 1970s porn movie or maybe a scene out of 'Scarface.' You feel sleazy and sexy and naughty. It's the perfect place to commit adultery or plan a crime -- or have a clambake. It's out-of-control Mafioso with on-the-rocks classic drinks and lots of meat, meat and more meat. If Mancini's closes or remodels, I will be forced to stab myself in the heart."

  • She's drinking: "I always get a creamy drink, like a white Russian with filberts."

JAX CAFE (PATIO)

"An idyllic little wonderland for a drink. I suck down ice-cream drinks and daydream about living in '50s utopia. The experience makes you feel the world is full of possibilities, like a great first date. The little garden -- with its plants and flowers, a trout stream, twinkly lights, a turning water wheel -- is about as wholesome and sweet as it comes."

  • She's drinking: "Their brandy Alexanders, grasshoppers and pink squirrels are a little package of happiness on a summer evening."

JIMMY'S BAR

"Jimmy's is perfectly crappy and cozy in every way a good dive bar should be. Extra cheap, no frills, cocktail wieners and not a lick of pretense. A delicious beef stick in hand and a gin-and-tonic at 8 a.m., and you're set for the day. Lounge on appropriately torn furniture, fritter $20 away on pulltabs or gaze at the paneling. There is so much to do! Nobody cares what you do or how much you drink. It's a judgment-free safe zone to start your drinking problem and nurse it along -- forever."

  • She's drinking: "I usually order Stroh's, because that's pretty much all they have on tap."

SHOREWOOD BAR & GRILL

"It's real life in the northern suburbs. Karaoke and 20-piece big bands, trashy love affairs, alcoholic grandparents and small-town boys looking for small-town girls with perky little boobies. I can't fully comprehend whether it's ironic or that it feels like a hopeful place, where customers seem to enjoy their life just as it is. Discussions vary from who's got a sale on Mich Golden Light to Sandy's husband refusing to go to church anymore. Shorewood is a random pick because it offers no extremes -- it just 'is.' "

  • She's drinking: "I drink the house pinot grigio and eavesdrop on a regular life that seems to perpetually pass me by."

GAY 90'S

"This is an amusement park of gaiety and over-the-top commotion. Room after room of various themed shenanigans. You don't ever have to leave to get a new and vastly different experience. It's also home to some mind-expanding stories and tales, especially outside the ladies' restroom. Back in the day, I used to dance myself into a tizzy, but as the years passed I preferred to watch the drag show or just observe the joy and pain of gay love and life. It's one of the few places you can feel completely free from conformity and convention."

  • She's drinking: "Any sort of stiff fruity drink or whiskey seems appropriate. However, I stick with my wine."
  • Tom Horgen

Reality-TV restaurant headed here

The latest in reality TV programming seems to combine elements of "The Restaurant," "Top Chef" and "American Idol." It's called "America's Next Great Restaurant," and here's how it'll work: Eleven restaurant concepts -- culled from a field of 21 -- will vie for "the great American dream of launching his/her own restaurant chain, and viewers will have the opportunity to experience it for themselves," according to the NBC press release. The local tie? The four judges/investors (including Bobby Flay and Steve Ells, founder of the Chipotle chain) will pour cash into three locations for the nascent chain: New York City, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. The first episode airs 7 p.m. Sunday on KARE, Channel 11.

  • Rick Nelson

Tickles no more

Here's what it had going for it: a goofy name and a curious concept (piano/sports/gay bar). But even those things couldn't keep the doors open at Tickles. The downtown Minneapolis bar closed Monday, according to a statement posted on its website. The bar opened in 2008 in a quiet section of northeast Minneapolis. After a slow first year, it moved downtown into the former Little Wagon space at 4th St. and 5th Av. S. Tickles is the third GLBT-friendly bar to close in four months. Rumours & Innuendo in St. Paul closed in October. Gladius, in downtown Minneapolis, shut its doors in December.

  • Tom Horgen

Minneapolis patio debate brewing

A debate is brewing over the future of sidewalk cafes and patios in Minneapolis neighborhoods. Last month, a City Council subcommittee discussed a proposal that would put new standards on establishments outside of downtown.

The proposed restrictions (penned by council member Meg Tuthill) are heavily focused on the amount of noise emanating from neighborhood bars and restaurants. The draft included restrictions on outdoor capacity limits, the banning of amplified music after 10 p.m. (in outdoor areas) and other methods for monitoring noise problems. The proposal would exclude downtown.

A group of bars and restaurants that oppose the changes have created a Facebook page called "Minneapolitans for Going Outside," which has received nearly 1,000 likes since going live last week. From the comments on the page, it's clear the debate has struck a chord with patio lovers.

One thing's for sure: The proposal's wording has led to some confusion among both detractors and supporters. An updated version was scheduled to go before a council committee on Monday, but was taken off the agenda. Apparently, Tuthill will be giving the proposed ordinance some tweaks. Tuthill herself wrote a post on the Facebook page, stating, "I will be seeking public and industry input and of course there will be a public hearing before it goes before the council."

  • Tom Horgen

Pink Mink pays tribute to Seekins

Local band Pink Mink has a new video for its locally fabled song "Seeking Scott Seekins," a must-see over at MPLS.TV (www.mpls.tv). The video-makers used a crowd of lookalikes dressed in the same fashionable garb, moppy hairdo and pointy mustache that are trademarks of the song's namesake, an artist and ubiquitous man-about-town. Pink Mink is gearing up for SXSW with a sendoff party March 11 at the Turf Club, also featuring Maggie Morrison's H.U.N.X., Hastings 3000 and Von Bondies frontman Jason Stollsteimer's new band, the Hounds Below.

  • Chris Riemenschneider