Nye's Polonaise Room
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Dressy
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Late Night
- Alcohol: Full Bar
33 Reviews for Nye's Polonaise Room
amazing.
perfect.
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This place is everything you could want in a bar. Piano karaoke, polka band, great Polish food and beer. I definitely couldn't find a place like this in San Francisco.
Definitely check it out if you're in Minneapolis.
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What can I really say about one of my most favorite places to go, for a good time in Mpls.
Back when I lived in Mpls I started going there before I was old enough to be in there. But Mikey is a great bartender and when I gave him a pretty smile he poured me the BEST White Russian's a girl could ask for. So for years I was a regular there even way back when Al Nye still owned the place. (God I'm getting old!) Over the years I took everyone I knew there and they all loved it. And how could you not?!
All I can say if your not careful this place will steal your heart. And if your not Minnesotan, you will be after you leave.
This place has everything! The Worlds Most Dangerous Polka Band, Roger the dancing fool who will give your ass a serious polka workout. I think he danced me sober plenty a time. The wait staff and bartenders are friendly and, professional to the T. The piano bar, so much fun. It screams Rat Pack lounge!
The decor in there is.......what's the word I'm looking for........1960's garage sale chic? It's gaudy, it's eclectic, it just works. The food is really classic of the Mpls area. I think the Walleye is to die for.
Although I haven't been there in a while since I live in AZ. I'm not sure what has changed. Hopefully nothing. My thoughts and my heart still yearn to go back there. I really had some of the best times there. With some of the best people on earth. Young and old. The mix of people there is the best.
Nye's is really special. It was cool to see Esquire Magazine thought it was too. It just goes to show, some times you don't need to change a good thing.
Just keep it classic and it'll work!
So try Nye's for me since I'm 1600miles away. And have a Nye's Night!
If anyone has been there recently and is a regular let me know what's up with the place I would love to know. Thanks!
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Greatest. Bar. Ever.
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Yes, of course everybody will tell you about the Esquire Magazine 'Best Bar in America' blurb. But if Esquire Magazine jumped off a bridge, would you? Here's what you need to know:
Some years ago I was seated up at the piano bar late one Tuesday night. My friends had begged off, and I stuck around to hear one last go round of the regulars singing their favorite old standards. We were closing the place, and there were very few people left in the house. The late pianist Ward (god bless him), decided that we should all sing together before they closed down, and so we did. It just happened that all of us left up at the piano were male, and yet we sang, hipsters and blue-collar retirees alike, 'Que Sera Sera' as the lyrics in the book were written ('when I was just a little girl I asked my mother what will I be...'. When the song was over and I was finishing my scotch, a couple of the guys actually embraced. It was an enlightening experience that I'm not likely to forget.
For those of you less sentimental out there, here's the facts:
Nye's, while a tad spendy, serves up fantastic pierogi. Not the Russian style, pastry kind (which have their time and place), but the Polish, boiled, slippery kind. They are delicious. Nye's has several rooms - the quiet dining room, the sometimes raucous front room with the piano bar, and the adjoining polka bar. All three offer fun times and stiff drinks. I love that there's a place in town where I can dance to a polka rendition of 'God Bless America,' eat some really satisfying Polish comfort food, and croon 'Fly me to the Moon' under the same roof.
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Nordeast legend. Love it. Attended several holiday parties in the basement. Some of the best bartenders and atmosphere around.
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Came here once after a work party with some colleagues and was pleasantly surprised. The fact that I am 20+ years younger than my co-workers went totally unnoticed at Nye's because the mix of the crowd is so random: You've got grandmas doing the polka, frat boys pounding shooters, moms & dads out for date night, and young 20-somethings having girls night out. You can dress up, come straight from the office, or even from the nearest U game. It was truly a phenomenon.
The polka band was great and after a couple of rounds the whole place was singing along. I think I was singing in Polish. Somewhere I made friends with the nice suits at the bar and was treated to a couple of free drinks in exchange for impromptu polka lessons. I had decided I was an expert at this point. It was loud enough to not feel idiotic as you two-stepped around the bar and yet you could still hold a meaningful conversation at a low yell in one of the vinyl-encrusted booths.
The night commenced with all of my co-workers cramming into the vintage photo booth for around $3 and a long, slow walk up the hill to our parked cards. It was like stepping into an alternate, polka-fueled universe. Awesome.
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I have so much to say about Nye's. It's much much bigger than I expected. There is quite the story about our evening at Nye's, but I'll condense to the main bullet-points.
LOVED-
hazelnuts in the white russians, that everything was red, piano karaoke, the large booths for our large group, the musty old antique-ish carpets, the old-Europe speakeasy feel, and most of all... the polka room.
DIDN'T LOVE-
congested feeling around every corner, the "bro" crowd, that we were some of the only moderately young crowd appreciating the polka room, that i've been spoiled by hazelnuts in my white russians.
I will definitely make a stop at Nye's when/if I am ever in the Minneapolis area again. This was a stand-out for my trip, and if I'm lucky, I may just never forget it.
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oh my god...oh my god...oh my god
best bar in the WORLD. polka band? photo booth? karaoke to piano? this place is so amazing that i can't even find the words. i wish i lived in mini apples so i could go here every night!
Although the crowd wasn't the coolest I've seen, this bar is totally radical. dancing to the polka band made me feel like i was back in time. in poland.
To you who say whitey ain't got no soul:
To you who say that the only good white music is derivative of black music:
To you who say that you lose whatever mojo you had when you turn 25:
I present to you: the world's most dangerous polka band!!!
I ate here during the day, the food was pretty good, the atmosphere was interesting and cool, too bad I didn't go at the right time to see the world's most dangerous polka band.
Ummm...whats not to love about Nye's?
Huge portions
Live polka
Reasonable pricing
Its a staple of Minneapolis. I love bringing friends and family who are in for a visit. Somehow I think that this is what all New Yorkers belive Minnesota is like...so why not cater to the stereotype!?
Excellent gin martinis. Makes me feel older, which isn't always a bad thing. Sexy older men in suits - usually with their wives/girlfriends. Becoming a fratboy hangout. Which is annoying if they all wear sweatbands and cute if they all do the twist and sing along with Ruth and the gang.
The barmen are uncommonly dignified. Nobody really mentions the food, which is decent and very polish. The place tends to be crowded for dinner, which makes sense in this old Polish neighborhood.
Don't plan on a table on the weekend - dance it up instead, or stick to the main dining room. Think twice about shorts and short skirts, since you'll stick painfully to the booths. Make new friends and dance with someone twenty years your senior/junior.
I always see bachelorette parties here, which I really don't understand, but isn't it saying something that Nye's draws old Polish couples and young, sullen brides to be together?
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Seriously, how many places in American can you go and enjoy beer and live polka music. This place is awesome!
Eclectic. Varied. Fun. All these adjectives and more, at Nye's. This is a great bar because of the variation among the clientele and the staff.
There is also live entertainment, which is a rarity nowadays.
Bring an open mind if you're a downtown clubhopper (on second thought maybe just stay where you are ;) ), but if you're flexible and enjoy being around all types of old and new Minneapolis, this is a great spot for you. I highly recommend it.
I love Nye's for all the little reasons. Polka, martini's, super staff, sophisticated bar tenders, and the bouncer who hailed us a cab. The diverse clientle also gives it a little extra something.
I love this bar! Great place to get a really great dirty martini! I also love that they have live polka music and a rat pack-like atmosphere!
I love Nye's. My favorite thing to do was to sit at the piano bar and harmonize badly with people singing. I did this agonizing high harmony on "The Rose" once and I thought the lady was going to jump over the piano and strangle me.
The other great thing was I would somehow always manage to cover my expenditures from the generous pull-tab payouts.
The greatest Tiki/Polka bar in the world.
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A sensory explosion. I'm in love.
Nye's clientele has the widest age range of any bar ever. Pretty sure I saw Milton Berle's corpse and Dakota Fanning splitting a pitcher of Premium in one of the metallic gold booths.
That fact a place like this is still around is downright life-affirming.
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it was weird when i was there it was valentines day, one side of the bar people were singing loves songs and the room we were in had the Ruth Adams band (the worlds most dangerous polka band). it really had a different feel then other bars
it's like being the movie fear and loathing in las vegas...you know the scene when hunter s thompson is in circus circus with all the weird folks and totally tripping... ::blinks::
yeah...imagine that but on new year's eve and you are in minneapolis in a polka bar...it's just like that... surreal and kinda creepy and yet strangely exciting and fun...
polka dancing with old people... singing live karaoke drunkenly at the piano bar...eating pierogies... and being in a kitschy fun place what more can you ask for!! so much fun...
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Stopped into town and walked around this area east of the river. Pretty nice. Lots of memories seem to be hanging around here, getting swept up perhaps, but still around. leaves in november. Nye, dressed up like Chopin, plays a piano on a small painted sign out front. Municipal architecture looms and dwarfs the old place, criss crossed like the fake half-timbering on the exterior. An old catholic church next door. I wonder if there's a secret tunnel between them. It'd be a secret I guess. The interior is so dark it takes 20 seconds for my camera to get a shot of the beautiful glittery gold booth upholstery. ch-chk! 20 seconds an old woman loaded with platters of sausage and sauerkraut. ch-chk! 20 seconds my coffee mug and my thumb, out of focus, and a glimmery piano in the background, ch-chk! I fall back in my booth, falling into a bed at the end of a tunnel, a bottle of beer in my hand. i wake up with a start, pay and leave.
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This place feels out of time, but very welcoming. It's almost like the 70s meets Fargo. The decor is old-fashioned and plain, the mustached bartender was friendly, and the old man with the comb-over at the piano knew every song by heart. There was no pretentiousness here, just service with a smile and a great time. If there would be anything I could have taken with me from Minneapolis, it would be Nye's.
The first time I went to Nye's was for my birthday several years back. It was my birthday and the World's Most Dangerous Polka Band (with the original drummer) sang Happy Birthday to me. To say I had a great time is an understatement. At Nye's, the food is good, the drinks are strong and the atmosphere's a blast.
This place is amazing. Pros...the WHITE RUSSIANS. The food. The decor. Everything is awesome. The Cons...I didn't go there more when I was in Minneapolis.
A beautiful relic of the early 60's and a must see for Minneapolis. Avoid it on Friday and Saturday nights because it becomes jam packed with frat boys.. I'm not sure why. And anyone who remembers should morn the loss of the weeknight piano wizard Ward Dunkirk. You are dearly missed.
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Oh my god. I've been to bars this country over and never have I found one quite like Nye's. They haven't decorated since the 60's. They are a piano bar in the front and a polka bar in the back. Their polka band is the World's Most Dangerous Polka Band and their youngest member is in his late 70s. He just replaced the drummer who drummed his way to heaven. Ruth is the accordianist and is missing some teeth. The crowd is ranging from 20s to 80s. The last time I was there a man dressed in all leather was making out with his lady wearing only a slip and big poofy bleached hair in the corner. They were in their 60s. They offer a CD of hits from over the years. Piano/polka bar. Do I have to say anymore? Your life will be changed.
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One of the best bars I've been to in my life! In the front, a 1000-year old lady will take your show tune requests and belt 'em out at her piano. In the tiniest back room ever, there is a full polka band (who also takes requests). I did the chicken dance with an 80-year old guy and couldn't keep up! I'd go back to MN just to go here.
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This was a fun and unique place. I want to bring all my out of town friends there. Food was great. Great Drinks. I am coming back.
I have to say that Nye's has some of the best atmosphere in the cities. It's no wonder Esquire Magazine rated it the the number one bar in America! Read the article and you'll know why!
http://www.esquire.com...
I have to agree, this bar is truly original to say the least. It is definitely kitchy as polka is not really mainstream, but that makes Nye's all the better. The polka in the back is so much fun and the sing-a-long piano bar is the best. They make a mean drink and the food isn't that bad either!
You must go here once if you live in the Minneapolis area. They have free(as in tip only) valet parking.
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