When you’ve got a hankerin’ for some food with your booze but don’t want to fork over the extra bucks, head to Liquor Lyle’s for free wings. Any night of the week, this Hennepin Avenue watering hole rewards your patronage with the chicken to accompany 2-for-1 drink specials. Or, if chicken isn’t your choice of free meat, try the Triple Rock Social Club on Wednesday nights for some bacon at the bar. While you’re there, don’t forget to check out the main room for live musical acts—everything from Black Blondie (August 15) to Finntroll (August 31). For a completely different form of free protein, William’s in Uptown hits the spot with peanuts in the basement (yes, you are supposed to throw the shells on the floor).
[2021 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.; 612.870.8183 // 629 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls.; 612.333.7399; triplerocksocialclub.com // 2911 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.; 612.823.6271]
 

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›Imbibing on the Cheap
For $3 champagne cocktails, half-price bottles of wine (Sunday–Thursday) and mega woo-factor, Uptown’s Amore Victoria is it for a romantic night out, even on a budget. The European-style bar and restaurant is reasonable all the time, but irresistible during twice daily happy hours (3:30–6:30 p.m., Sunday–Friday, and 9:30 p.m.–close, Sunday–Thursday). If you can’t make it out then, head to Pancho Villa on Eat Street for all-day 2-for-1 margaritas and fantastic traditional Mexican food. The deal’s not on the menu, but all you have to do is ask. And for a steal without having to beg, the 400 Bar socks you with its strong mixed drinks for cheap: any booze, any time.
[1601 W. Lake St., Mpls.; 612.823.0250; amorevictoria.com // 2539 Nicollet Ave., Mpls.; 612.871.7014 // 400 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls.; 612.332.2903; 400bar.com]

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›Drinking Games
Some people get mean when they’ve been drinking. Others are criers. And another large percentage really starts to believe they can best anyone in the bar at slamming nails into a tree trunk after they’ve had a few. If you’re a competitive drunk, the aforementioned Hammerschlagen is played at Half Time Rec in St. Paul every Friday and Saturday, while bocce in the basement is always an option. For an above-ground (and outdoor) bocce game, the Nomad World Pub has a great new pub-side pit. Appalled at the lack of good ping-pong in the cities? Clearly you haven’t been to Mackenzie in downtown Minneapolis. Or get your fill of classic board games and vintage video games at the Chatterbox Pubs. Lawn bowling at Brit’s? More like yawn bowling. (We’re just mad about the long wait to get on a league. It’s really fun … we guess.)
[1013 Front Ave., St. Paul; 651.488.8245; halftimerec.com // 501 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls.; 612.338.6424; nomadpub.com // 918 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.; 612.333.7268; mackenziepub.com // 612.728.9871 (Mpls.), 651.699.1154 (St. Paul); chatterboxpub.net]

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›Mobile Bars
Movement and inebriation go together like a DWI and jail time. But for those of you who want your cake (drink) and to eat it too (stay alive and keep your car), there are a couple options. You could a.) Take a ride on the Pedal Pub, a bike-hybrid seating upwards of 16 that schedules drinking routes through bar country such as Nordeast (pedalpub.com); b.) Rent any number of party buses from partybuses.com (we recommend the Karaoke or Entertainment Express); c.) Jump aboard the Minneapolis Queen or Paradise Lady for a public or private booze cruise down the Mississippi (twincitiescruises.com); or d.) Get hammered and go to an IMAX.

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›Best Wine Bars
The best sips of wine offer so much more than good flavor. There’s also the bouquet, the finish, the look and the mouth-feel to consider. Likewise, a wine bar is more than its list and should be judged accordingly, with regard also to its atmosphere, its staff and, perhaps most importantly, its food menu. Finding a spot that hits that grand slam is so rare you just might spit out that mouthful of Bordeaux when you do (please, aim for the bucket). A few of the Twin Cities’ most worthy destinations: Beaujo’s is our unanimous pick for the best local wine bar; Alma isn’t really a wine bar but is a fantastic dining destination that puts as much emphasis on its wines as it does its dishes; and Bev’s in the Warehouse District, with its modest-but-masterful menu, wine list and décor, is the perfect antidote to downtown overload.
[4950 France Ave. S., Edina; 952.922.8974; beaujos.net // 528 University Ave. SE, Minneapolis; 612.379.4909; restaurantalma.com // 250 3rd Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612.337.0102]

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›Best Bars for the Single-Minded
The rooftop deck at Uptown favorite Stella’s Fish Cafe is a platform for pretty: Pretty dudes (of the tucked-in Banana Republic ilk), pretty ladies (of the tank tops and lip gloss ilk) and a pretty setting. Add all this up and you’ve got the makings for a pretty good singles scene for 30-somethings on the prowl. Come Friday night, Stillwater hotspot The Freighthouse Restaurant and Nightclub, located in an old train depot, fills with every single type of single (e.g., 20-somethings doing Jell-O shots, divorcees in Harley gear, hedge-fund managers). So take your pick. The Reagan era puked all over Restaurant Miami, but the kids seem to love it. And we love the telephones at each table that allow you to drunk dial hotties across the room.
[1402 W. Lake St., Mpls.; 612.824.8862; stellasfishcafe.com // 305 S. Water St., Stillwater; 651.439.5718; fhstillwater.com // 913 W. Lake St.; 612.823.1985; restaurantmiami.us] 

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›Places to Meet Unsavory Characters
From urban cowboys armed with whips from the nearby Schatzlein Saddle Shop to Uptowners who are merely dangerously hip, rabble-rousers from every block of Lake Street converge at the Country Bar & Grill for chicken wings and PBR. Inside the Rock Nightclub, big hair has never gone out of style—and if you make the slightest suggestion that it has, any patron within earshot is likely to break a pool cue over your head. Then, he (or she) might just buy you a drink. Never mind the tin-ceiling charm of W.A. Frost or the scent of international intrigue at Moscow on the Hill—it’s at the popcorn-strewn tables of Fabulous Fern’s Bar & Grill, a neighborhood joint around the corner, where the real business gets done between state legislators and the lobbyists who love them.
[3006 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls.; 612.824.7859 // 2029 Woodlynn Ave., Maplewood; 651.770.7822; therocknightclub.com // 400 Selby Ave., St. Paul; 651.225.9414; fabulousferns.com]