Downtime Bar & Grill

Great tap beer, good food, frequent live music, and great rotating specials. Not a douche bar even though it is next to the frats. They must keep walking to The Library… This bar is my longtime favorite in Dinkytown.

The Downtime is a great bar for Dinkytown — just wish it was a great bar when I lived in Dinkytown as I would have been here pretty frequently and definitely on most Wednesday nights during their all you can eat ribs and pizza and all you can drink Long Islands and PBR special.
The Downtime is a great place to catch a show or just a couple of drinks. Their tap selection isn’t the biggest, but they usually have about a dozen regional craft beers on tap and a couple of old standbys (i.e., PBR). My focus is generally on the drinks and tunes, but if the food served during the Wed. night special is any indication, they serve up some decent bar food and generally have specials every night catering to the college crowd and frugal masses.
The only annoyance or complaint I have are the droves of drunk college kids passing through the adjacent frat row area on most nights, but that’s probably just annoying to me since it’s a realization of how immature and annoying I was as a college student back in the day.

Nice little bar, just blends into its surroundings. You may even mistake it for a bookstore. Nice disguise.
Went there to see a band (Soul Tree), and I thought I was going to a full show, but the show ended at 11 pm. Apparently the nice people (yes, sarcasm) who own the building above are doing all they can to make sure no live music is played there beyond a certain time. Who wants to go listen to live music for only 2 hours? I can’t even imagine how much that sucks for the bands.
The bar itself though has an interesting atmosphere. Kind of dive-​y. Granted, I was only there for a couple of hours, while students were still on their winter vacation. I bet the crowd is a little different when school is in session, but I guess I would go back there. Drink prices are very good, which is a great advantage of hitting campus bars. The drawback is the college students (I know, I was one once, but now I’m not and I’m actually over it). Overall, I like the chill atmosphere, but I want live music past 11 pm.

Downtime is appropriately named. With their amazing Wednesday special you should make sure you have plenty of «downtime» to get your money’s worth – before I go on, let me breakdown the dealio down for you:
Buy one of their plastic mugs for $ 10. Pay $ 6 for all-​you-​can-​drink beer and/​or long islands (alternating not recommended) and all-​you-​can-​eat pizza and ribs (alternating recommended). Bring said mug back the following Wednesday. Pay $ 6. Eat, drink & be merry. Repeat.
Easy on those beverages though, I’ve seen a few lucky patrons receive some unintentional face-​Downtime!

I think that Downtime is a hidden gem in Dinkytown. It’s tucked in a corner on Frat row and I would have never noticed or checked it out if a friend hadn’t suggested going.
I’ve only been there to drink, but both times were great. The first time I went there was definitely a hippie vibe with great hippie music. The second time the place was filled with polos and annoying drunk girls who can’t dance, yet still great music.
Downtime has a pretty decent beer selection and I like the set up of the place. I definitely recommend checking this place out if you’re sick of the drunk college kids scene that exists almost everywhere else in Dinkytown.

Stopped in last night, and was thoroughly impressed. The drinks were very reasonably priced, the service was very good, and the music (PB and the Jam) was out of this world (and without a cover charge). The atmosphere was incredibly chill, very nice people. I wish I would’ve tried some of the food, but that wasn’t in the plan for the night. Their oven, from what I saw, looks like a real firebrick/​stone oven with a woodfire in it. I’m sure the pizzas are, as other reviewers have said, above par.

You know, I’d been here once before but I could not remember anything about it except the empanadas…
Which are pure divinity. Get them. Stat. So good.
I think I perhaps didn’t remember it because back then, I was sort of a punk-​ass kid who wanted glitz and glamour, not some tasty food and relaxation.
Now that I am more Golden Girl, I appreciate Downtime’s laid back atmosphere and decent eats. The pizza is good, the sandwiches always look tasty, and their happy hour apps are awesome for being only 4 bucks.
I would say get there in the earlier evening before the silly kids come in; I was there for Happy Hour last week and apparently Tuesday nights have a great band that plays a sorta-​classic country kind of thing (which I admit here and now… I love). But after they were done, some hysterical white&nerdy «band» whipped out their MacBooks and tried to lay some phat beats down for the ladies… or something like that… I don’t know what the crackers say nowadays.

Oh Downtime, you are my favorite place to get fatter at.
I really have only experienced the Wednesday night all you can eat/​drink deal, but I feel since I’ve done it for two years+, I can make a review.
Downtime is a hipper bar than say the Library. Not as ultra hip as the Kitty Kat Club. They have live music a lot of days of the week, and the interior sports a view of the kitchen (with it’s wood-​burning oven!) The interior is not loud, mostly subdued with black paint.
Here’s how it works– You go in, show ID, and then consume massive amounts. Okay, there is more to it. I would arrive earlier than 9 to get a table. This tends to be a popular place on a Wednesday night. You need a cup that costs $ 5 to gain access to the food and alcohol. The cup is yours to keep (so you keep coming back!) so your initial visit will cost $ 15. Thereafter (2 years running and my roommates an mine are still good to go!) it will be $ 10. Don’t forget to tip!
The pizza and ribs are the food part of the all you can eat. I’ve never thought the ribs were all that special, but to each their own– I see a lot of people down several plates. I really like the pizza, which comes in two varieties– Margarita and Sausage/​Peperoni combo. Both are good and plentiful.
The Alcohol is two varieties– PBR and Long Island Iced Tea (LIIT?). I would start with a LIIT or three and then move on to Beer. The LIIT are quite strong, so that’s awesome. PBR goes well with pizza, and goes better the more you’ve had to drink.
Don’t plan on driving soon after, and I wouldn’t recommend allowing anyone at your table to not be a part of the deal. They get annoyed real quick if they think someone is mooching pizza.
I’ll probably have to start a list of My Favorite Fat Guy places, and this would definitely be on the list.

I used to like downtime a lot. I really did. I even liked it when it was Mangia (does anyone else remember that place?) I thought their $ 10 all you can eat pizza, ribs, long islands and pbr was like the best deal in town. After my experience last night, I won’t be going back and will gladly pay more for my pizza, ribs, long islands and pbr somewhere else…
It was the service. Not the waitstaff or bartender, the dude at the door. Maybe it’s because he has to deal with college kids who pop their collars and wear their hats backwards, that he’s in a bad mood. He made snide remarks to my friend and I as we entered and took away my couple slices of left over pizza as my friend and I left. Now I don’t know if it’s some kind of health dept. rule that you can’t take «buffet» food out of a restaurant, or if the guy was just being an ass to me. My thought was, the pizza was made, we ate most of it, instead of throwing it away, I’ll take the couple of slices left, home. Reasonable right? Nothing gratuitous. I wasn’t taking 5 full plates of pizza home with me. Just what was left on our table. As were leaving the door, the dude barks at me that I ‘can’t take it home’. I ask ‘why not? you’re just going to throw it away’ to which he responds ‘yep I am’ and takes the plate out of my hand and chucks it in the bin. Now, let’s think about this business model for a second here. You needlessly ticked off a customer, by throwing away food that you and they had already paid for. Hrm… and now said customer will not be returning. You lost my business and my friend’s business… isn’t that worth more than a few slices of cold pizza?

Me and my friends decided to try this place out after hearing about it for a long time. We went after night class to grab happy hour drink and food specials. We walk in to the place, and grab a seat towards the back. We are pretty well ignored for about 5 minutes (the place was empty except for 5 other ppl) before the server brings us the drink menu and asks us immediately what we want.
Surprised at her behavior, we ask if there were any drink specials. She quickly rattles them off and we give her our orders. Our drinks came, but she ran off before we could ask for a food menu. Then the music started. And it was awful.
It was so loud that we had to shout to hear the person talking next to us. Twenty minutes go by and the waitress still isn’t back. The beers are gone, and we are really hungry. We flagged her down to order another round and to get food. It was another 25 minutes before our pizzas arrived.
The pizzas and beer were good and cheap (large pizzas are only $ 5 after 10pm). But the horrible wannabe band blasting in our ears and the truly poor service made us want to run away. We left leaving a very small tip and quickly surmised we wouldn’t go back.

I have to admit, Downtime is really not my favorite place to ever go to!
For me, personally, the place just has a lot of drama that comes with a night spent here. I know that isn’t really a good basis to form an opinion about the business on, but it really does shape how I feel about the place.
Every time I’ve been here, it has been pretty busy. Although, I should point out that the place is pretty small and cannot hold an enormous crowd that well.
The people that I run into, even if I know them or not, are all people I could do with out in my life. I don’t know what it is about this place, but in my life, it seems to bring out the worst in people… maybe not the worst, but definitely the shady part in most people.
The only good that I find about this place, is the fact that they close at midnight! I like that, so after I’ve been dragged there, I still have time to go get a few drinks before bar closing!

Nice bar with friendly wait staff. Has good deals on pizza and wine if you find the right time to go.

They overcooked my chicken tenders this time, but you get an entire plate of food (3 tenders and fries) for $ 4. Some other friends are super-​fond of the empanadas.
And in perusing their wine menu (which really never happens with me because I am never there when you would have to pay full-​price), I noticed that their wines by the glass are $ 3.50 when they’re off happy hour. So really, it is a good place to enjoy for wine at ALL times of the day and night.
Its is never totally packed, which means it is always a solid choice when wanting to have an actual conversation with friends. It also means there is enough space to seat all of them.

Downtime is a good chill place to go have a dirnk on campus. By the time 10pm rolls around, most bars on campus are packed full of people trying to have sex with each other, which can be annoying. Downtime is the perfect place on campus to relax and have a few drinks with some friends.
Downtime is probably not going to win any food awards. The food isn’t bad, but it isn’t anything to rave about either. Usually my friends and I will just order some appertizers for snacks, which works pretty well.
The service is usually pretty good, though if they are a bit busy, it can take a while to get a server’s attention.
The other thing I don’t like is the live music. It generally is not too loud, but it sort of is a bit strange for a place that has this really chill, relaxing atmosphere to all of a sudden have music that you have to talk over. I like live music, but not when I am trying to have a quiet drink with friends.
All in all, I like downtime and it is one of my favorite campus bars. If you’re in Dinkytown and you don’t wanna deal with squeezing through people to get a drink all night, I’d try Downtime.

To be honest, I go to DT almost once/​week without fail. It’s become the hang out spot for my friends and I. And I like it that way. I’ve only ever gone on Wednesdays though, so I can’t guarantee what traffic is like beyond this one night.
The awesome thing about DT is that on Wednesday nights, starting at 9pm, they have all-​you-​can-​drink long islands and/​or beer in addition to all-​you-​can-​eat pizza and ribs for $ 10. It’s not a bad deal and the food is definitely not the worst in Minneapolis.
It’s a small, dark bar and fills up quick. They usually have a decent mix of music covering most genres. Also, there is no free parking (since it’s by the U of M) but there is a pay lot right behind it, or the 4^th street ramp is free after 9pm (you pay when you leave) if you don’t mind a small walk.

Definitely the preferred bar of underage drinker since Blarney got busted. One night, my friends and I met some random girls at Downtime and got to talking:
«What year are you ladies?»
«Juniors.»
“Where do you live right now?”
«Territorial.» (aka the freshmen only dorm).
Huh.
Regardless, the bar is a nice place, and can be chill when there’s no live music or completely packed when there is live music. When it is crowded, the layout can be an issue and movement near impossible, but that is typical for most college bars I suppose.
Downtime also has some great drink deals during the weak including half-​price bottles of wine.
As far Dinkytown bars goes, Downtime is a bit classier/​more lounge-​like than Blarney and the Library but a step below the Kitty Kat Club.

UPDATE BELOW
My favorite bar in Dinkytown.
If I wanted to take some out of towners somewhere, I would go to the Kitty Kat Club. If I wanted rock bottom drink prices, I would go to the Library. If I wanted to kick myself in the head, I would go to Blarney’s.
But if I want to have a relaxing drink, I go to Downtime.
It’s a curious place, a bit of everything. It has a few tvs, usually playing sports It has good food (served until 2am!). The bartenders treat you like it was a neighborhood pub and later in the evening it gets the feel of laid back lounge.
I can’t praise the staff enough, on most occasions I’ve had wonderful, friendly service. It’s the kind of place you don’t mind drinking alone at.
UPDATE ¾/​08:
Downtime has dropped in my regard.
My chief gripe seems to be the menu.
I seem to remember above average bar food, a credit to the «grill» in bar & grill. My compatriots question my memory. I’m told the more interesting features were not that good when actually consumed.
I just know when I settled into the bar this evening, the only thing staring back at me from the menu was the sad bar regulars: chicken wings, cheese sticks, nachos. Mostly the usual deep fried regulars. Sure, they had «bruschetta» (thin slices of bread buried in too much cheese), «Empanadas» (straight from the freezer to the fryer!).
And of course the entrees: pizza, burgers and pasta.
Gag.
I hearby downgrade this place from my favorite Dinkytown bar. I’d take Kitty Kat or the Library over this place easily now.