Driftwood Char Bar

Great place! Went there with family to see live music and it was outstanding! Defiantly great food and drinks at a reasonable price!!! Look forward to going back again.

We came to hear a well rehearsed expert BAND. The doorman took the cover, then did a weird schtick to find out who we were. During the MUSIC, inebriated patrons kept wanting to find out who we were. DANGEROUS! Food and staff OK, but caution the DOORMAN, and beware if you are not a regular.

What a night! Super food, and amazing music! My wife and I shared grilled chicken nachos and a tuna steak melt. Pleasure programme headlined, they were perfect! Highly recommend.

Door man was extremely rude about making me move because of my crutches. The owner Heidi was running around drunk and being extremely obnoxious. Bartender cleared my full drink off the bar when I left to go to the bathroom. Stella is $ 24 for a pitcher and Bud Light is $ 14. Do not waste your time.

Went here to check out the band «Mayfield»! Great music and an awesome place to listen to some good music. Come here with a group of friends if you want to have good conversations and listen to some good music. They have a decent list of bottled beer. Ok tap beer.

This is a bar that I would greatly miss if it left my neighborhood, yet it’s far from perfect. One, don’t even consider the food unless it’s a Heggie’s frozen pizza at midnight. Everything else is basically frozen randomness which gets dumped directly into a fryer. And to be honest, I’m okay with that. The Char Bar is a place you go to with some friends on a Friday or Saturday night for a sloppy good time and live music, which is increasingly hard to find in South Minneapolis.
The main problem, which others have alluded to, is that the beer prices are absurd. I think I was once charged $ 19 for a pitcher of Schell’s. The pricing almost seems arbitrary and I’ve pretty much been told that there is special pricing for the «regulars.» I think if they improved their beer selection and had consistently lower prices, it would go a long way.

I cannot believe my experience at this place. The person in charge asked for a $ 5 cover charge to hear a band. After ordering a beer and 1song, he promptly began arguing/​swearing/​abusing the band members and apparently kicked them off the stage. What kind of business is this that promotes itself as a friendly, neighborhood ‘hole in the wall’ — supposedly laid back place that has a love for music and then abuses the musicians??? Didn’t finish my beer (should have demanded my $ 5 bucks back and reimbursement for my unfinished beverage) and left feeling very disgusted with this place. I will not ever patronize this place and will spread the negative vibe to everyone I know!!!

We love this place! The atmosphere is warm and friendly. Service is fast. Drinks and menus are reasonably priced with generous portions. They also get a good mix of local music. Never know of you’re going to see a little rock, glam, synth, pop, or country but it’s always new and interesting. Music levels are kept low so you can still have a conversation. Always clean and I like that they have pool tables and arcade games too. Just a really nice unpretentious local bar with an eclectic customer base and atmosphere. Definitely will come back!

How are people rating this place anything more than a one? Are you guys their friends or something? Are you guys being paid to give a middle ground review to make it seem genuine? Don’t fool yourself… this place is garbage and it always will be as long as that owner gal is running the show, with her obnoxious boyfriend/​music booking agent along side her booking music when they don’t even want music there at all. Why would any establishment who lost their liquor license to being incompetent and negligent invite music into their building when they know the neighbors don’t want it and that they could potentially lose their liquor license over it… again! Still stand by my bartender review, the two gals were the only redeemable factor… other than that… imagine a dumpster on fire… now imagine yourself jumping into it. That’s what going to this place feels like. Long live barvis!

Essentially, my review echos everything that Troy P.‘s says. A good neighborhood bar with live music, a definite «I’m a regular» vibe, and iffy service. I’ve been to Driftwood few times to catch a band I’m pretty fond of, and I’ve never had less than a good time. The place gets pretty packed on weekends during shows, and the manager of the place does an excellent job of making the rounds to chat and joke around with bar-​goers.
Service is definitely spotty, especially when things get busy and overwhelming for the 2 bartenders on staff. It’s in your best interest not to ask them for a glass of water — they’ll roll their eyes and point in the direction of the self-​serve cooler next to the wall. They serve typical bar food staples, and I can attest that the fries and cheese curds are pretty good.
Oh, and don’t come here expecting a gin & tonic or a shot of whiskey (although this would be very appropriate, given the super divey aesthetic) — this place is beer and wine only. My typical game plan involves having one or two of their 6 – 7 beers on tap, then switching to those light American lagers we all love to hate, since they’re about $ 4 cheaper.

Awful service. We’ve been sitting at a table for 15 minutes without being acknowledged while others around us have been served. We will definitely not be returning.

For overall rating I have a hard time going higher than 3 stars. For what it is, A divey neighborhood bar with tons of live music, you really can’t ask for a whole lot more. I’ve been a few times now when a buddy is performing with his band and it is usually pretty damn crowded, especially on weekends. Service at the bar can be hit or miss, partly because the bar isn’t very big, there are usually only 2 bar tenders and the place is packed. The space overall is pretty tight and on Saturday’s there is a $ 5 cover, it doesn’t take many humans to turn the bar into standing room only. They only serve beer and wine here, so don’t come expecting Cocktails or Spirits. There are Pull tabs and the food looks good enough for bar food, although I have never tried it.
For South Minneapolis Live Music on a consistent basis, the Char Bar is a solid choice.

As Kingfield gentrifies, this spot is a throwback. True neighborhood dive, with live music.

Good atmosphere, kind patrons, and good music. Great place to hang out with friends with a few beers.

Humble neighborhood bar, maybe even classifies as a dive. Very small. Good sweet potato fries the first visit. Frier was broken the second visit, but the nachos were pretty good. Live music, which I appreciate.

This is a nice little performance spot in this neighborhood. I really liked that the music was at a level that you could still hear the people in your group without having to shout over them.
After reading some of the reviews, I still ended up ordering food and drink. Yes, the service could have been better and it seemed like it took longer than what is decent for it to come out, but it was still good.
I would come back to this spot, but knowing what to expect.

Not a great first impression of the Driftwood.
Almost comically, our waitress could not remember our order to save her life, repeatedly coming back and asking what we had ordered. In my head I’m thinking, «Why not carry around a notepad?» Easy enough, right?! The unfortunate result was my order not being registered, and thus I sat hungry while others at my table enjoyed their meals. In the end they did comp my food, so at least they atoned for their mistake.
The food is not good, even for bar food. They indicated at numerous times they were easing into a new menu. Perhaps inexperience was the culprit, but the result was a dry burger drenched in some terrible sauce and tasteless fries. At least there is a decent selection on tap, and beers are only $ 2.50, right? Wrong!
Though their website still boasts old specials, they no longer exist. I questioned the bartender, showed him the website, but to no avail. I mentioned the special written on the chalkboard ($ 1 beer with food purchase Sunday and Monday) but was told it only applied to employees of the service industry. Sure enough, hidden amongst the colorful writing was a small note saying «service deals,» or something to that affect. I told him the way it was written was very confusing. He didn’t seem to care.
Two stars because although she was a bit on the disorganized side, it was clear that our waitress actually cared. She sincerely apologized for our experience as we left, which was considerate of her. If we return and things are better, I will update this review.

The place definitely has a neighborhood feel. The best part was the bar tender that was working when I arrived was sitting at the bar, drinking, by the time I left. I assume he was there working off a previous tab.
The food menu is surprisingly classy. Sweet potato fries with aioli? (They are actually very good). But then they also have some dive-​favorites like cheese curds and mini cord dogs.
$ 2 pints of Grain Belt during weekday happy hour. Enough said.

This is a really neat little place to check out. Miscellaneous musicians linger in the crowd waiting to play on stage… kinda neat. The music was good and the food isn’t too bad, deep fried pot stickers were actually very tasty. They also have Crabby Monday which I want to check out one of these days. The prices of everything were very reasonable and the beverage selection was fair.
The bathrooms were kind of nasty and it’s in a sketchy neighborhood so the crowd can be a bit creepy. A woman who’d had way too much to drink tried to guilt us into letting her sleep on our couch because her boyfriend just threw her out.
Overall it is your average dive bar made better by great music and a pretty good menu. It’s an interesting spot to check out but I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable (or safe) being a regular. It’s one of those novelty spots to hit when the mood strikes you.

Having lived in Chicago, I took the neighborhood bar for granted. I could walk down my block and BAM! Seven bars to choose from. Unfortunately Minneapolis is not yet this cool, so I was thrilled to find out I even HAD a neighborhood bar, on my street even — the Driftwood!
Friendly people, good food (but slow service on food orders — beware), they have breakfast on weekends, and the clientele is hilarious (quite a, um, diverse crowd, if you will). Live music almost every night, which is usually pretty good, but makes table-​talk difficult — it gets pretty loud. Oh and a pool table?
Support the local bar! Especially this one. Maybe more will start popping up in South Minneapolis??? One can only hope.