Lonely’s Bar is a new staple on the Mississippi riverfront this summer, but one step inside transports you to the past. Crystalline chandeliers sparkle from above, billiard balls clack under the glow of a Tiffany lamp, and former patrons of the storied Pracna on Main building smile from golden-framed photographs.
If you missed the bar’s quiet opening in June, you might have wandered in and guessed that Lonely’s has been dazzling since the Jazz Age. You wouldn’t be too far off. The building itself was constructed in 1890—it first opened its doors as a saloon, establishing its reputation as the “oldest bar in Minneapolis,” and was later repurposed as an industrial space. Pracna on Main opened as a humble riverside bar in the early ’70s but eventually closed in 2015, leaving the building a vacant skeleton of its past.
This summer, co-owners Eric Odness and Michael Petersen, who own Northeast bar and music venue Zhora Darling, along with Erik Hamline, who owns the creative direction and consultancy group Work—Site, revived the space. Given Hamline’s experience in interior design and Odness’s success with other bars (including multiple in New York City, one of which is ironically named Lake Street Bar), it’s no surprise that Lonely’s historic elements (like glowing stained glass installations and original brick walls in the back bar) combined with chic updates (like the mood-setting red overhead lights that hang over the front bar) make the bar feel uniquely vintage and modern at the same time.
On a warm night at Lonely’s, you’ll find patrons chatting over pitchers of beer at the front patio. Inside, there are a plethora of nooks and crannies to explore until the bar’s 2 a.m. close, from tiny tables facing an unlit hearth, which still maintain a warm glow under the light of sconces with red lampshades, to a tucked-away photo booth…