Ben's Review
On the same day that we had breakfast at Sunny Side Up Cafe, we had also made plans to meet my sister and brother-in-law, Becca and Joe, for happy hour at Psycho Suzi's. We had given them a gift card to Psycho Suzi's awhile ago and they wanted to have some food and use the gift card.
I checked out the happy hour specials online during the day. I was disappointed to find that the happy hour at Psycho Suzi's runs from 3-5pm. This seems like a "happy hour cop-out" if you ask me; they still get to advertise a happy hour, even though very few people are going to make it out for happy hour before 5pm. Of course, Becca and Joe got there around 4:30 and got in a couple drinks while the gettin' was good.
We sat out on the patio which was pretty full, we might not have gotten a spot if Becca and Joe hadn't arrived earlier. The patio is really nice at Psycho Suzi's because it's behind the restaurant, so you're shielded from the noise of Lowry and Marshall. It was a great night out too, not too hot and clear skies. I ordered a Summit in spite of the decent beer selection - I was tempted to go for an Oberon after tasting Erin's at Brasa, but I couldn't pull the trigger. I was also tempted by the relatively cheap price of the PBR tall boy, ($3.50).
We quickly decided on splitting a large pizza and an appetizer. It's cheaper to order the Suzi Supreme and take some items off (black olives, mushrooms) than it is to order a custom pizza, by several dollars actually. The large pizza was plenty to fill up all four of us, and it was delicious. It's amazing how you never get sick of greasy cheese and meat.
Becca convinced us to split a "Volcanic Eruption" drink, which is kind of like a fishbowl at Sgt. Preston's but in a much fancier dish than a plastic bowl. This was one of the "tiki drinks" they have that comes in a wide ceramic bowl with a volcano shape in the middle. At the middle peak there is a smaller bowl (about 1oz.) that contained flaming Bacardi 151, which Becca promptly took down. The drink itself was pretty tasty I thought, and it got Erin tipsy in no time. It says it's for 2-4 people, but I would hesitate to get this with only two, that's a lot of booze to suck down.
In the end Becca and Joe had forgotten to bring the gift card, so they will be back at some point. At least the food and drink is good so coming back isn't much of a chore.
- Service: Our server was great, she had clearly been doing this for awhile, she knew what she was doing.
- Food: Excellent pizza, and the artichoke dip appetizer was good as well.
- Drinks: Full bar and decent beer selection here. There are good specials if you come to the early happy hour or the later specials at 10pm.
- Ambiance: I love sitting outside on a nice summer day and this patio didn't disappoint. People were friendly and it wasn't loud so I could actually hear people talking.
- Price: Prices are what you'd expect, $4-5 for a beer, and our pizza was $20. Pretty standard I think.
- Convenience: There's a bit of parking available in the parking lot, otherwise you'll be on a side street or Marshall. When the Lowry bridge opens back up it'll be a little easier to get to.
While Psycho Suzi's wasn't really on our list because we have been there once or twice before, this was the first time I have had a meal there, so it kind of counts as a new place. The other times I have been there it was winter, so I didn't get to enjoy their patio. This is one of the best parts about Psycho Suzi's, so I would recommend checking it out while it is still warm if you haven't been there. Current TV just did a special on places to go while at the Republican National Convention and they picked Psycho Suzi's as the #1 bar in the Twin Cities. Kind of an odd choice but I won't disagree.
I will share Ben's disappointment at the happy hour times. I know they do have some great late night specials, but it seems weird to me to have a happy hour from just 3-5 - kind of saying a big screw you to all of us with office jobs that have to work until 5. The normal prices aren't that expensive though, so it isn't so bad.
Anyway, we got the Volcanic Eruption to all split, which was a fun novelty drink, but I'm not sure I'd order it again... it actually was a pretty good deal for the size of the drink, and for how strong it was.
I chose the Backfire Dip for an appetizer, which is an artichoke and jalapeno dip. I almost forgot to take a photo because I was so hungry, so this is when it was almost all eaten. This was very good and went quick! It does have a little bit of a kick, but isn't super spicy. I thought they could have given a bit more of the dip with the amount of bread that came with, but it is quite difficult to get the dip to dippers ratio perfect.
I also thought the pizza was good, but honestly by the time that came out the Volcanic Eruption had clouded my judgment so I can't really remember much about it :)
Deets
Psycho Suzi's
2519 Marshall St. NE
Minneapolis
Highly recommended for drinks, food, and fun atmosphere
