F*&^ the H*ppy F&ing Gn&me - Al, the beer guy at the Blue Nile gets an email from someone who had a conversation with the owner of the Happy Gnome. Basically the Gnome is upset that the Nile gets so many of the Surly events, and that he doesn’t understand why people go there anyway. He feels he should get them because he has more taps. I just can’t believe the arrogance of this guy.
Interesting, though this won’t be what prevents me from making treks over to the Gnome and the Muddy Pig. The opening of Acadia most likely will. That and the fact I rarely go out.
I was just thinking the other day while at the Gnome for the Bell’s tasting, just how much I like that place. Great food, great selection of craft beers (which I prefer over Belgians), and a nice atmosphere. It’s too bad the owners attitude had to get in the way.
As for the Blue Nile, it took me a while to go there for the first time, because I thought having a good bar in an Ethiopian food place seemed odd. I love Ethiopian food, but never thought it went well with good beer. But now I love the place, and Al (the bartender) is a really nice guy.
And with the Acadia opening up on Cedar Ave, there is yet another reason to avoid the Gnome (and St. Paul in general!)
Al, the beer guy. What a title to have. From now on I want to be known as Eric, the beer (drinking) guy.
But I digress.
While it’s unfortunate that one of owners had to stoop that low, I don’t think it’s enough to sway me from going to Pig or the Gnome. All of these places have great food and craftbeer and I enjoy frequenting them all. It’s an open market and anyone, like Al, who puts in the time and effort to get great beers such as Surly and Bells at their establishments deserves to have them just as much as anywhere else. But just because you have a great locale with great food and lots of taps doesn’t make you any more deserving of great beer than these other places trying to do the same thing. Give em hell, AL!
Speaking of owners with attitudes, if the owner of the Acadia on Cedar you’re talking about is the same dude who owns the Acadia on Nicollet (Steve is his first name), that guy is a jerk. I had to deal with a lot of venues when I was the literary manager for Limina, and the Acadia was the worst one by far, solely because of that guy. The only reason I kept booking shows there was because it’s the cheapest place in Mpls.
Crap, that sucks. It is the same Acadia, they moved from Franklin/Nicollet to Cedar/Riverside. I was really looking forward to the space, since it’s closer to home and will hopefully have more space.
What is it about local bar owners being complete asses.
Here’s a story about some skinhead fights and anti semitic behavior from the owner of Clubhouse Jager downtown.
I can understand doing a little bit of research to determine whether or not an owner is a native Minnesotan before frequenting their establishment, but if I have to also find out whether he or she is a jerk I’m afraid I’ll never go out.
Town Hall owner: volunteers with local charities
Bulldog owner: upstanding citizen (and a Minneapolitan to boot)
The Strip Club: not sure about the owner but the chef is a wonderful guy
Kierans owner: nearly became a priest
Luce owner: takes in stray kitties
Yikes, there’s a difference between being a jerk and a nut case. There was also that incident at Stasius a while back, though that involved a regular patron.
there’s no Steve at Acadia. It’s Jeff and Ted, and Ted’s wife, no Steve.
and thanks for backing me up, guys.
Really? I could have sworn that guy was the owner. He must have just been a manager or something. That was a couple of years ago, anyway.
… maybe the reason he was such a jerk was because I kept calling him Steve!
hehe