Post #567031 by Quince_at_Dannys on Mon, Nov 29, 2010 10:04 PM

Psycho Suzi's
1900 Marshall Avenue NE (several blocks south of their old spot.)
Minneapolis, MN

Psycho Suzi's has moved to a new, bigger location. I got to check it out on Saturday, and I thought I'd post my initial impressions.

Atmosphere: MUCH bigger space; maybe 5 times bigger than the old one. They are in the former Gabby's, which is an interesting building to start with. The downstairs is the family-friendly dining area with a somewhat expanded menu and cocktail menu much like the old one, with the addition of a few new drinks. Upstairs, the former dance floor has been turned into a stage for the house band(!). Limited food menu in the upstairs area, but there are 3 themed bars each with it's own arsenal of specialty cocktails. Overall, very high "TiPSY" factor and great lighting. Outside, they are building a HUGE patio which overlooks the Mississippi River. It's gonna be amazing when spring hits.

House Band: GREAT house band. Basically they do a bunch of faithful Martin Denny covers and they do a nice job with unique instrumentation. One of the guys has a theramin which they use to their advantage on their version of the Star Trek theme. The theramin guy also switches over to harmonica for a nice Tommy Morgan style exotica sound. Overall, it really creates a nice, relaxing mood.

Cocktails: This was the weak point of Suzi's in the past, and one of my biggest criticisms. But brother, they have addressed this in a big big way. The downstairs dining area now offers an excellent classic daiquiri made with Mount Gay rum and real lime juice. The Mai Tai is the standard Vic's recipe with the addition of a little pineapple juice and a nice float of dark rum. A little sweet, but not gross sweet—they are now using fresh citrus and homemade sugar syrup. Upstairs, one of the bars offers tiki shots (I didn't go there). The bar that really got my attention was the "Ports of Pleasure." One of the drinks I tried had fresh lime juice, cinnamon and orgeat. Another had dark Jamaican rum, lime and Maraschino liqueur; yet another one was based on lemon and pineapple with a little orgeat for flavoring. Best of all, they were all unique and complex in flavor, had fresh citrus, weren't overly sweet, and utilized good quality rum. I was extremely impressed with the quality of the ingredients and the adventurousness of the recipes. Even the drinks that weren't my favorite, I couldn't fault with being low-quality in terms of ingredients. I don't think it's a stretch to say the best drinks here are as good or better than any I've had at ANY of the tiki establshments of Boston or Chicago. And if you know me, that's saying a lot

Food: Similar fare to what they had before: excellent pizza (which has always been Suzi's strong suit), hearty appetizers and sandwiches, and burgers which are new to the menu. I almost wish they would add some asian fare—fried rice and egg roll.

Service: As always, friendly servers with as much personality as tattoo ink. Sometimes you would have to wait for awhile at the old location, and I think when it's busy the new place can have the same problem. The dreaded bill split-up at the end of the evening is a lot more painless nowadays--the best cocktails can now be ordered sans mug, eliminating the confounding mug deposit that you normally would have to subtract out when dividing up a large tab.

Kudos to owner Leslie Bock on creating a genuine Twin Cities desination—if you're in the area don't miss it! I'll check back in with some pictures soon