Is there room for two ice bars in the Twin Cities nightlife scene? The Freight House in Stillwater seems to think so.
So, it seems, do the people (700 of them, says the Freight House) -- some of whom paid $17.95 each last Friday to check it out. If the price seems high to you, don't worry, it did to the owner, too, who dropped the admission cost to $12.95 later in the weekend.
When the Chambers Hotel opened its ice bar in the winter of 2006, I called it absurd. Who wants to freeze their butt off to get a drink? But it was also kind of fun -- the ridiculousness being part of the intrigue.
With summer here, that wintertime ice bar is closed, making it a perfect time for the Freight House to debut its own.
Located 30 minutes east of downtown Minneapolis on the St. Croix River, the nightclub's version is discernibly more elaborate -- and thus more absurd.
The structure (about the size of a semitrailer truck) first appeared on the Freight House's large patio three weeks ago. Like a gigantic freezer, it's totally enclosed, except for a door and two tiny windows. It was brought here by Craig Ling, a New Zealander who has built six other ice bars worldwide. His company, Minus5, partners with existing bars to build and operate these icy enclosures. The Stillwater "igloo," as Ling calls it, opened last Friday after carvers finished work on 20 tons of ice. Inside the 23-degree chamber, the walls, chairs, bar, even the cocktail glasses, are made of ice.
The cover charge includes a free cocktail, gloves and a loaner parka.
Ling's only other U.S. location is in Las Vegas, where charging amusement-park prices is the norm. But c'mon, this is Minnesota.
To my surprise, bargoers in Stillwater have gone nuts for the ice bar.
I stopped by on Friday night and sure enough, the suburbanites funneling into the ice bar looked like bright-eyed kids at an amusement park. Out on the patio, two snow bunnies (a pair of women dressed in skimpy faux-fur outfits) beckoned curious bargoers to give it a try.
Those who did were helped into long parkas before being led through the structure's two refrigerator-like doors. Inside, a bartender in a snowmobile suit was stationed behind the bar, pouring drinks into those glasses made of ice.
The ice bar is open daily through the rest of the summer. But why open one here? Ling said the engineer he worked with on this smaller prototype ice bar (it's portable; others are stationary) lives nearby.
I tried to get some factoids on how this overgrown freezer works, but Ling was a bit mum on the specifics.
"It's a lot different from a freezer. It's specially engineered to maintain the ice," he said.
This sounds like a big energy cost, I said.
"It's environmentally friendly," he said. "This thing doesn't run the whole time."
How do you keep the ice from deteriorating?
"It's part of our intellectual property," he said
Right. These inquiries seemed unimportant to the people ponying up the cash to check out the frigid novelty tavern (you get about 30 minutes inside).
I met a group of four who spent a total of $150 on their ice bar experience. That included admission, extra drinks and two fluffy souvenir hats.
Two of them wore shorts and flip-flops inside the ice bar. They all thought the trip to Stillwater was worth it.
One of them, Doug Schutta of St. Paul, compared the amusing experience to the time he went to a bar where people could strap on a Velcro suit and fling themselves against a Velcro wall.
"This is that sort of thing," he said.
Sounds about right.
thorgen@startribune.com • 612-673-7909