Vegan Bars Minneapolis: Happy Hour, Cocktails, Late Night (2026)

Vegan Bars Minneapolis: Happy Hour, Late Night, and Cocktails (2026)

Last updated: 2026-05-28

Most "vegan bars Minneapolis" lists give you Reverie, Francis, and three breweries with food trucks. That is not a guide. That is a starting point.

This is the version we wished existed: a real happy hour schedule grid, an honest split between fully vegan bars and vegan-friendly bars with menus that actually hold up, the cocktail traps nobody flags (honey syrup, Worcestershire with anchovy, egg whites, dairy creamers), and a map of where to find vegan food after 10pm when the kitchens start closing.

We confirm what we can. Where times or menu items shift week to week, we say "verify" and link out. Bar hours change. Trust the bar's own posted hours over any guide.

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Quick Answer

• Best vegan happy hour: Reverie (Powderhorn, 100% vegan) or a vegan-friendly bar from the grid below
• Best late-night vegan bar: Francis Burger Joint (Northeast)
• Best vegan dinner and drinks: Hai Hai for Southeast Asian, Tongue in Cheek for new American
• Best vegan sports bar: Francis Burger Joint
• Best vegan brewery hang: Modist Brewing or Fair State (vegan-leaning food, both verified vegan beer on Barnivore [verify])

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The Happy Hour Schedule Grid

This is the part nobody else publishes. We will keep it honest: where we are confident, we list the window. Where we are not, we say "verify" and tell you exactly what to call the bar about. Happy hour times shift seasonally, always confirm.

Bar	Neighborhood	Days	Time	The Deal	Vegan Food on HH Menu?
Reverie Cafe + Bar	Powderhorn	[verify days]	[verify time]	Drink + small plate specials, fully vegan	Yes (100% vegan kitchen)
Francis Burger Joint	Northeast	[verify days]	[verify time]	Drink specials, full vegan menu available	Yes (100% vegan kitchen)
Hai Hai	Northeast	[verify days, traditionally weekdays]	[verify time, traditionally 3 to 6pm]	Discounted small plates + frozen cocktails	Yes, multiple vegan small plates
Centro	Northeast	[verify days]	[verify time]	Margarita + taco deals	Yes, vegan tacos on menu
Stray Dog	Northeast	[verify]	[verify]	Drink + bar bite deals	Vegan options [verify current menu]
Stepchld	North Loop	[verify]	[verify]	Cocktail + snack deals	Vegan menu items [verify]
Tongue in Cheek	Payne Ave (St. Paul)	[verify]	[verify]	Wine, cocktails, snacks	Vegan options on menu [verify]
Modern Times Cafe	Lyn-Lake	[verify]	[verify]	Drink deals, food specials	Vegan menu items [verify]
Eat Street Social	Eat Street	[verify]	[verify]	Craft cocktail HH	Vegan options [verify]
The Block	St. Louis Park	[verify]	[verify]	Drink + appetizer deals	Vegan-labeled menu items [verify]

Why so many [verify] tags? Because happy hour is the single most volatile data point in any restaurant guide. Publishing a wrong time is worse than publishing none. Call the bar, or check their Instagram story, that is almost always more current than their website. If you want us to lock specific times in, email us what you have confirmed and we will cite you.

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The Two 100% Vegan Bars

Reverie Cafe + Bar — Powderhorn

2506 E 26th St, Minneapolis (Powderhorn) Type: 100% vegan bar and cafe

Reverie is the anchor of vegan Minneapolis. Cafe by day, bar by night, vegan all the way through. Cocktails are built from the ground up without honey, dairy, or egg white. When a classic recipe calls for those, the bar uses agave, oat milk, or aquafaba. You do not have to ask. That alone is the reason to go.

Order this: The dark chocolate beignets are the signature. Beyond that, the cocktail list rotates, ask the bartender what is working this week.

Special nights: [verify current events calendar, historically hosts trivia, open mic, and community nights]

Why it leads: It is the only happy hour in town where the entire menu is already plant-based. No translation, no substitution, no kitchen confusion. Pure default-vegan.

Francis Burger Joint — Northeast

[verify current address] Type: 100% vegan sports-bar-style burger joint

Francis is what a vegan sports bar should be: TVs, smash burgers, vegan wings, loaded fries, cold beer, full cocktails. Everything on the menu is plant-based. You can bring a non-vegan friend and they will not notice.

Order this: Smash burger. Do not overthink it. Add wings for the table.

Why it works: It removes the apologetic register from vegan dining. Loud, casual, fun. The opposite vibe from Reverie, which is part of why both can exist.

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Vegan-Friendly Bars with Menus That Actually Hold Up

These bars are not fully vegan, but they have real plant-based menus, not a wilting side salad and a token hummus plate.

Hai Hai — Northeast

2121 University Ave NE, Minneapolis Type: Southeast Asian street food bar, vegan-friendly with multiple labeled vegan dishes

Hai Hai runs one of the best happy hours in Northeast. The frozen cocktails are the move. The bar menu has labeled vegan small plates, confirm specific dishes day-of since the menu rotates seasonally.

Cocktail watch: Some house cocktails use fish sauce as a savory base [verify current menu]. Southeast Asian cocktail programs sometimes do this. Ask before ordering anything described as "umami" or "savory."

Centro — Northeast

Type: Mexican bar with vegan-labeled menu items

Margaritas, tacos, and a real vegan section. The chorizo is plant-based on request [verify]. Patio in summer is one of the best in NE.

Cocktail watch: Margaritas are reliably vegan. Watch for any michelada that uses Worcestershire, most do, and most Worcestershire contains anchovy.

Stray Dog — Northeast

Type: Casual neighborhood bar, vegan-friendly menu

Stray Dog has historically run vegan-friendly bar food including vegan wings and burgers [verify current menu]. Good for a casual hang with a mixed-diet crew.

Stepchld — North Loop

Type: Cocktail-forward small plates restaurant with vegan options

Stepchld leans new-American small plates with cocktails as the headliner. Multiple vegan-labeled dishes on the menu. Better for date night than for a long hang.

Tongue in Cheek — Payne Avenue, St. Paul

989 Payne Ave, St. Paul [verify] Type: New American with strong vegan menu section

Yes, it is St. Paul. We include it because the vegan section on the menu is one of the most thought-out in the metro. Cocktails are technically sharp.

Modern Times Cafe — Lyn-Lake

Type: Worker-owned cafe and bar, vegan-friendly

A late-night vegan-friendly hang that has been part of the Minneapolis scene for years. Confirm hours before going [verify].

Eat Street Social — Eat Street / Whittier

Type: Craft cocktail bar with bites

Cocktail-forward with a small but real set of vegan bites. Good for a quieter night.

Memory Lanes — Longfellow

Type: Bowling alley bar with vegan-labeled menu items [verify]

Bowling, beer, and at least some vegan-labeled bar food [verify current menu]. Worth it for the vibe alone.

Saint Dinette — St. Paul

Type: New American bar and dining room, vegan options

Cocktail-forward with vegan-labeled menu items [verify]. Bar program is excellent.

The Block — St. Louis Park

Type: Suburban bar with vegan-labeled menu

If you live west and do not want to drive into the city, The Block has a vegan section [verify current menu].

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Cocktail Traps to Watch For

The non-obvious ones. Memorize these and you can drink anywhere.

• Honey syrup. Used in Bee's Knees, Gold Rush, many whiskey sours, "honey old fashioneds." Bartenders can usually sub agave or simple syrup.
• Worcestershire sauce. Bloody Marys and micheladas. Most Worcestershire (Lea & Perrins included) contains anchovy. Some bars stock vegan Worcestershire, always ask.
• Egg white. Whiskey Sour, Pisco Sour, Clover Club, Ramos Gin Fizz, gin fizzes generally, any cocktail described as having "foam." Aquafaba is the standard sub. Reverie and Francis use it by default. Most cocktail bars can do it on request.
• Dairy. White Russian, espresso martini (if topped with cream), Irish coffee, grasshopper. Oat milk or coconut cream sub almost always works.
• Fish sauce. Real risk in Southeast Asian cocktail programs (Hai Hai-style menus). Anything described as savory, umami, "dirty," or with a Vietnamese or Thai theme, ask.
• Carmine / cochineal. Red liqueurs and some Italian apéritifs (notably older Campari recipes, reformulated [verify]). If a drink is bright red and not from a fruit, ask.
• Cream-based liqueurs. Baileys, RumChata, Amarula. Vegan Baileys exists (Baileys Almande) but stock varies.
• Honey-flavored spirits. Drambuie, Bärenjäger, some "honey whiskeys." All contain real honey.

Spirits themselves (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, mezcal, whiskey, bourbon, brandy) are essentially all vegan. The risk is almost always in the mixer or syrup.

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Late-Night Vegan Eats (After 10pm)

Kitchens close early in Minneapolis. This is the working list, in priority order.

1. Francis Burger Joint — vegan smash burgers late on weekends [verify exact close]
2. Hai Hai — bar menu typically runs later than the dining room [verify]
3. Modern Times Cafe — historically late, confirm current hours [verify]
4. Reverie — closes earlier than you would expect for a bar [verify], get there before 10
5. Diner-style: Hard Times Cafe (West Bank, 24-hour [verify], strong vegan menu) is the true after-bar move

For a deeper late-night map, see our late-night vegan food in Minneapolis guide.

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Trivia, Karaoke, Live Music + Vegan Food

The Minneapolis nightlife list that pairs entertainment with a vegan-friendly menu. All event nights shift, always confirm with the venue's own calendar.

• Trivia with vegan food: Reverie [verify schedule], Modern Times [verify], Stray Dog [verify]
• Karaoke with vegan food: [verify, historically a few NE bars run karaoke nights]
• Live music with vegan food: Hai Hai (occasional DJ nights), Icehouse on Eat Street (has labeled vegan menu items [verify]), Cedar Cultural Center (BYO food, but bring takeout from Hard Times across the street)

If you run a recurring event at a vegan-friendly bar, email us at hello@mplsvegan.com and we will add you with verified details.

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By Neighborhood

Northeast Minneapolis: Francis Burger Joint, Hai Hai, Centro, Stray Dog. The densest cluster.

Powderhorn / South Minneapolis: Reverie. The anchor.

North Loop / Warehouse District: Stepchld, plus easy walk-overs to Northeast for Francis.

Lyn-Lake / Whittier: Modern Times, Eat Street Social.

St. Louis Park / west metro: The Block.

St. Paul (worth the bridge): Tongue in Cheek (Payne Ave), Saint Dinette.

For full neighborhood guides see Northeast Minneapolis vegan guide and North Loop vegan guide.

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How We Researched This

We are Mia and Jay, and we run mplsvegan.com, a directory of every vegan and vegan-friendly restaurant in the Twin Cities, with verified ratings.

For this guide we:

1. Cross-referenced our directory (the bars we already track with vegan menu items) against Minneapolis happy hour lists from City Pages archive, Eater Twin Cities, and Bring Me The News
2. Walked, ate, and drank at the bars listed where possible
3. Used [verify] brackets aggressively when we could not independently confirm a happy hour time, address, or menu item, because publishing a wrong happy hour window is worse than publishing none
4. Checked beer and wine vegan status against Barnivore.com, the standard reference

If something here is out of date or wrong, we want to know. Email us at hello@mplsvegan.com.

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The Short Version

For a fully vegan bar with zero compromises: Reverie (intimate, Powderhorn) or Francis (loud, Northeast).

For a vegan-friendly bar where the food is genuinely great: Hai Hai for Southeast Asian, Tongue in Cheek for new American, Stepchld for date night.

For happy hour: see the grid above and call ahead. Always call ahead.

Drink well.