The first sports bar in Minnesota to exclusively show women’s sports, A Bar of Their Own, opened in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis in early March; it is available for meeting planner bookings two days a week. The bar follows establishments like The Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon, and Rough & Tumble in Seattle, Washington—the former was the first of its kind in the nation, opened in April 2022.
A Bar of Their Own owner Jillian Hiscock says she was motivated to open the bar not only by these predecessors, but also by her annoyance at being unable to watch her favorite teams at other locales. “I was tired of constantly having to ask to have the game I wanted to watch put on the TVs at sports bars,” she explains. “I felt as though my fandom wasn’t prioritized and knew there were other women’s sports fans who felt the same way.” As it turns out, she was right about the pent-up demand. During the bar’s first week, lines stretched out the door, and there were two-hour wait times—the team served up 350 pounds of chicken wings to 4,500 customers in the first six days.
Hiscock describes A Bar of Their Own as inclusive, family friendly, and having top-notch burgers. As a self-identified “beer nerd,” she is especially proud of the tap list—its inclusions focus on breweries, like St. Paul’s Urban Growler, that are led by cisgender women, as well as those of transgender and nonbinary owners.
So, which teams can patrons cheer on at the bar this year? Hiscock says the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, the PWHL Minnesota hockey team, Minnesota Vixen football, and the Minnesota Strike ultimate frisbee team are ones she’s excited about, to name a few. “We have seen huge turnouts at the bar for virtually every one of those teams,” she says. “It just goes to show that if you put women’s sports on TV, people want to watch.”
Planners can book A Bar of Their Own for Monday and Tuesday evenings, when the bar is closed to the public. It can accommodate up to 80, and an event menu is available.
