The Best Unknown Bar In Town
While Pee Wee’s bike wasn’t in the basement of the Alamo, this small duplex on a quiet street in South St Paul Minnesota does hold a secret.
Back in the early 1900’s, South St Paul was becoming a boomtown because of the expanding Union Stockyards which had started just a few years earlier in 1886. The facility itself was 260 acres located along the banks of the Mississippi river just a few miles south of downtown St Paul. From 1974 to 1981, it was considered the world’s largest livestock market in the United States.
At around the turn of the century, the main players in town, Swift & Company along with Armour and Company, put out a call to Eastern Europe in need of people willing to relocate to the United States to live and work at the meat packing plants. And that call was answered when immigrants from Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Poland came to town.
Eventually each nationality built their own meeting places throughout the city where they held events like dances, dinners, weddings, anniversaries and everything else.
In 1962 the original Polish National Alliance building was torn down due to high expenses to renovate the old wooden floor, so a new structure - a house, was built in it’s place. The PNA Lodge 1033 isn’t your typical culture hall, in fact it’s not really a hall anymore, it’s a basement!
When you drive down the street you will most likely drive right past it unless you see the American and Polish flags flying high on the flagpole that is close to the sidewalk, then you know you are in the right spot.
Once there, you will be notified if the bar is open or closed by the simple luminated sign above the front entrance which also does have a couple PNA’s to help you along.
The bar itself can hold about 100 people (believe it or not) and does have a pinball machine, a big buck hunter type game, pulltabs, a pool table, darts, a jukebox, a cash machine and two Polish beers to choose from!
Also what’s a “dive bar” without a couple Heggies pizza right? …well they have those too.
I always knew of the bars existence because I grew up on the other side of town but I don’t think I actually stepped foot in there until about 2006? Another believe it or not is, people that currently live in South St Paul still don’t even know the place exists …really.
The Croatian hall, which is just a few blocks over from the PNA, is the bigger and more traditional “hall” that also has a bar in the basement, gets more traffic mainly because of it’s size and capacity for events.
But if you ask me, the PNA has the more unique bar experience solely on its history, recent talk of closing up shop because of declining members, and the relocation to it’s current and unconventional format…..nothing against the Cro though, it’s cool too.
If you are a sports fan, the PNA has you covered with three tvs .…. er wait maybe it could’ve been four… but hey I don’t wanna get too crazy here haha.
So yeah not much more that can be said here other than I’d say go check the place out for yourself. You will most likely be involved in a conversation about anything and everything a couple minutes after your arrival and you will definitely have an off the beaten path bar experience that you can tell your children and grandchildren about in the future.
Oh PS - the PNA is cash only but as I mentioned they do have a cash machine on site.
The PNA Lodge 1033 is located at 622 1st Ave S, South St Paul, MN 55075
Cheers …or Na Zdrowie !
Stockyards Photo - MNHS, all others by me.