Riva Terrace: Minneapolis — A Girl's Guide to Drinking Alone

Four Seasons Hotel, 245 Hennepin Ave, Downtown Minneapolis

The Place: A standard outdoor hotel bar in Downtown Minneapolis that’s not the hotel bar I intended on going to but oh well.

The Time: Tuesday July 16, 6pm. I’m in Minneapolis for a few days visiting my friend Sterling who moved here last year (the same friend who I came here with two years ago, for those dedicated readers* who might remember!). We’ve spent the last two days eating and drinking our way through the city, including Spoon and Stable, an awesome restaurant with a killer cocktail program, run by badass U.S. Bartender of the Year 2022 Jessi Pollak. We chatted with Jessi on Sunday, and she said she also runs the bar over at Mara in the Four Seasons hotel. So I had my drinking-alone-destination set for tonight when Sterling would be working his bar shift.

The Vibe: When I get to Mara, it quickly becomes clear that there’s some kind of corporate event going on. There are gold-plated name tags laid out on a table, and as fully tempting as it is to just Up in the Air this shit, I ask a nearby employee if there’s another bar in the hotel I can go to instead. She sends me to Riva Terrace, the rooftop bar on the fourth floor. (Quick q: can an outdoor bar be called a rooftop bar if it’s not actually on the roof of the building? Sound off in the comments below.)

While Mara is this hotel’s crown-jewel restaurant, Riva Terrace is the bar that all fancy hotels are required to have. It’s got a big marble bar, plenty of tables with wicker chairs, a smattering of outdoor couches, the color palette is gray and coral, there’s that ambient vibey hotel music, the pool is a stone’s throw away from the bar—you know what I’m talking about. The clientele is very business-y, filled with either people staying at the hotel on business, after-work colleagues here for a happy hour drink, the occasional couple on a date, who chose this spot only because it’s near one of their offices. There are nice views of the city, I guess, but again, we’re not actually on the roof, so it’s not like, sweeping skylines or anything. (I know, I know, my New York is showing.)

The Bartender: There are only women behind the bar! I don’t even care that there are two giant TVs that are both showing the NCAA hockey game because it’s all women here! It’s Christmas in July!!

The Drank: The menu is fairly limited, with a focus more on beer and wine than cocktails, but the drinks they do have are separated into two inexplicable sections: “Campari” and “Classics.” The “Campari” category is four drinks that all contain Campari, and “Classics” is just three cocktails, none of which are actually classics. It’s kind of baffling, but there’s also a Ketel One espresso martini machine on the back bar, so really, I shouldn’t be that surprised. I choose the Crystal Versace, which I’m assuming is named after the drag queen who (spoiler alert!) won Drag Race UK season 3, so how can I not? (Though Ms. Versace spells her name with a ‘K’ and not a ‘C’ but I’ll let it slide.) The cocktail’s got prosecco, rosé, hibiscus, and lychee and is exactly as light and spritzy and floral as it sounds. Also it’s served in a plastic wine glass, lol.

Was I Hit On?: No, though I do overhear a guy telling his date (or coworker, or both?) all about how he wrestled in high school and stopped after he got cauliflower ear, so that’s thrilling.

Should You Drink Here Alone?: Uhh, if you want a nice, run-of-the-mill outdoor bar in a posh hotel and you happen to be down the street, yeah sure.

Bonus! After my drink at Riva Terrace, I hit up Sterling’s restaurant, Red Rabbit, for dinner. I enjoyed an outrageously delicious cocktail of his creation, a super yummy bowl of pasta, and a sticky toffee cake that actually made me say “oh shit!” in such a way that everyone at the bar thought there was something seriously wrong. Wait a sec, you know what? You should just go to Red Rabbit.

*i.e. my mom