The Corner Bar Found a New Corner Half a Block From U.S. Bank Stadium. Hubert's Old One Went Back on the Market.

The Vikings host the Colts this Sunday, Oct. 25. Two buildings tell you most of what you need to know about where people will gather before kickoff, and they sit a few blocks apart. One is a sports pub that opened this summer at 903 Washington Ave. S. after its owners lost their lease across the river. The other is the restaurant building closest to the stadium, at 601 Chicago Ave. It has sat empty since 2019, and as of late July it was back on the lease market.

Taken together, they show that Downtown East's game-day map is set by who can get a building ready to open. This fall the stadium crowd is gathering in a space that used to be Pog Mahone's, run by a family that spent 22 years on the West Bank.

Twenty-Two Years at 1501 Washington, Then a Move Downriver

According to Fathead Bill's, Bill and Keala Murray ran The Corner Bar at 1501 Washington Ave. S. for 22 years. It drew Vikings fans, University of Minnesota students and Augsburg crowds, with more than 20 beers on tap, 18 TVs, NFL Sunday Ticket and a lunch buffet. When the building sold in 2025 and no new lease was offered, The Corner Bar closed on Aug. 24, 2025.

The Murrays didn't leave Washington Avenue. They moved about six blocks downriver. Fathead Bill's Sports Pub & Grill opened June 13, 2026, at 903 Washington Ave. S. The bar puts itself half a block from U.S. Bank Stadium and a block from the Guthrie Theater, and calls the area East Town. The space was most recently Pog Mahone's, as the Minnesota Star Tribune noted when its food writers stopped in two weeks after opening, with World Cup crowds filling screens across town.

The bar's own page says Keala has been part of the business since day one and works at the new location too. It also says Corner Bar regulars will find familiar faces on staff. A West Bank institution's staff and its regulars now spend Sundays next to the stadium.

What Made the Move With Them

The menu is the clearest link between the two addresses. Here is what Fathead Bill's lists:

• Joey Wings. Bill's Corner Bar recipe: seasoned, oven-baked, fried, then hand-tossed in nine sauces.
• Smash burgers. The FatHead Classic Smash and Bacon Jam Smash use 3-ounce chuck brisket patties.
• Plates beyond burgers. Firecracker Shrimp and Sauteed Steak Bites.
• Drinks. Craft cocktails and 16 rotating taps of Minnesota craft beer.

The Star Tribune's pick was the masa pickle smash: two thin patties, American cheese, Sriracha mayo and fried pickles in a gluten-free masa batter, for $17 with chips. The paper counted six smash burgers on the menu, along with cheese curds, onion rings and spaghetti and meatballs.

For Sundays, the bar's events page promotes NFL viewing, brunch, a Bloody Mary bar all day, and Vikings pregame specials that start three hours before kickoff. The posted opening times differ across the bar's own pages, so check the morning of the game before you head over.

The basement comedy room at The Corner Bar, the Comedy Corner Underground, stayed behind in name only. The bar's history says that stage gave rise to the 10,000 Laughs Comedy Festival and that the room carries on at a new home of its own.

The Building Nearest the Stadium

Walk from 903 Washington toward the stadium's east side and you reach the building that should, by location alone, be the busiest bar in the neighborhood. Axios Twin Cities described 601 Chicago Ave. as the restaurant building closest to U.S. Bank Stadium. Hubert's filled it with football crowds from 1983 until it closed in 2015. Erik the Red, a Nordic barbecue restaurant, followed and closed in 2019. The building has been empty since then.

The most recent plan was Namos, a luxury sports bar the Star Tribune said had been "coming soon" since fall 2024. Garfield Clark, an adviser to the trust that owns the building, told Axios in July that the operator couldn't get a liquor license and had to back out. The building went back on the lease market.

The Axios report lists what a new tenant would inherit:

Clark also pointed out that the roughly 10 Vikings home crowds a year are only part of the draw, since the stadium hosts plenty of non-football events. As of the late-July reports, the building was still looking for a tenant.

The contrast sums up the neighborhood. The best-placed building has had the hood, the lot and the foot traffic for years and was still looking for a tenant this summer. A family that lost its lease elsewhere had a working bar running in an existing space within about ten months.

Where Else the Crowd Lands on a Sunday

Fathead Bill's has company on Washington Avenue, and the spread runs about six blocks.

At the east end, Day Block Brewing at 1105 Washington Ave. S. calls itself a restaurant and brewery near U.S. Bank Stadium and has a full October calendar. It has already listed a Vikings-Lions pregame and watch party for Dec. 20, with a noon opening, big screens and a game-day buffet from about 3 p.m.

Toward the west end, Crooked Pint at 501 Washington Ave. S. says on its location page that it opens at 9 a.m. for noon Vikings home games and serves a special event-day menu. That page dates to 2021, so confirm hours before relying on them.

Closer to the gates, the Vikings run two of their own pregame zones. Both open three hours before kickoff, according to the team's gameday guide. Medtronic Plaza has the Sound the North Stage, sponsor tents and the Vikings Table food truck. The SPAM Tailgate at The Commons has local food trucks, cornhole, inflatable games and a DJ set from DJ A-Quil, plus appearances by the Skol Line and the Vikings Cheerleaders. For anyone living near the park, that means The Commons fills up about three hours before every home kickoff.

Here are the remaining home games on the U.S. Bank Stadium calendar. The Vikings' 2026 schedule notes that NFL flexible scheduling can move dates and times.

The Nov. 9 game falls on a Monday night, so that pregame crowd will run into the evening commute.

Getting In and Out Without the Car

Both the Blue Line and the Green Line stop at U.S. Bank Stadium Station, according to Metro Transit. For anyone heading from home to a watch party at 903 or 1105 Washington, the station sits between the two. Earlier this month, the Vikings' gameday guide listed I-394 lane reductions running through November, worth keeping in mind for guests driving in from the west.

What's Next on the Block

The next opening on this stretch has nothing to do with football. Jujube, a full-service restaurant pairing Texas barbecue with Asian cooking from the owners of Saturday Dumpling Co., is taking over the former Izzy's Ice Cream building at 1100 S. 2nd St., across from Gold Medal Park. As of the Star Tribune's Oct. 5 restaurant roll call, it was listed as opening this fall. It's another former restaurant building on the riverside blocks moving to a new operator. The last reports on 601 Chicago Ave., from July, had it waiting for a restaurant group to finish its raw interior.

If you're thinking about a condo or home in Downtown East and want to understand how event days and new openings shape a particular block, Christian Klempp can walk you through it. Schedule a Consultation, and we'll start with the streets you already know.