What Has Become Of Good Sports Bar And Grill? "Temporary Bar Closing" And "See You Soon" Was Five Months Ago...

Photos, blog post by John Hoff

Good Sports Bar and Grill has been a place close to my batter-dipped, chicken-fried heart since it opened. I wrote in July of 2012 how my journey to Afghanistan began and ended at Good Sports Bar and Grill, with a basket of their amazing wings. Many a key community event, from Jim Wentzell Day to victory parties and strategy meetings has taken place at Good Sports, which long ago was the old Johnny A's. 

OK, so what happened? A sign on the door says the place closed April 14 of this year, which coincides with the account of a North Minneapolis citizen who posted something on...

Good Sports Bar And Grill Asks, "Do You Feel Lucky, PUNK?" Completing My World Journey With A Basket Of Chicken Wings...

Photos, blog post by John Hoff

I dropped by Good Sports Bar and Grill recently and it was a meaningful visit. It was the first time I'd returned to that establishment since leaving for Afghanistan.

Furthermore, my last meal in North Minneapolis was right there at Good Sports, with my son. After eating at Good Sports, I took my son home to his mom and kept on driving down I-35, to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, to deploy overseas. So when I went to Good Sports the other day, once again with my son, and as usual we had flavorful chicken wings with amazing secret spices, I said to myself, "I am back. I am really and truly back. This is where the journey began, and this is where it ends, with my son and these amazing chicken wings."

I noticed some small changes to the restaurant...

Good Sports Bar And Grill Dreams Of Selling Its Secret Spice Combo!

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Anybody who has tried the wings at Good Sports Bar and Grill at 200 West Broadway knows their dry rub is something special, flavorful but not overwhelming. Though they've been offered a substantial sum of money for the recipe at least once, the owners of Good Sports are...

...keeping the secret close to their chests. However, in a recent conversation with Mike, one of the co-owners, I was told that Good Sports would love to find a way to market the spice combo and sell it to the general public.

Mike believes the spice combo works best on dark chicken meat, not as well on white breast meat. However, the spice combo is actually quite versatile. As a matter of fact, Mike gave us a Bloody Mary with the spice combo on the rim of the glass, and it was very tasty. My girlfriend, Megan, took a small container of the spice combo home and tried it on rice. Again, a pleasing and delicious combination.

So the question is: how can this amazing secret spice combo, which at the moment can only be enjoyed in North Minneapolis, find its way into the nation's commerce as a product available on store shelves? If anybody has an idea, don't tell me...go tell Mike at Good Sports Bar and Grill!

JNS BLOG CUISINE EXCLUSIVE: Good Sports Bar To Feature Saturday/Sunday BREAKFAST And Also A Weekend Happy Hour!

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Starting this weekend, Good Sports Bar and Grill (200 W. Broadway) will start offering a Saturday and Sunday breakfast of eggs, hash browns, toast and choice of sausage or bacon for $4.99. The breakfast will start at 10 a.m.

They're also going to begin offering a $1 off "happy hour" drink special on Saturday and Sunday, which goes all the way from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. So, yes, you will be able to get an affordable bloody Mary with that breakfast! 
Don't confuse this new happy hour with the OTHER happy hours at Good Sports Bar and Grill. They have so many different specials they have to hand out a calendar and make announcements on their Facebook page.

This unexpected announcement of "breakfast on Broadway" is yet another welcome development in the revitalization of our neighborhood.

(Do Not Click "Read More")

JNS BLOG CUISINE EXCLUSIVE: Cleaning Up Crime Was The EASY Part: Good Sports Bar And Grill Reaches Out To Lunch Time Crowd...

Photos and blog post by John Hoff

First, in a spirit of full disclosure: Mike, the loquacious and irrepressible co-owner of Good Sports Bar and Grill, gave me and my girlfriend complimentary chicken wings, taco salad, chili and non-alcoholic beverages when I walked in the door after a long out-of-state hiatus. I am eating this mountain of food while I type on the keyboard in this LIVE JOHNNY NORTHSIDE FOOD REVIEW!!!!

What else can I do and blog about at the same time? Hmmm. I will have to give the matter some thought.

Closing in upon the one year anniversary of Good Sports Bar and Grill, (200 W. Broadway) Mike shared some surprising insights about his slow but steady success on this rapidly-transforming corner of Broadway.

First of all, the challenge of cleaning up an undesirable criminally-inclined crowd which used to frequent the establishment proved surprisingly easy. Everybody, Mike explained, thought the task would be difficult and perhaps even impossible. Instead, Mike started a business which wouldn't tolerate thuggery and...

...thuggery just melted away.

On the other hand, there was a subtle assumption that a grill with a full lunch time menu would naturally attract a lunch time crowd. Instead, Good Sports has attracted more of an evening crowd while potential lunch time customers buzz right past in cars. But Mike is determined to get the lunch crowd and told me--WE ARE TALKING JOHNNY NORTHSIDE CUISINE EXCLUSIVE HERE, FOLKS!!!--about some new items which aren't even on the menu yet, but will soon be available.

SUPER CHILI BOWL for $6.25. This chili has brisket, not hamburger, and the kidney beans have a perfect flavor and texture instead of just being a "chili afterthought." Served with tortilla chips.

PATTY MELT, $8.50.

COD FILET SANDWICH, $7.25.

The signature item at Good Sports continues to be their chicken wings, which have a spice combo Mike refuses to sell, even when offered large sums of money. He developed the spice combo 22 years ago at his first restaurant, Mike's All Sports Restaurant And Bar. In the top photo, Mike shows how previous photos taken by this author have been added to a little display which was used at a business convention.

"Your photo of the chicken wings made them look as big as a turkey!" Mike laughs.

In the second photo, the famous wings in question. In the third photo, note how the taco salad at Good Sports is actually shaped like a taco, not a big pastry bowl. I don't know why that blows my mind, that what I've accepted so long as "taco salad" isn't even THE RIGHT SHAPE.

Check out Good Sports Bar at lunch time. Just think, until the word gets out you won't have to worry about a crowd.

EcoVillage Tree Nursery Open to All of NoMi!

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Several weeks ago, the EcoVillage Tree Nursery received a new supply of trees, and I received a fresh supply of Polish sausage for my efforts. The sausage didn't last long at all, but many trees are still there. Pictured above are the first two non-Hawthornites to pick up their trees this summer.

Initially, the trees were reserved for Hawthorne residents only. The reason being that Hawthorne residents and members have been the ones working on the EcoVillage, and some neighborhood funding has been used for this project. So our neighbors should get some benefit from that.

There are still quite a few nice trees left though, and if you want one, here's how it works...

...First, in order to qualify, you must be a property owner who lives in north Minneapolis. If demand is high, preference will be given to owner-occupants, but for now any property owner is eligible. Second, and this is important: even though the trees are free, DO NOT JUST GO AND PICK ONE UP. The city of Minneapolis wants to track where these trees go, and if they survive at similar rates to other parts of the city.

So if you want a tree, please call the Hawthorne office at 612-529-6033 or email me at jskrenes@hawthorneneighborhoodcouncil.org to set up a time for a pick-up. The nursery is not secured, so we're going on the honor system here. We'll need to get the address where the tree will be planted, as well as contact information.

Also, as you can see from the photo above, you'll need either a pickup truck or a van/SUV with a window that can be opened. Or a wheelbarrow. I've seen people cart their trees away in those too. But trees are available to any NoMi resident! Come and get 'em!

Tangent #1: about a half an hour after these great people picked up their trees (they got two because they took a maple off of our hands that had been languishing in the Tree Nursery for two summers now), I met a friend at Good Sports Bar & Grill. She's not from NoMi and this was her first time at Good Sports. I explained to her the dynamic of the place; how I always seem to run into at least two other people who know me. And just as I'm saying this, who walks in? And CM Hofstede was there too.

Tangent #2: The Hawthorne Neighborhood Council is in the process of getting more consistently updated content on its own blog, website, Facebook page, and a listserv. As a result, more of my blog posts regarding meetings attended or other activities done in my capacity as Housing Director will begin to appear on the Hawthorne Voices blog. Although the tree nursery activities were done as Housing Director, this post appears on JNS as a continuation of a previous item. However, on Monday, a Hawthorne Voices post will be written detailing which trees are still in the tree nursery and available for pickup.

Celebrating New Homeowners in NoMi!

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman unless noted otherwise.

NoMi Realtor extraordinaire Connie Nompelis organized a happy hour at Good Sports Bar and Grill this weekend to welcome new NoMi homeowners, (renters were welcome too!) and it was a resounding success. I arrived early, as the first order of business was to set up the Dinosaur. Or, as Bryan Thao Worra has coined it, the DiNoMisaur. We can even take it one step further and give it a second name depending on the neighborhood it's in. Since Good Sports is in my neck of the woods, on Sunday this was the DiNoMisaurus Hawthoraptor.

But the DiNoMisaur wasn't the only thing I was asked to help out with. I also brought along...

...this.



Astute JNS readers will recognize this rope as belonging to the post that tells the story about a swinger's bed. It turns out that we were able to hang signs inside and on the dinosaur without this rope. My repeated assurances that I washed the rope after each use strangely did nothing to encourage people to employ it for this event.

The owners of Good Sports know I can cook, and consider me one of their top food critics. So they brought out an item that wasn't even on the menu; the Rueben. Let me tell you something folks. This sandwich is phenomenal, and what you see below is only half. Pretty much everything at Good Sports is top notch, but I can't think of a single thing you could add or take away from this sandwich to make it any better. Five stars. It should be on the menu within the week, so make sure to look for it the next time you stop by.



Things got hopping pretty quickly, and a good mix of new residents (some of whom haven't even closed on their homes yet!) from a variety of neighborhoods, longer-term residents, and even some dedicated activists showed up. I even met people from Hawthorne that I hadn't known before. Like so many NoMi parties, there was a common refrain of, "Oh yeah! We're already facebook friends! It's so nice to meet you in person!"

I also got the occasional shout-out when I would tell people that I was the Hawthorne Hawkman on Johnny Northside. It's so nice to have an alter ego but NOT a secret identity.



After a while, a bunch of us went outside for impromptu pictures with the DiNoMisaur. First up is its creator, artist Ken Farkash.



Next up, I posed with Emily, a new Hawthorne resident, as we imitated the dinosaur's hands. This picture was taken, I believe by one of the Levey brothers, owners of Good Sports.



Finally, we decided to put baby Alex, another new NoMi resident, in one of the hands. These pictures are just so cute that they put those Anne Geddes abominations to shame. Frankly, I always found those pictures to be rather disturbing for some reason anyway.






And then it was time to go back inside for more happy hour specials (for this event only!) and plenty of great socializing with the wonderful NoMi folk. Thanks Connie for putting this together, thanks to Good Sports for hosting, and thanks to all the people who make our community so much fun!

Toasting Success on West Broadway!

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

This morning marked a significant gathering of partners along West Broadway. Much of the work, spurred by Ackerberg Group offshoot Catalyst Community Partners, has already been profiled here on Johnny Northside.

However, one thing many partners realized was that there are many people and institutions working on revitalizing West Broadway, but we don't meet and coordinate our efforts often enough. CM Don Samuels chaired this get-together, and we commemorated it with a toast to the many success stories of West Broadway. We didn't use REAL stuff, like we've done in the EcoVillage or at Harvest Days, but the toast was special nonetheless.

Among the things we celebrated were...

...Minneapolis Public Schools' decision to move their headquarters to NoMi, the ongoing renovation of the Delisi's building at Penn and Broadway, new businesses like Good Sports Bar & Grill, and the phenomenal work of Catalyst - including the building at 1200 West Broadway.

On top of Samuels' presence and that of an aide (we'll miss you Jose!), representatives from CM Johnson's office, CPED, the Pohlad Foundation, Catalyst, Hennepin County, the West Broadway Business Coalition, and many other partners were in attendance. And even though we met on a weekday morning, several area residents came as well.

One other item worthy of note: this blog has already documented the success rate of Catalyst hiring local and minority workers on their projects. But Mike Christenson of CPED noted that on the 300 residential rehabs done by city development partners such as GMHC, PPL, PRG, or Urban Homeworks, 70% of the contractors used have been Northside contractors. Our partners have been intentional about doing their work in a way that maximizes benefits for our community.

But this wasn't just a self-congratulatory meeting. We also wanted to discuss barriers and roadblocks so that we can begin to work around them. One issue that thankfully came up was...



...Hawthorne Crossings. Presumably they meant Hawthorn (sic) Crossings, and hopefully an influx of financial assistance will correct the spelling. But that's not all we plan on doing. All signs point to some serious measures to address the safety issues along that block. Given how far we've come and how quickly, it's truly encouraging to think of what can happen in this area as well.

One of the residents also brought up the need for transportation improvements along the corridor. Hopefully, that will include a light rail stop at Penn and Broadway, but what can be done until then? This wasn't QUITE along the lines of the topics we had gathered to discuss, but public transit in NoMi could stand to be improved and her point shouldn't be lost in the shuffle.

All in all though, I left the meeting thinking of what Don said during his campaign, that in four years, we won't BELIEVE the kinds of amazing changes that will have come to West Broadway! A HUGE thank you goes out to all our partners who are working to make this happen!

Good Sports Bar And Grill Has Wireless Internet!

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Good Sports Bar and Grill--which recently featured a "Jim Wentzell Day" celebration of revitalization and neighborhood volunteerism--just recently got their wireless internet up and running. The way it happened, actually, I was at the bar eating chicken wings with Jordan Neighborhood "super citizen" Megan Goodmundson and I was all, like, do you guys have wireless internet here at Good Sports?

The question ended up sparking a telephone conversation with their internet service provider. In no time at all, wireless internet was accessible with a password and the signal had been renamed after the bar instead of some kind of alpha-numeric lable. The first website to come up on the new, speedy, accessible internet signal was, of course, JOHNNY NORTHSIDE DOT COM.

Yes, it's true Minneapolis has wireless internet everywhere, and you can get it if you subscribe for a low monthly fee. Well, I find their signal slow and frustrating. There, I said it, and let the chips fall where they may...hopefully right next to my delicious chicken wings at Good Sports bar and grill.

(Do not click "Read More," but do be aware several chickens were harmed in the making of this blog post)

New Online Photo Gallery Of "Jim Wentzell Day" At Good Sports Bar And Grill...

Photo by Pat Carney, blog post by John Hoff

Pat Carney--who often documents high-profile social events in NoMi--informs me via a comment posting to this blog that he has finished a gallery of photos from the recent "Jim Wentzell Day" at Good Sports Bar And Grill. Click here for details, and here for more details.

Here is a link to Pat's great online gallery, click here.

(Do not click "Read More")

More Photos And Details: Good Sports Bar And Grill Hosts Jim Wentzell Day...

Sing along with me!

It's Jim Wentzell Day/
Super Jim Wentzell Day/
Happy Jim Wentzell Day/
A state and federal holiday/
Have a steak on Broadway Day/
Drink up a Manhattan, HEY!/
AND THIS IS THE happy drinking song!

YES! The night of our collective hopes, dreams and vision arrived last night at Good Sports Bar and Grill. It was the simple, elegant, solid-proof-we've-turned-the-corner-in-NoMi vision of longtime Hawthorne neighborhood contributor Jim Wentzell: a good restaurant on West Broadway Avenue, where you can order a steak and Manhattan.

Jim Wentzell gave us that dream, the way tribes in ancient times might receive a prophesy from their oldest, wisest elders and the prophesy takes root in every mind: we can leave this hard and rocky place, pass through difficulty but arrive on the other side of obstacles. And on that other side there is a happy, safe, productive place with meat and drink for all. If we work hard, if we all pull together, we can get to that place.

We believed in it, gravitated toward it, worked at it. And last night...

...the vision became a reality.

In the photo above, former Hawthorne Board Chair Peter Teachout poses with his youngest child and Jim Wentzell.

Here are more pictures and stories from last night...

Social gatherings like Jim Wentzell day inevitably turn into opportunities for NoMi movers and shakers to socialize. Above, Sarita Turner (the Executive Director of West Broadway Coalition) and Council Member Don Samuels have an impromptu confab. What are they chatting about? I sure hope it's the problems at Hawthorn (sic) Crossings strip mall, where there is open drug dealing day after day. I'm just saying. 

Realtor and historic home preservationist Connie Nompelis chats with Pat Carney. Pat took a bunch of great pictures which are probably already online. (Nompelis is prounounced No-bell-is, it's Greek) 

Jim's almost-his-birthday-cake was provided by Cub Foods. A VIP at Cub named Ed Anderson probably had a lot to do with it. 

Council Member Diane Hofstede made an appearance, sharply dressed as always. Above, she poses with "ladies man" Jim Wentzell and his lady friend. I hear they've been together for, like, 17 years or something? Jim has great taste. 

The guy above standing next to Council Member Diane Hofstede is a real estate developer named "Swami." He has been the quiet man behind the scenes responsible for so much progress on this part of West Broadway. As far as I know, this is the first time his picture is being published or his name is being associated with all the wonderful work he's accomplished in the Hawthorne Neighborhood. Swami doesn't appear to seek the limelight at all. But this guy deserves our thanks and praise. 

Mike Christiansen of CPED picked up the tab for Jim Wentzell. In the photo above, Mike continues to prove the ongoing Johnny Northside hypothesis that there's no family friendly way to prose with a Polish sausage. The sausage came from Pam Patrek, but was made by the husband of the person known on this blog as "the Polish woman." This sausage frequently shows up at various celebrations of revitalization progress in the Hawthorne Neighborhood, whether planned or impromptu. 

As is usually the case at "revitalizer" events in NoMi, the smallest members of the neighborhood were passed from hand-to-hand so lots of folks could enjoy "baby face time." One of the owners of Good Sports bar commented that it had probably been a long time since the establishment was so family friendly that a baby was present. To which I replied, "Well, you mean a baby present that wasn't dropped off for Child Protective Services?" 

Two former neighborhood board chairs--Peter Teachout of Hawthorne and Kip Browne of Jordan--introduce their babies to each other.

Sherman Patterson--an aide to Mayor Rybak--poses with a friend. When progress is being made in North Minneapolis, Patterson often has his fingers in it behind the scenes. 

The Teachout family loved the family friendly atmosphere at Good Sports. They had pizza with their kids, and then some virgin pina coladas; proving that "fun" is the first word in "fundamentalist." 

JoyAnne Teachout thought she'd lost her purse and called the bar after leaving. Then she called back to say the purse had turned up. While the purse seemed to be missing, everybody looked for it, even City Council Member Don Samuels. 
Peter Teachout had a conversation with U.S. Bank Branch Manager Mohammed Agoubi about criminal activity at Hawthorn (sic) Crossings strip mall, and what can be done about it. Agoubi also sits on the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council Board of Directors. 
One of the great guys who runs Good Sports. 
Another great guy from Good Sports. Here, I was trying to get the secret 12-spice chicken wing recipe out of him. I couldn't get the recipe itself, but I learned it was invented in about 1992 at "All Sports" bar and offers had been made of up to $5,000 for the recipe, but all the offers have been refused. Incredibly, there is no catchy, distinctive name for the chicken wings. 

Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

The Jim Wentzell Special: A Steak and Manhattan on West Broadway!

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman, with minor editorial revisions by John Hoff.

A version of this post originally appeared on the Hawthorne Voices blog. John Hoff and Pat Carney were in attendance and took more and better photos as well.

Several months ago, while writing about the Delisi's/KMOJ groundbreaking, I made a promise to longtime Hawthorne board member Jim Wentzell. He'd get a steak and Manhattan on West Broadway and he wouldn't have to pay a dime for it. You see, we can point to all kinds of economic indicators like dollars invested or business occupancy rates, but Jim has always had a beautifully simple way to measure success in NoMi. For years he's said we'll know we've turned the corner when he can sit down at a good restaurant and have a steak and a Manhattan on Broadway Avenue. Last night, plenty of people including myself did just that.

Last night, Hawthorne members, NoMi residents and activists, and plenty of other wonderful people working to revitalize our community made good on that promise.

The fun started at Good Sports Bar and Grill...

...located in the Hawthorne neighborhood on 2nd and Broadway. Good Sports serves both steaks and Manhattans, and does them both amazingly well. Mike Christenson of CPED helped put this together by getting Jim to attend, but we kept the scope of how many people would be there a secret. Actually, it was such a good secret that even Alexandra Jasicki and I were surprised by the turnout. I'm told that the count at one point was 82 people, and it was estimated that 65-70 of them were there for this event.

The attendees were a veritable who's-who of NoMi revitalizers. Hawthorne residents, board members, city officials, neighborhood activists and all three NoMi city council representatives made an appearance. Pictured above is Bob Miller of NRP, Ed Anderson of Cub on Broadway, and Jim, with Mike Christenson in the background. Jim's birthday is about a month away, but with this many people gathered, we had to celebrate that too. With this many passionate people in a room together, we're bound to have differences of opinion, but the only arguments I overheard were among those competing for the honor of picking up the tab for Jim that night.

The Leveys, who own Good Sports, said that their supply of steaks was "raided" by the time we were done. I had a Manhattan perfect, and I didn't have to specify that the steak be perfect; it just came that way.

Also in attendance were Peter Teachout, former Hawthorne board chair (with his four kids in tow) and Kip Browne of Jordan, who brought along his newborn. Val and Mike Levey mentioned their neices, ages 3 and 11, and said they want to run an establishment that they know they can bring their entire family to.

As excited as we all were to thank Jim for his many years of service in NoMi, this event wasn't just about him. This was a chance to show off. Here in NoMi, we're proud of the economic development we're seeing, we're proud of businesses like Good Sports, proud of dedicated volunteers like Jim Wentzell, and proud of the vibrant and supportive community we've got in Hawthorne and throughout north Minneapolis. A heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who contributes to the success in our community!

Hawthorne-Supported Business Has Public Hearing Today!

Guest post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman


The Good Sports Bar and Grill, located at 200 W Broadway, is a new business opening in an area this blog has called "The Hawthorne Annex." This area also contains the hottest new bar around.

The Levy brothers, the owners of Good Sports, have brought their proposals before the Hawthorne Business Committee, Crime Prevention and Family Safety Committee, and the full Board. The new owners and staff will coordinate with Donnie Dirk's and Halek's to form a watch group to keep the area clean. The neighborhood has supported the business proposals and crime prevention measures at every level, and we hope to see final approval of the plan today!

(Do not click "Read More," but do patronize the good businesses throughout NoMi.)