Looking for the Chatterbox Bar?  Take your pick of several that have come and gone over the years.  Some of these are music venues, some of them are not.  But I’m including all that I found, just for fun.  Here they are, in approximate chronological order.

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THE NICOLLET HOTEL

The Chatterbox Cocktail Lounge (and the Minnesota Terrace) were part of a $50,000 addition to the Nicollet Hotel, which opened on October 8, 1936.  It gave way to the Chatterbox for Ladies, according to ads in June 1940.  From there it seems to have been renamed.

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389 SELBY AVE., ST. PAUL

This Chatterbox Bar, owned by the McCann family, goes back to at least 1938.  See separate entry for the history of this landmark watering hole.

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2229 E. 35th STREET, MINNEAPOLIS

The Chatterbox Bar was located at 2229 E. 35th Street in Minneapolis.  An alternate address is 3500 23rd Ave. So.  The building was erected in 1922 for $11,000.  There were stores on the first floor and apartments above.  Supposedly during Prohibition it held a speakeasy behind a barber shop.  Other uses of the building included:

• 1925:  H.A. Rosenthal Drug Co.
• 1929:  Electric Car Shop
• 1929:  Charme Beauty Shop
• 1934:  35th Street Pharmacy
• 1937:  Burr’s Cash Grocery
• 1937:  Barber Shop
• 1949:  Hamburger Shop

The first mention I found of this Chatterbox was in January 1955, when there was a break-in.  On October 25, 1958, there was an explosion at the bar, which was probably the result of a practical joke gone wrong.  Someone had a large firecracker, and two men had to be treated for burns at General Hospital.  There were 25 people in the tavern at the time.  On June 18, 1960, two customers got “slugged in the head” when they unsuccessfully fought off holdup men who appeared at midnight.  A month later, four men were arrested for 13 holdups that had made them temporarily $3,000 to $5,000 richer.

 

In 2000 the Bar had become the Chatterbox Pub, a 3.2 place owned by Steve and Andrea Miller.  Actually, by this time it was described as a “Retro Bar/Lounge.”  Dancing was advertised in December 2001.  A music venue!

Chatterbox Enterprises, Inc. filed for bankruptcy on August 25, 2015, but as of September 2020, Steve Miller is still shown as the taxpayer and the Pub is still open, despite damage from the May 2020 riots and the Covid-19 restrictions.

 

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3675 MINNEHAHA AVE., MINNEAPOLIS

The Chatterbox II was a 3.2 bar located at 3675 Minnehaha Ave. in Minneapolis.  This was a large, half-acre lot at the confluence of Minnehaha Ave., 37th Street E, and 33rd Ave. So.  As far as I know this was not a music venue.  The building was built in 1924.  The beer license was issued in February 1975, although there was no parking lot and the building was located in a residential neighborhood.  It became a biker bar, and the owner “quit,” calling it “too tough” and the crowd “rough.”  James Pesis became the new owner, remodeled the place, and reopened it in April 1976 as Jimmy’s Liquor Bar.  By 1978 the neighbors had had enough of car doors slamming at closing time and people urinating on their lawns.  In 1985 it was Jimmy’s Steak and Spirits.

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800 CLEVELAND AVE., ST. PAUL

The Chatterbox Pub was located at 800 Cleveland Ave. in St. Paul, in the Highland Shopping Center.  The Highland Shopping Center seemed to have a curse.  It was completed in September 1939 on land purchased from the Ford Motor Company.  On February 20, 1941, a 4-alarm fire caused $200,000 damage, and killed a fireman who had been on the force since 1918.  Fighting the fire was complicated by temperatures that reached 14 below zero, freezing the water as it was poured on and freezing gloves to fireman’s hands.  The fire started in the main heating plant under the store – asbestos was burned off the furnace and ignited the wood floor.

Ten years later, on Sunday, April 2, 1951, the shopping center burned again, this time causing $1.5 million in damage – St. Paul’s worst fire in history in terms of damage.  14 out of 18 stores were destroyed in the 4 alarm fire that started in the Cut Price Super Market.  Spectators crowded the scene, and many were hit when debris was blasted across Cleveland Ave.  The fire was blamed on defective wiring caused by a short circuit in the attic above the Ritter Beauty Shop.  This was disputed by the electricians.

Each time the Center was rebuilt.  The venues before the Chatterbox were:

• Lee’s Village Inn – In December 1944, owned by Frank and Lora Lee.  In 1954, owned by Frank Lee, Elmer Wobig, Lee Starr.  Closed abruptly in January 1993.

 

 

 

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• Doubletree American Grill from 1993 to 1996.
• Perkins

In May 2006, Patrick and Michelle Sayler of Minneapolis opened the Chatterbox Pub.  They were inspired by the Chatterbox at 2229 E. 35th Street, but were three times the size.  The Pub featured dozens of board games and Atari computer game cartridges, which you could check out.  Chatterbox Enterprise Highland Inc. (Andrea Miller, CEO) filed Chapter 11 on November 3, 2015.  It apparently stayed open until December 2016.