Sally’s Saloon, in the heart of Stadium Village near the University of Minnesota, opened a new expansion on April 12, accommodating hundreds more people than the previous capacity.

The expansion nearly doubles the bar in size and includes newly renovated floors, red-cushioned booths, a fully stocked bar, a large television behind the bar and expansive new bathrooms. 

Jordan Krivanek, a graduate dental student at the University who also attended for her undergraduate degree, said she thought the expansion was much needed. 

Krivanek added with the new expansion, she thinks she will be more likely to visit the bar to cheer on the Gophers on game days.

Maddie Hirn, a graduate dental student at the University, said Sally’s Saloon could now be a better place for her and friends to go on game days because it is an indoor space, unlike Stub and Herb’s, which has its game day celebrations outside. She added that as the weather gets colder, this is not preferable.

Ava Olson, a second-year student at the University, said she has not been to the bar since the expansion, though she is excited to go in the fall to watch football games on the large television hung behind the expansion’s new bar.

“I just think that’ll be fun to be able to actually sit down at a table with my friends and watch games,” Olson said.

Hirn said the bathrooms used to be closed on game days, and she would often leave to use a bathroom elsewhere before coming back. 

Hirn added the expansion is great, though she wished it was open more often. Currently, the expansion only opens on the bar’s busier nights, remaining closed during the week’s less busy times like on weekdays.

“I wish it was open not just at night when it gets busy,” Hirn said. “I do think it makes it a lot easier for people to come in here.”

While the new bathrooms have been up and running for several weeks, the rest of the expansion was not opened until recently.

Though Hirn said the new bathrooms are the most exciting part of the expansion, she is not a fan of the shared sink and mirror space between the men’s and women’s bathrooms.

The bar’s new bathrooms favor an open concept, with a panel of sinks shared between bathrooms, making it less likely bar-goers will have to wait in long lines for the bathroom, as was common previously.

Hirn said she remembered game days when the bar’s bathrooms were closed for flooding and she had to go home if she wanted to use the bathroom.

“[The bathrooms] would be flooded and there would be a line just for the workers’ bathroom,” Hirn said. 

The added floor space makes the bar much less crowded and more comfortable for patrons, according to Hirn, who added that because the expansion allows for more people to be in the bar at a given time, she expects the lines outside the bar will be shorter. 

“It needed to happen,” Krivanek said.