“Will you get him the raspberry sauce?” A voice calls out to a server from behind a long, worn wooden bar. Lighthearted chuckles waft through the tavern. The bartender is simultaneously pouring a tap beer and changing the TV channel to Olympic women’s bobsledding. Even with juggling multiple patrons and running food and drinks as needed, she doesn’t look the least bit flustered—she looks… happy.
Photo by Ackerman+Gruber
Meet Jillian Hiscock, owner of A Bar of Their Own in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. Yes, the name of the place is a witty play on the 1992 Geena Davis and Tom Hanks classic “A League of Their Own,” but A Bar of Their Own is much more than a publicity campaign to distract the country from an impending war in the ’40s.
A Bar of Their Own, instead, stands as an energetic hub for women’s sports enthusiasts. The walls are adorned with an impressive display of women’s sports memorabilia, autographed jerseys, and equipment, all interspersed with pride and inclusivity flags that reflect the bar’s mission (and code of conduct). Oh, and the TVs only play women’s sports.
A few years ago, Hiscock was inspired by the pioneering work of Jenny Nguyen, who opened the first women’s sports bar, The Sports Bra, in Portland. Recognizing a similar need in her own city, Hiscock created this unique space to celebrate women’s athletic achievements and foster a sense of community among fans who often feel sidelined in traditional sports settings.
Since opening last spring, A Bar of Their Own has burst onto the scene as a safe haven for women’s sports fans to gather and socialize. As the bar approaches its one-year anniversary, Hiscock has already made a significant impact in the industry, encouraging a new generation of fans and showcasing the importance of inclusivity in sports culture.
What inspired you to start A Bar of Their Own?
I realized what Jenny [Nguyen] was doing in Portland would resonate here in Minneapolis. My friends and I often felt sidelined as women’s sports fans, and I knew the concept would work. Women’s sports have been an afterthought in so many avenues, not just in media and on television, but in how bars cover it and what fans can see. I wanted to give those fans the opportunity to have a place where it’s prioritized. We have the Lynx. We have the Frost, who just won the inaugural Walter Cup. We have the Aurora for soccer and the Vixen, our professional women’s football team. We’re getting women’s professional rugby coming in. We haven’t been doing enough to celebrate these successes, and our goal is simply to shine a spotlight on those women.
How did you choose the location for your bar?
Finding the right neighborhood was really important for me. I wanted to be part of a community, not stuck at the end of some industrial boulevard. I used to live in Longfellow, so I was familiar with the area and really loved the Seward community. It’s great for us to be here because we’re surrounded by other small businesses that have the same vibe, in terms of wanting to help and connect with the community. We help each other out, just like you would with your neighbors at home. So, to have that neighborly feel at a restaurant is really unique.
Your tagline, ‘All women’s sports, all the time,’ is a bold statement.
It certainly goes beyond the TVs, right? Absolutely, our TVs are always playing women’s sports, but we have worked hard and intentionally throughout this entire process to make sure that we’re elevating women and women-owned businesses throughout our menu, throughout our buildout, throughout our hiring, throughout everything. All of our tap lines are brands that are owned, operated, or brewed by women.
How is your bar different from typical sports bars?
Photo by Ackerman+Gruber
All the jerseys on our walls are female athletes, and all of the shows on our TVs are women’s sports. But I do also think there is something about the community that comes here that feels very different. The machismo you normally feel in a sports bar is just gone. Even if you don’t really know anything about women in sports, come in, belly up to the bar, ask the person next to you what’s happening on the TVs, and they’ll tell you. And they won’t mansplain [to] you.
What measures do you have in place to ensure inclusivity?
We’re unapologetic in being a safe place for all people. We have our code of conduct posted all over the bar, as well as on our website, and it is simple golden rule stuff, right? If a guest is making a staff member feel uncomfortable or making another guest feel uncomfortable, we just ask that person to leave. We don’t have any tolerance for that. We want people to come here and feel like they can be here as their authentic selves, without being propositioned. We’re really strict on that. And people like that. We’re a consent-driven environment where people feel like they have control of those situations instead of feeling powerless.
What ripple effect do you hope your bar will have on the community?
I think it’s happening already. We have 85 seats in this bar, and for every major women’s sporting event, we are on a waitlist. There are more than 85 women’s sports fans in the Twin Cities, so we know the demand is there, and the supply is not keeping up. I want other bars to see our success as a challenge to them to think about what they’re putting on their TVs all day. The clientele is there. The interest is there. We’re proof that it doesn’t have to be hard to do it. You just have to be intentional about serving a different audience.
What kind of events does A Bar of Their Own host?
For all of the Minnesota Frost’s away games, we host watch parties here. We never host watch parties on home games because we want to encourage people to go and watch the games in person. Whenever there are sports that are accessible to watch, we want to encourage fans to go out and get in the stands because it’s just another way to invest in women. We do a lot of sponsored and partnership events as well. We’re working with Unrivaled Basketball, the new 3-on-3 women’s league created by Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier. We have trivia every Thursday, and we started a book club last year. There’s a really robust online community, as well as our in-person meetings, that we have centered on reading books about women’s sports. [Something] we also have started doing more of and will continue, particularly as we get into March Madness, is working with local alumni associations from colleges to host watch parties for their teams. We had a really cool one recently with Notre Dame and USC, and Kayla McBride, a Lynx player, came to the watch party as an alumnus of Notre Dame.
Your one-year anniversary is approaching.
It feels like it has been both yesterday and years ago at the same time. I’m actually really relieved by it, knowing that we’ve at least gone through a cycle. It’s really exciting. I’m proud of what we’ve done and for staying true to who we wanted to be from the jump. You know, I think there’s always the fear that we were going to have to pivot because it wasn’t going to resonate, and people weren’t going to come in, but that has just not proven to be the case.
Photo by Ackerman+Gruber
Can you share a memorable moment from the past year?
Opening day is something that will live in my memory forever. It was such a treat to see so many people lined up for our opening day. The PWHL Walter Cup championship was a big weekend here, and that was also the weekend Billie Jean King visited the bar, which is mind boggling. One of my top 10 moments of the last year involved a couple that came over from Wisconsin to get married in Minneapolis because they wanted to get married in a queer-friendly state. They reached out to me the day of their wedding because their witnesses had COVID and couldn’t make it, and they asked if there was any way that I knew anybody that could be a witness. I messaged my staff, and two of my bartenders went and were witnesses for their wedding. Then we invited the couple and their families to come here after the ceremony. Our next-door neighbor, Rebecca’s Bakery & Cafe, made a wedding cake for them, and Soderberg’s on Lake Street made a big wedding bouquet for them. That was one of the coolest moments that we’ve had at the bar and had nothing to do with sports.
What’s next for A Bar of Their Own?
We’re going to continue to do a lot of the same programming and events, but we’re also going to put a lot more intentionality into how we’re reaching out [to] the community. I wanted this place to be prominent in the local kids’ and girls’ sports leagues to support the folks that are building up local women and girls in sports. We want to be a part of that.
What message do you want to share with our readers?
I think, first, there’s a misconception that it’s impossible to get into the bar. People saw a lot of the craziness when we first opened, but we love having people come in when there’s not a big sporting event. Check out the great menu and drinks and catch some of the other sports that we’re playing, even if they’re not major sporting events. Second, everyone is welcome, even if you don’t know anything about women’s sports. It’s just a really cool environment for people who are curious about women’s sports and who are hardcore women’s sports fanatics.
Photo by Ackerman+Gruber
