Nightlife in Saint Cloud

The ruleta wheel at Pancho Villa Mexican Restaurant sends tablefuls of friends into a frenzy when one of the bunch is chosen to take a spin. Landing on the right space in this wheel can grant the entire table free drinks from a selection of specialty margaritas and cocktails. This is just one of the ways the staff amps up the festive atmosphere in the restaurant—there's also karaoke every night Thursday through Sunday. And thanks to the flat screen televisions, patrons can keep an eye on their favorite teams as they face off with rivals or trade secrets for keeping their shoelaces tied.

Patrons come as much for the atmosphere as they do for the menu of chicken flautas, cheese enchiladas, shrimp chimichangas, pork ribs, and other traditional Mexican cuisine. When the weather's nice they can dine outside, where umbrellas protect their entrees from the sun's sticky fingers. Regular lunch specials and the Monticello location's lunch buffet make midday dining even more enticing.

Ken and Sara Beamish loved traveling the Minnesota countryside, visiting new wineries and breweries along the way. As they expanded their search to far-flung reaches of the country and even Mexico, they both had the same idea: maybe we could do this ourselves. That idea soon came to life as The Bohemian Wine Bar and Pub, where the pair now serve their favorite brews and vintages they found while traveling across the country. Drinks arrive by the glass or flight, with four different pours giving others the chance to discover the joy found at the bottom of a previously unknown beer. Alongside the drinks, cooks serve up small bites of wine bar fare, from plates of prosciutto and cheese to sandwiches topped with ham, raspberry, and cheddar. They even offer dessert chocolates that come served with two glasses of port, ensuring that meals end on a sweet note without printing their receipts on Fruit Roll-Ups.

Though outfitted with eight TVs and three supersized screens that broadcast any and every sporting event, Buffalo Bar and Grill is more than a standard sports bar. Live music rains down from the eatery’s stage, escaping from talented local bands and the karaoke-crooning vocal cords of aspiring rock legends. Guests can sip on a beer and nibble on mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers, and mini tacos as they try their hand at Texas hold’em. Hearty burgers and succulent sandwiches and wraps rehabilitate tired appetites after rousing rounds of pool, darts, or realistic video games that depict bowling, hunting, and spotting errors in the Wall Street Journal.

152 Club Bar & Grill sates surly appetites with a menu of burgers, sandwiches, pizza, and more than 30 beers. Start the gustatory sojourn with fried pickles, spicy battered spears served alongside ranch dressing ($6), or dive mouth-first into the Island burger, a half-pound teriyaki-smothered patty dressed in a ring of pineapple, a layer of canadian bacon, and a space suit of vegetables ($8.75 with fresh-cut seasoned fries). The Club Stacker sandwich stacks smoke-pit ham, thick-cut bacon, and turkey breast between three layers of toast draped in american cheese ($8.25 with fries). The bacon-cheeseburger pizza represents a symbiosis of sandwich and pizza, sizzling with grilled hamburger meat and bacon on top of a thin crust covered in six cheeses and hamburger pickles ($12.25). A long list of beers, such as Blue Moon and Michelob AmberBock, gives guzzlers a choice of foamy beverages to wash down their grub, and seasonal draft selections rotate like a protractor playing Twister.

After 13 years as a skydiver, Joseph Johnson leapt into a new mission: to become the first franchised skydiving operation in the country. With two locations in two states under his belt so far, he aims to rise above his competitors by offering distinctive features such as a choice of altitudes (13,000, 18,000, or 24,000 feet) and pre-jump training that equips skydivers with the ability to deploy, steer, and land their own chute, even when they’re flying tandem with a licensed instructor. Planes can carry as many as 17 people in one trip, making it ideal for group outings and airborne performances by jazz orchestras, and helmet cams capture the audio and visuals of the entire flight.

Jam Hops Gymnastics, Dance and Cheer was formed when The Gymnastics Factory of Ham Lake joined forces with Jam Hops of Mound View in 1997. At first, they focused only on recreational and competitive gymnastics. As the talent, energy, and location expanded, however, so too did the program—they began to include dance. The inertia then became harder to contain, leading to Jam Hops' cheer program, the "leap-n-learn" academic preschool program, and even birthday parties and day camps that have further integrated Jam Hops into the community. In 2013 alone, Jam Hops scored the "Reader's Choice Award" from the Anoka County Shopper and the "Family Choice Award" from Macaroni Kid

Despite expansions in locations and classes, Jam Hops maintains its original mission: to turn children into champions of life. Nurturing young talent, the enthusiastic staff—many of whom are CPR and First Aid Certified—boost the confidence of students in recreational and competitive gymnastics programs. They work with boys and girls ranging from preschool age to 12th grade, and have even shepherded teams to the Junior Olympics nationals. Instructors in the dance programs, meanwhile, teach adults, teens, and tykes as young as two the ins-and-outs of jazz, tap, hip-hop, and ballet styles. It's not all about gymnastics or dance, though—the staffers in charge of academic preschool classes instill physical fitness and learning excellence in kids ages 3–5.