A first-of-its-kind “social district”, allowing people to buy drinks from local bars and stroll the riverfront area as they sip, has taken off in Anoka.

Residents and visitors on Saturday were able to carry their favorite alcoholic beverage from participating bars outside as they perused a plethora of food trucks for the annual Anoka Food Truck Festival.

A year after Anoka became the first city in Minnesota to give the “social district” concept a try after approval of the special licensure from state lawmakers, 201 Tavern & Grill co-owner Gloria Nelson said its been nothing but good news for business.

“We had the trial month last year…and that was fun. But this is, like, our first full season, like with events,” she said.

“We’ll sell more drinks because they’re coming in, getting drinks going in, the food trucks coming back, refilling, and it’s just kind of like a fun, open way for people to enjoy Anoka.”

11 restaurants and bars are participating as of August, including at least one bar, Billy’s Bar & Grill, that joined in after the pilot program in 2023.

Here’s how it works: a bartender will fill your designated “social district” cup with your favorite beverage, and you can sip and stroll throughout the area on this map between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.

“It’s nice that you can kind of still walk around, check things out, chat with people, but you have the opportunity to stay kind of in a safe environment,” remarked Katie Bakke from St. Michael, who was enjoying a margarita in her designated cup.

“We came for the food truck fest, but we also knew that there was beer going to be here as well,” said Zech Hipp, who was visiting from Golden Valley. “So we decided to dabble with the beer before we went to the food, get a little base, and then we’ll continue on.”

“It’s definitely a cool thing to see that the city is able to do this. We’re just having a lot of fun,” added Isaiah Wallace of Anoka.

Our conversations were by no means a scientific poll, but everyone we talked to had positive feedback.

“I think it would bring a lot of young people to the city. They could walk around, have a beer with their friends, move around, see Anoka,” said Cameron Jacobson.

Locals said they were glad to see their city start a trend.

“We’re excited just to mingle and walk around with our cups,” said Janell Flores of Otsego.

“This is new for me, so I love it,” Victor Flores added.

State lawmakers this spring also gave the go-ahead to Stillwater and Shakopee to start planning social districts of their own, so there may soon be three social districts in Minnesota.

The Anoka Food Truck Festival goes until 9 p.m. on Saturday.