This Mother’s Day, Bricksworth Beer Co. was buzzing, and not just with the spirit of motherly appreciation. No, the North Loop brewery and restaurant was literally abuzz: In a side room off of the main dining room, five tattoo artists busily worked away, their machines whirring mechanically as they inked fresh flash tattoos onto the skin of customers.
This was Bricksworth’s second flash tattoo pop-up, following a wildly successful first installment this March. “It blew up,” says Bricksworth events manager Brooke Robinson. “There were lines; the artists were like, ‘I literally could not get everybody in.’”
Tattoo pop-ups have become popular around the country, with everyone from the trendy Vietnamese noodle company Omsom to it-girl cookbook author Molly Baz offering guests a chance to get a logo or other on-theme ink during launch parties and anniversaries. “Forget the goodie bag, take home a tattoo,” Eater’s Bettina Makalintal wrote last year, noting the growing number of food pop-ups and events where tattoo flash is the “hot party favor.”
At most pop-ups here in the Twin Cities, the tattoos aren’t freebies, but they’re still a great way to bring in customers. Nor are tattooees expected to get a brand-related piece inked on themselves: During the May event at Bricksworth, artist Fia Lopez tattooed a selection of flowers, unicorns, and bugs for between $80 and $150, while Anna Paulette offered designs honoring mom as well as pickles, morel mushrooms, and cattails for $120. Bricksworth wants the artists to create original works in their own style (though yes, someone is typically tattooing pizza slices and hops).
To Robinson, that’s part of the fun: “It’s really cool for [the artists] that everyone comes for their art, they’re not replicating somebody, they’re not copy-pasting something somebody saw on Pinterest. It’s their own work.” Some people have even later returned to the featured artists for bigger pieces.
While Bricksworth’s pop-ups are centered around the tattooing, other local breweries have begun offering flash as part of more broadly themed events alongside food trucks, makers markets, and live music. At a May the Fourth party earlier this month, Insight Brewing brought artist Joslin Gay to the taproom to do tattoos for the commemorative Star Wars holiday, and that's not the first time they've welcomed artists into the brewery.
Insight marketing manager Joey Steinbach says they’ve also seen a huge response for pop-up flash events. “There’s people that will be lined up at the gate,” he says, “and they’ll be like ‘Hey, I’m not actually here to drink, I just want to get my name in on the tattoo list as early as possible.’”
(Though don’t let that deter you if you’re not among the folks lined up outside; folks will drop off the list as the day goes on, making room for others to get a spontaneous tattoo.)
Tattoo pop-ups are a natural fit for events like May the Fourth. “People really, really, really like Star Wars,” Steinbach says. “And so if you can get a cool commemorative Star Wars tattoo while you’re watching the movie, buying your own lightsaber, and then having a couple beers? I say the more the merrier.”
And the success has been such that the brewery is doing tattoos at other parties where they feel like it’ll be a good fit. At Wort Tour, Insight’s upcoming Warped Tour-spoofing skateboarding and punk rock-themed event, Gay will be back, this time offering tattoos inspired by skate culture.
Initially, Robinson says, she wasn’t so sure about people getting tattoos at the restaurant. “As the events manager, I was like, ‘That feels like it could be a problem—mixing tattooing and restaurant food,’” she says.
But it turned out to be surprisingly easy. Bricksworth has a side room separate from the main dining area, which can easily be transformed into a temporary tattoo parlor. One of the artists, Jessica Haug at Gothic Knight Tattoo, was able to pull the permits. All Bricksworth had to do was pony up the $200 application fee, which Robinson says they easily made back in tabs from hungry tattoo-getters.
Steinbach says that breweries are in fact uniquely set up to host tattoo pop-ups. (Just, ya know, in case any other local marketing managers are reading.)
“The Body Art Temporary Event application—the license—requires a sterile environment, access to a sink, cleaning supplies,” he explains. “And breweries, like the actual brewing bays, are just that.”
For Robinson, it’s been rewarding to curate a pop-up tattoo shop full of artists who are women, or nonbinary, or part of the queer community. “It’s kind of a little bit outside of the stereotypical tattoo scene,” she says. And it’s been a way to reach a new community in addition to the sports fans who usually crowd into the restaurant, which is located steps from Target Field.
“This is a totally different audience that we don’t hit very often, and being able to just get the customers in for the first time for something like a tattoo pop-up makes them more likely to come back and enjoy the food,” she says.
Last year, Jordan Weller and his wife were among those who got tattooed at 56 Brewing’s nine-year anniversary party. “We came and got tattoos and then ended up hanging out for a few hours,” he recalls.
That was before he worked at 56—today Weller is the Northeast brewery’s taproom and events manager, meaning he oversaw its 10th anniversary party, hosted earlier this month. And yes, there were tattoos again in 2025, thanks to artists from nearby Northeast Tattoo.
“I think right now, with the way that breweries are going and the way the industry is headed, it’s not really feasible, business-wise, to just exist and sell beer anymore,” Weller says. “Everyone is doing everything they can, and getting as creative as they can, to try to get people in the door and keep them around as long as possible.”
Breweries aren’t the only local businesses trying tattooing as a way to bring people out. At her shop on Marshall Avenue in St. Paul, jeweler Larissa Loden has been hosting regular tattoo pop-ups for the last four months.
“Especially as a brand that sells product, I can ship you a bunch of stuff, but there’s certain things that you just can’t do over the internet,” Loden says. “Like, Amazon’s never gonna be able to have you get a tattoo.”
Tattoos are a fitting compliment for Loden’s brand; her work includes dainty earrings that say “fuck” and a necklace that bears a tiny knife. Scout Cosmetics, which has been doing the Loden pop-ups (“she’s fabulous,” the jeweler says) specializes in fine-line tattoos, which have the same sort of style: cute, but with an edge.
“I always challenge myself and my team to be like, ‘What would get you in?’” Loden says. They’re looking to give shoppers a memorable experience, “where it’s cool, and also not a sip and shop, because that is 1,000% not gonna get me out of my sweatpants. Like, fuck no. I can drink at home!”
And to that point, Twin Cities breweries are also in a position of needing to convince people to leave their homes and go do something.
For Insight, that means hosting a lot of events—the weirder and more creative, the better. The last time we talked with Steinbach the brewery was making a hot dog-flavored seltzer, and Racket’s Jay Boller just judged burgers at Insight’s Smashfest, which Steinbach says brought in 3,000 people over the course of the day.
That work has not gone unnoticed: Steinbach was just invited to give a presentation at the Minnesota Brewers Conference about hosting events. “My whole thing was, how do you set yourself apart from other breweries?” he says. “Craft beer sales in the market are just down across the board … so to try to set yourself apart, just do weird, fun stuff.”
Weller agrees. “With there being almost 200 breweries in the state, how do you stand out?” he asks. “How do you do something special to get them to come to you rather than going to the next one down the street?” That’s especially true in Northeast, where there are a dozen breweries to choose from.
For now at least, flash tattoo pop-ups are a part of that equation. Everyone we spoke to for this story said they plan to keep hosting them—there’s too much interest to stop now.
“It’s ended up being a really great partnership between local tattoo artists and us,” says Robinson at Bricksworth, adding that they’re currently trying to secure a tattoo pop-up date at sister company Blackstack Brewing in St. Paul. “Hopefully, we’re making it a monthly occurrence.”
