Your Favorite Dive Bar

What's your favorite dive bar? Describe it.

My two favorite Dive Bars are gone

#2 Name That Bar on South Street in Philly. It was a shithole basement bar. The decor was something of a serial killer's basement. In some spots the cement walls were so busted you could see the dirt. But they had some really good live blues. And they didn't card all that much. (probably a reason they're not in buseness anymore)

#1 My all-time favorite Dive Bar.....Grumpy's Pub in my hometown of Beachwood, NJ. This was the classical blue-collar dive bar. On tap was Bud, Miller and Coors. In the cooler was Bud, Miller and Coors.....you get my point?

When I worked construction, my boss would treat us to a few rounds on payday. And we didn't go home to clean up first. We'd go right from the job site....filthy sweaty and smelly. And we belonged.

On wednesday nights after softball, we'd go in right from the field in our uniforms....filth, sweaty and smelly. And we belonged.

They used to put the specials up on a chalk board, whatever beers were on sale that night. When the whole softball team would show up we'd laugh as one by one, the beers would get crossed off the list. We'd always sell them out. The bartenders would comp us pitchers of shots because they knew we always tipped heavy.

When we got too rowdy (which for this place, is an accomplishment) they'd shoot us with the seltzer gun.

When I just wanted a few beers, I'd walk there....I lonly lived two blocks away. I've literally crawled home a few nights.

When my friend's father died, we all drank ourselves into comas in that bar....and they only bothered to kick us out when it was time to lock the door for the night.

The owner of the place owed money to the wrong people and it got closed down. Someobdy bought it up, completely remodeled it, and now its a fancy schmancy cafe.

I've sinced moved away so I guess it's just part of life. You can only look back on the good times when they're over.

Ok....now I've got Springsteen's "My Hometown" in my head.

Depends on where I am. Luckily here in Michigan, there is no shortage of Dives. Especially the kind with dim-lighting, piss-yellow linoleum on the floors, and frequented by ancient, brooding alcoholics that want nothing more than to wreck their livers in silence. My favorites:

1.The Tip-a-Few in Grand Haven, MI. Ask for a whiskey & coke and you get a tumbler full of sweet amber liquid guaranteed to give you an instant Tom Waits rasp. The local biker bar. Nothing but Huge Nuge and ACDC in the jukebox. Never any fights though, kuz after 15 minutes in here, you're being rushed to the hospital for a stomach pump.

2. Stan's in Spring Lake, MI. Bud and Bud-Lite only. Famous for "the Laker Liter". I swear, they keep the cooler there at absolute zero; the coldest beer I've ever frozen my esophogus with. Ask for anything other than whiskey or beer, and you are immediately labeled a yuppie and told to "go drink yer foo-foo martinis sumplace eltz"

3. Yucca Tap Room, Tempe, AZ. Ok, so they have a stage and Labatt's on tap. But the place still reeks of piss and vinegar, and the Local Yokels come to listen to
some of the area's up and coming acts. Pool table, full size shuffle board, and a swarthy contingent of handlebar-mushtacioed middle-aged mechanics to hit on anything that resembles a female. Of any species.

Here on Nantucket we have a paradox of a dive bar called The Chicken Box Its a typical roadside dive, but the beer ain't cheap, and its full of spoiled rich kids.

my old locals back in amsterdam were reall fucking dives. i find them much better than posh bars or lounges. i just moved to los angeles about six months ago so i only have one dive here i go to.

amsterdam- the doors cafe (spuistraat)- this was the place i'd go to after i got off work, by the way i worked at a dive basement bar but i don't shit where i eat so i go here. the place looks like a dark hole. there are old smoke stained posters everywhere and the floor is absolutly fucked. the toilets are always broken and they had to remove the toilet door because people were going in there to do coke too often. they had pooltables but the building is crooked so nothing ever went straight and no one could be arsed to fix it. oh, nad the place has roaches. the good bits are; the music was brilliant NIN-AC/DC- the pixies - pink floyd. the booze was cheap as fuck and it's never that crowded.

amsterdam- next door- (nieuwezijds voorburgwal) this was the late bar, after my other pub closed at 2am we all would head over to this hole because it was open til 5am. this place is great... it's a tribute to bukowski bar. rent barfly and you'll know what the pub looks like. the booze was cheap here too, and all the drunks meet here after chucking out time at all the other pubs, so chances are you can pull some tart, if you wanted.

los angeles - casey's tavern - (sherman way) - i love this place, most of the locals are a lot older than myself, which i like because older people tend to leave others alone. the place is just run down in general, brown walls and nicotine stained whiskey mirrors. but the two good things are; cheap as fuck booze (now that i am a local the bloke gives me a double jameson's for 3 dollars) and they have a live jazz band some nights. those 70 year old musicians get all the love from me.

i love dives. i went to this nice pub and paid through my arse for a guinness. it's just not worth it, i want to drink more than try to impress others with how much i can spend for one drink.
oh yeah, and you can still smoke in dives and i live off nicotine.

There aren't many left in my town but my fave is The Duke of Gloucester on Yonge St. It's not really a dive as you have to walk up to it but it is good and grimy and the upholstery's greasy and smelly and although the juke box has CDs in it now the music hasn't changed in YEARS. So, beer, nachos and a loud and steady stream of Stranglers, Clash, Buzzcocks, Pogues, Undertones, etc. etc.

The Imperial Public Library is not bad either, though the clientelle is a little student heavy for a real dive.

favorite dive bar in cleveland..... the tick tock tavern. barflies asleep in their beer. bartenders who look like walking cigarettes. when the sunlight is too overwhelming and you have to escape into the darkness and misery. i'd like to do a photo journal of dive bars across the country. there is a certain richness in the sadness.

The Jockey Club in Portland. It's beat to shit, covered in stickers, filled with potentially dangerous people and stinky.

Stand Up Franks in Minneapolis. It's just what is says. No chairs, No tables. Just a bar in the front and a shelf in the back to set your drinks on. The bathroom is floor to ceiling stainless steel for easy cleaning.

The Holiday Lounge on St. Marks Place in New York. They open and close when they feel like it. The perfect old guy bar. Soaps on the TV in the afternoon when there isn't a ball game on. The drinks come in those tiny 8 oz. glasses with about 5 oz. of booze in them. These guy are probably going to die soon,but I thought that 10 years ago and they're still there. Anyways get down there while the getting is good.

Zeitgeist in San Francisco. My second home and the best bar in the world. There is nothing better than sitting in the back yard on a sunny day. I have been going there for over 20 years and I hope it never closes. It makes me want to move back to SF.

The Bahai Hut on Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. It's a Tiki themed bar that boasts the stiffest Mai Tai's this side of Honolulu (two is the limit). It's in front of this old tourist hotel that is a survivor of the Interstate build up. The walls are bamboo and the service is really good. It's not even fair to call it a dive. Usually the crowd is very mixed: rich Yachtsman, gangsta's, New College and Ringling students, regular folks, gays, and day laborers. Its one of those places that's practically empty on a Saturday night, but nearly Fire Code violating full on a rainy Tuesday.

My other choice was The Hub in Tampa, which has moved elsewhere. Its an old 50's deco, linoleum patched bar with a package store crowded into a corner. It's one of those places crumogenousley dedicated to the mass consumption of alcohol and the surrounding streets reek of puke.

i really dont go to bars, so i dont have one

It depends what constitutes a dive bar... if its a good juke box and pitchers of beer there are three.

1.) Che's Lounge- 4th ave. Tucson, AZ
cheap drinks, $2 bottles, $1 PBR or Schlitz, great art, awesome employees.
2.) Time Out Lounge- Mill ave. Tempe, AZ
usually empty, awesome music, cheap pool, good people.
3.) The Rouge- Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale, AZ
50 cent PBR on Mondays, what more do you need?

My favorite dive bat in Springfield Missouri is a little place called the Cat and Fiddle. The owner, Jerry, used to drive a black cadillac with red trim and the license plate SATON. Local legend is that he is a member of a devil worshipping cult and has a famed black book containing members names. The place serves the best damn mixed drinks... and if you asked for a beer you had two choices; Coors or Coors lite in a can. The best feature is this padded piano bar in the shape of a cat's head.. priceless. If you are with a group and tip big they reward you with free shots.

Carol's Pub in Chicago.....the best on Friday or Saturday when they have a live country band who plays all requests and they have a strip of duck tape from the ceiling to the floor which you have to post some money or they won't play your song...

the bar is open till 4 or 5 on the weekends....and it's always jammed pack.....all ways a mix of the college art school crowd....and the old scary rednecks (only scary cause your in the city of Chicago and they are always there...and i only see rednecks at that bar)...the bartender is crosseyed....the dance floor is packed with everyone dancing with each older....and it's fabulous how the little old hick man will always be dancing with the young girls....cause that's the thing you do there...every co mingles and has a Grand old time ( I usually hate country but I love this place so much)..

Christmas Decorations linger around all year long...and around 2 the place gets packed wall to wall....hmmmmm I miss that place...I miss the little old man at the bar who wouldn't let you pass by unless you shoke his hand..he was creepy but in a good way cause he did it to everyone....and if you sat across the bar from him we would always tip his beer to you...... carol's pub

well it used to be this place in Derby called 'The Vaults', from the street it exists only as a doorway, you may miss it, and you have to negotiate down this dingy hundreds years old stone stairway, turn right into the bar, its all cobled stone floor, low ceiling, old style jukebox, and an old english style bar...

The place is really long and thin, and at the far end is a door, go up the dingy-ist stairway imaginable and hey presto, the scummiest bogs you've evere seen in your life.

then Derby got trendy, and no where is dingy anymore... need to find another dank hole to crawl into...

There used to be this place called Vinnies on the corner of Flamingo and Paradise. Couple of pool tables, cheap drinks and the rest of the shopping center was Adult businesses. Or the Atomic Lounge on Freemont and tenth. Its where almost everyone goes after they get released from County Jail. (short walking distance). Plus it has a cool retro sign. Of course now it's the Double Down. "Happiest shithole on earth."

[Edited on Sep 22, 2003 by dickvegas]

Oooh, there's several.

In Glasgow there was a bar called the Nice 'n' Sleazy that was right across from where I was staying. Cheap pub food, good pints, and the bartenders didn't mind a couple of tired asshole Americans nodding off on their stools. I could spend a lifetime there, staring into the bottom of an empty glass.

In Austin, where drinking is considered part of the daily beauty routine, there's hundreds of bars. Some of my favorites:

Lala's, where it's Xmas all year round and all the decorations are so smoke encrusted that they look like they came from Santa's about 50 years ago, before they stopped the elves from chainsmoking Pall Malls while tinkering.

The Chapperelle, where my friends and I descended for a dance party and promptly drank them out of all their cheap beer.

Ed's La Cucharacha, where the worst of the poseur punks hang out. Good if you're into that punks with acne thing.

Casino El Camino is where I usually am when I want a basket of fries and an eggplant burger to go with my liquor.

Club DeVille isn't technically a dive bar, but I've gotten absolutely drunk on their stout as fuck liquor drinks. Oooh, many nights in front of the DeVille toliets, I tell you what.


[Edited on Sep 22, 2003 by minty]

31st street pub
and dee's cafe

The Hide Out on Decatur in New Orleans. Oh sweet dive, how I love you...

trad'r sams- sunset sf. sweet tiki dive bar.

the buffet in tucson,az
old world meets the college crowd.

for a lazy sunday afternoon: sadie's flying elephant. comfortable, worn sofas, a crooked pool table, and a killer juke box.

Oooh yeah - I spent many night in the Tahiti booth at Trad'r Sam. The drinks sound good, but they use cheap champagne and canned orange juice in them, which makes them taste gross. Dorothy the bartender kicks ass, but her creepy son Patrick is a potential danger. He stalked a friend of mine for a while.

By the way, that's the Richmond District. The Sunset Distrisct is the other side of the park.

Another favorite Richmond bar is Tia Margarita on the corner of 19th and Clement. Best Margarita you will ever have. Seriously.
Francisco, the bartender is a master, and a hell of a nice guy.

Would You Believe? - one of the best bar names ever - has it's moments in the afternoon, but in the evening it fills with off duty cops. Run away! 12th and Geary.

The 19th Hole, waaaaaay out Clement by Lincoln Park is a real Barfly bar. They have really good food. One of the best places to see a guy talking with a cancer kazoo.

There's a few places along Geary from 19th to 25th. but they never really stuck with me. The Wishing Well was OK, but I heard it closed

The Sunset has very few good bars. Club Sirocco on Judah and 20th is cool looking, but depressing. I can't think of another one. Maybe on Taravel or in West Portal - The Philosopher's Club is there, but besides the name, it sucks. The Emebers in the inner Richmond was amazing. It had the best collection of creepy clown paintings ever. It closed long ago though.

Did you know that the Richmond used to be graveyards all the way out to 25th Ave and there was a big amusement park where the Safeway is now?

Sully's in Marlboro MA. It is a little hole in the wall off of Main street, but it has the latest last call in that town. all the other bars close at 1, Sully's closes at 2. they make the strongest drinks for relatively cheap.

I Sullys. I miss it