Ben Lyon if you ever find yourself in Muskegon Michigan, I’d recommend Mike’s Inn
Best Dive Bar In Your Town
Yeah, my pals in ABQ basically echo the same thing. I wish Low Spirits was still around. Had the privilege of seeing Total Control play there in 2010 or 2011?? They loved the city.
lmao and yeah Gecko's is a joke. It's a nice spot, but 100% the opposite of tapas.
I went to school at UNM around 2008!
nonsenseorgan Good call.
There is also some deal where you can get a rat+hotdog tat, and then eat free hotdogs there for life. They have shows on Tuesdays lately too.
Sukebe_GG Oh shit, the owner probably lives there too, right?
Poorcow in Tokyo. Fifi from Teengenerate/Tweezers/Firestarter owns it. He has a few thousand records there to listen to and it basically makes you feel like you’re visiting his living room. It gets super smoky in there and it’s on the 4th floor with no elevator, but it’s worth it. Fifi makes good stiff drinks. Just be really careful with those steps carrying your drunk ass down the steep narrow steps. My husband fell off it twice, ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks the first time, and a visit to the ER the second time
dr_chile The fact that it's pretty shitty is a draw for me lol
Always amazed at the vast assortment of dives there are here in Dartmouth compared to what's left across the harbour in Halifax. My favourite is place called Staggers (or "Stabbers" as I've heard it referred to). Almost nobody under the age of 50 hangs out there, except for when they have drag shows. Karaoke night is like stepping into a Tod Browning movie. My kinda place!
Ruby ever been to the wheel club in Montreal? not really a dive, more of a legion atmosphere, but they have a blue grass karaoke night with a songbook that ends in 1960 and a really great backing band who could have feasibly been grandparents by the same year. popcorn, pool, etc.
paperhose The Sil and O'Brien's in Allston are both divey and institutions in the neighborhood. I guess the Model but I don't go there much.
Charlie's still technically exists in Harvard Sq but has been sold. RIP Whitney's. Paddy's is still there.
Michael's in Somerville is the true definition of a dive. Some questionable clientele in there.
The Tam downtown is still there. I think both Foley's locations are still open.
The Behan and Midway in JP.
Lots more I'm just not thinking of, but we've definitely lost a bunch of classics over the past couple years (Sligo, Newtowne, Courtside). I'm still pissed that the Courtside has sat empty for over 5 years.
Portland has too many to count. Haha!
Hercules Rockefeller
Crawl on down to Galway House after Behan's last call on the weekend. Fond memories. Now I want some Food Wall.
ExpKind I would agree that O'Reilly's and Dick's Den are proper neighborhood dive bars. I'd say Eldorado's also fits this bill. I feel like Bobo is mostly open for shows now. Back when I worked there 20 years ago or so it was a proper neighborhood dive bar where you could hang with friends if there was no shows. I would say Bob's is a good one, too.
Hercules Rockefeller Amazing rundown, thank you!
Moving here in my 30's, I go out a lot less than I should. Some of your suggestions I have not yet even set foot in.
11th hour stubble omg well now I have a new 2025 goal: get Rach singing Bill Monroe at the Wheel Club!
Another local profile to add to the pile: I live right where the only remaining strip club in NS was (closed in 2019), so just a few hundred meters from my house there's a conglomeration of dives leftover, the biggest one being this roadhouse sort of place called Dave Doolittle's. It's comically oversized and almost always nearly empty after 8pm despite their 1pm closing time. Cover bands every Saturday playing at brain rattling volumes. Best of all, several times a year they have live wrestling matches right in the bar (Teddy Hart made an appearance in the previous decade). We've also been asked by the staff multiple times to buy the place, so if anyone wants to have a go at running an r'n'r venue on the fringes of North America, that'd be the place to do it.
terminalsunset I always had a good time there. The food is decent, too, just not tapas. Though not a dive, I do have a good time at Anodyne. Prices aren't gouged there like they are in Santa Fe and the staff is always super friendly.
For Chicago folks, get hip to Strange Bar Sunday!
Those cats know where the best dive bars are across the midwest. They even posted a sick map of spots across the nation.
Harry's Banana Farm and many more sunburnt electrician bars along US-1. Usually pretty chill.
dr_chile Anodyne rules. I like it better than Sister for atmosphere (no food though). I also suck at pool, but it’s fun to play there!