Best Dive Bar In Your Town

dr_chile

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.

dr_chile

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!

terminalsunset

dr_chile The fact that it's pretty shitty is a draw for me lol

paperhose

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.

Ayapapaya

Sukebe_GG Oh shit, the owner probably lives there too, right?

Sukebe_GG

Ayapapaya Not sure - maybe in the back. It's in Nishinari so might have a cheap room nearby...Apparently Otoboke Beaver like to hang out there...
Poorcow is on my bucket list - someday!

Ayapapaya

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

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.

Ruby

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!

11th hour stubble

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.

Ruby

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.

Hercules Rockefeller

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.

nonsenseorgan

Hercules Rockefeller
Crawl on down to Galway House after Behan's last call on the weekend. Fond memories. Now I want some Food Wall.

paperhose

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.

JessVex

Portland has too many to count. Haha!

Joel Jett

JessVex Totally! It's hard to pick my favorite.

Bucky Bronco

JessVex Was gonna say the same, but figured anybody who knows anything about Portland was already aware! I do have kind of a soft spot for Kenton Club, and Club 21 was my hands-down fave when it was still around.

Red Menace

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.

terminalsunset

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!

SwamiPat

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.

darby crash ribosome

Harry's Banana Farm and many more sunburnt electrician bars along US-1. Usually pretty chill.

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