Find. Eat. Drink.'s Great Dive Bars Across America

We know it's nearly impossible to complete a list of the greatest dive bars in America, but here is a start. This list is picks from bartenders, sommeliers and chefs.

"The thing that makes these places special is that they are relatively untouched. The feel loved, worn, weathered, and not at all fabricated. The history is real, and you can feel it in the bones of the space."

-- Bartender Brooks Reitz (FIG in Charleston and creator of Jack Rudy Cocktail Co)

Pictured is the Dublin House Tap Room, recommended by bartender Brian Bartels (Fedora in NY) and sommelier Levi Dalton (Bar Boulud in NY).

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What makes a great dive bar?

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What makes a great dive bar? Is it because it’s well-worn and rough around the edges with cheap drinks, sticky floors and a few unsavory characters? Not always. We asked a few “industry folks” to tell us their favorite dive bars around the country.

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What makes a great dive bar? Is it because it’s well-worn and rough around the edges with cheap drinks, sticky floors and a few unsavory characters? Not always. We asked a few “industry folks” to tell us their favorite dive bars around the country.

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Comments

[CactusChris]

12:00 PM on 09/19/2011

The Buffet Bar - Tucson, Arizona.....F-ing Classic Dive Bar !

[CMB1969]

04:44 PM on 09/17/2011

just to comment that Mac's Club Deuce is in Miami Beach, not Miami--there is a difference.

[roneill000]

07:48 PM on 09/16/2011

Neighbors Tavern, the Virginia-Highland section of Atlanta. Mediocre bar food, but 20oz beers for the price of a pint, a huge patio and an eclectic mix of patrons (as in celebrities who wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this elsewhere).

[JeffDeVore]

01:23 PM on 09/15/2011

If they don't allow smoking, they don't qualify.

[Kim Jamieson]

09:41 AM on 09/15/2011

I'm torn between The Whig, The Art Bar and Hunter Gatherer in 'Famously Hot' Columbia, SC!

[Dharmakitri]

05:05 PM on 09/14/2011

CC Club on 26th & Lyndale in Minneapolis.

[rich3324]

12:39 PM on 09/14/2011

The Elmhurst Tavern, Dearborn, MI.

[mellene]

12:04 PM on 09/14/2011

Some of them look pretty rugged but at least you'd be patronizing a locally-owned establishment and that says a lot in this economy rather than supporting a chain restaurant's bar.

[ndem]

09:16 AM on 09/14/2011

is the ear bar still open under the w side hwy in nyc? the dry creek cafe on mt bonnel austin where the old owner lady forced you to tip for your $1 corona...those were the days...the road kill cafe near bozeman...seattle has great bars but they all became yuppy joints...there are a few left in ballard...houston has marfreless seems nice, used to be more of a dive and is just a door has no sign is off w gray near the river oaks cinema but the upstairs rooms are very iffy god knows what goes on there...in paris there is the portuguese old guys bar on the corner behind the covered market at marche d'aligre...

[Pierogi kid]

08:47 AM on 09/14/2011

oh and Sarney's, Polish HIill Pittsburgh

[Pierogi kid]

08:46 AM on 09/14/2011

Thew Pep Grill Harrisburg, PA (RIP next week I think )
Gene's Place (fomerly Denny's Den) Pittsburgh
the Halton hilton, Halton Pa

[RefugeeinNorway]

08:34 AM on 09/14/2011

There used to be a place in Brooklyn, South Park Slope, that was a real dive bar. Bare studs, a bar with a bottle of Jack and a tap. If you wanted a beer, you went to the chest freezer and got a mug, then up to the bar. The bathroom floor moved (cockroaches) and the barroom floor wasn't much better (are those peanuts crunching underfoot? I hope so) Dart board, pool table and cheap beer. what else could a 15 year old in New York want?

[hilaritee]

01:13 AM on 09/14/2011

The Old Pink, Buffalo, NY....most people don't even show up before 2am...

[signgrrl]

04:59 PM on 09/14/2011

restaurant people ?

[hilaritee]

11:43 AM on 09/15/2011

well, it is really more of a belly up to the bar and order kind of place. they are known for their grilled steak sanwiches. their grill is right behind the bar and the bartenders cook them.

[Emanuel T Olff]

10:22 PM on 09/13/2011

The yuppies did away with Stingy Lu Lu's first and just recently Mar's bar is history..

[klbrz]

07:36 PM on 09/13/2011

The list is kind of lopsided, seems. Any big town, for sure, is going to have a cool dive bar, but no mention of anything in most of the big cities. Tons in NY, quite a few in LA, Austin. Nothing in Denver, Kansas City, ST Louis, Atlanta, Raleigh, Detroit, Chicago?

That said, they are fun to find and you feel you want to tell everyone about it and keep it a secret at the same time, for fear of it becoming too fratboyed, as one is described (of course, then it really shouldn't make the list).

[Find. Eat. Drink.]

09:00 AM on 09/14/2011

There are other bars around the country ... the last slide leads into more dive bars:
http://bit.ly/pBgf8h