The gritty, grounded, off-the-beaten-path travel guide built around the dive bars, the holes-in-walls, the everyday experiences that make local life unique. Made for people, not tourists.

Most Recent Reviews

Screaming Sally’s Saloon

Route 66 bar oasis.

Lee’s Tavern

Vegas to LA oasis.

Ye Rustic Inn

Lounge meets dive vibe.

The Roost

Thai food dim dive.

The Prince

Plush red lounge vibe.

The Scoundrel Shop: New Arrivals

Highest Rated

Dive Bars

Fireplace Lounge

Highway fireplace perfection.

Burger Bar

Asheville dive bar king.

Tiny Tap Tavern

Gas station turned dive.

Swiss Buda

Layer upon epic layer.

Johnnie’s Glenn Avenue Grill

Perfect Midwestern dive.

Dive Bar City Guides

Amarillo / Lubbock

Broken Spoke Lounge - Amarillo Dive Bar - Outside

Call it Texas panhandle extended, dive bars intersecting with Route 66.

Atlanta

Northside Tavern - Atlanta Dive Bar - Outside

Evolving patchwork of neighborhoods with a rich network of dives underneath.

Columbus

Modern Midwestern city with some profoundly not modern dive bar gems.

Cleveland

Harbor Inn - Cleveland Dive Bar - Sign

The best dive bars come from the richest history, and Cleveland provides.

Jacksonville

Pete's Bar - Jacksonville Dive Bar - Neon Sign

There's something about beach air giving birth to dive bars and Jacksonville is no exception.

Louisville

Magnolia Bar & Grill - Louisville Dive Bar - Exterior

Southern and Midwestern influences converge to create a patchwork of divey options.

Minneapolis

CC Club - Minneapolis Dive Bar - Outside

Minneapolis provides the perfect storm of food, drinking and dive bars, yes, including the Juicy Lucy.

New Orleans

Snake & Jake Christmas Club Lounge - New Orleans Dive Bar - Outside

There may be no better city to create dive bars steeped in history, culture and neighborhood uniqueness.

New York

McSorley's Old Ale House - New York Dive Bar - Outside Sign

The task of visiting and documenting every New York dive bar is daunting but someone must.

Tampa / St. Pete

Mahuffer's - Tampa Dive Bar - Interior

Stitched-together cities with deep roots make for fertile drinking ground.

Neighborhood Crawls

Deep Ellum

Dallas, Texas
Bier Stube - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Dive bars with roots.

German Village

Columbus, Ohio
Beck Tavern - Columbus Dive Bar - Interior

Beer amongst the brick-laid streets.

Lincoln Park

Cleveland, Ohio
Hotz Cafe - Cleveland Dive Bar - Outside

As “Cleveland neighborhood” as it gets.

The Bywater

New Orleans, Louisiana
Vaughan's Lounge - New Orleans Dive Bar - Front Door

The edge of the world.

Grandview Heights

Columbus, Ohio
Mickey's Dive Bar Columbus

Sneaky divey near-suburb.

French Quarter

New Orleans, Louisiana
Chart Room - New Orleans Dive Bar - Outside

The search for gems among the rough.

City by City Listings

Featured Articles

Top 5 Minneapolis Dive Bars

Top 5 Minneapolis Dive Bars

The Upper Midwest is friendly territory for the classic neighborhood dive bar. Minneapolis in particular is home to a rich tradition of grab-a-burger, hunker down during the winter months-style neighborhood bars that have been in business since Prohibition.

Top 5 Tampa / St. Pete Dive Bars

Top 5 Tampa / St. Pete Dive Bars

Liberties have been taken with this list, a collection of Florida dive bars across Tampa, St. Pete Beach, Clearwater and all points south and west of Tampa proper. There’s something magical about the union of a lean-to beach shack and a rustic dive bar, a combination Tampa excels in supporting.

Top 5 New Orleans Dive Bars

Top 5 New Orleans Dive Bars

Picking a favorite New Orleans dive bar is a bit like picking a favorite child. The confluence of cultural forces that created New Orleans continue today as the backdrop to a rich collection of historic, authentic neighborhood dives.

Top 5 Cleveland Dive Bars

Top 5 Cleveland Dive Bars

Cleveland’s deep roots can be overlooked at times, a trait that has allowed the classic Midwestern dive bar to thrive there. These are hearty Cleveland dive bars for hearty, unapologetic Cleveland residents.

Top 5 Columbus Dive Bars

Top 5 Columbus Dive Bars

Though the city is growing faster than any other in the Midwest, the Columbus dive bar is alive and well. From timeless diner-dive combos to dive bars embedded in residential blocks, Columbus is an underrated dive bar hotbed.

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