Arizona Dive Bar Guide

The mix of remote desert landscapes and dive bars is a seamless and satisfying combination, the ideal of the dusty, off-the-beaten-path bar very much represented in the state’s robust inventory of dive bars. Though young by national standards, cities like Phoenix are home to dive bar cultures that have blossomed in the (dry) heat, creating timeless-feeling experiences no matter a bar’s founding date.

Unsurprisingly, the relenting heat of Arizona sun has created a unique breed of dives, most of them with blacked-out windows, most of them kept at a bone-chilling temperature to lure relief-seeking patrons. The Canyon Club in Williams, Arizona, is an excellent such example, a dusty but cool outpost conveniently located at the bend in the road that leads to the Grand Canyon.

The state’s most famous dive bar may be the Bikini Lounge, a tiki-themed dive bar that serves a bit more domestic beer these days than it does authentic tiki-inspired cocktails. Beyond the Bikini, Phoenix is the natural hub to the state’s divey drinking options, the city’s sprawling footprint perfectly accommodating to countless unique dives (many of them nestled into the corners of strip malls). Flee the heat inside the excellent options below.