SFG City Guide

Cleveland Dive Bar Guide

The Best Kind of Midwest

The best dive bars are products of deep roots, buildings with decades of history baked into every wall and every never-replaced floorboard. Cleveland provides fertile ground with its own rich past, a city of vintage residential neighborhoods perfect for neighborhood bars as old as the city itself. A dive like Hotz Café in Cleveland’s Lincoln Park neighborhood serves as maybe the best example, opened in 1919 and home to original stools that have held both Babe Ruth and FDR. It’s that kind of town.

And Cleveland’s footprint sprawls, an interconnected but wildly disparate fabric of towns and cities that engulf northeast Ohio. The kind of diversity that comes with that amount of square footage creates dive bars of all shapes and sizes, from urban back rooms like Johnny’s Little Bar to cinder block karaoke shoeboxes like Tina’s Nite Club.

Throughout these reviews, the word “Midwestern” is used in only a positive light, a term that encompasses the ingredients of a great dive bar, from decades of working-class regulars to a relentlessly unassuming and unpretentious attitude that makes every dive on this list a welcoming environment. A dive bar like Parkview Nite Club embodies everything Midwestern about the dive scene in Cleveland, a one-stop shop that feels like some kind of food hall, dive bar, neighborhood meeting place combination.

Cleveland is an amazing city and its dive bar scene is rich in the longevity and uniqueness that makes for a dive bar worth visiting. The recommendations here only scratch the surface of a very deep roster of potential destinations, all built on top of the unassuming and Midwestern-in-a-great-way nature of the city that surrounds them.

Cleveland Dive Bar Map

Quick Links

Bars By Neighborhood

Reviewed Dive Bars

Recommended Not Yet Reviewed Dive Bars

Other Dive Bar Recommendations

Cleveland Neighborhood Guides

Detroit Shoreway

4 Dive Bars

Lincoln Park

4 Dive Bars

Ohio City

2 Dive Bars

Reviewed Cleveland Dive Bars

SFG Rating

10

Harbor Inn

Cleveland, Ohio

As much a Cleveland dive bar as a dive bar could be.

SFG Rating

10

Now That's Class

Cleveland, Ohio

It’s something for everyone except it’s everything for everyone.

SFG Rating

9

Detroit Shoreway

Parkview Nite Club

Cleveland, Ohio

The city of Cleveland manifested in a dive bar.

SFG Rating

9

Lincoln Park

Hotz Cafe

Cleveland, Ohio

Ty Cobb, FDR, Babe Ruth and three generations of drinkers can’t be wrong.

SFG Rating

9

Dickey Lanes

Cleveland, Ohio

The only windows are pointed at bowling lanes. It’s perfect.

SFG Rating

8

Jerman's Cafe

Cleveland, Ohio

If it endured Prohibition, you can pay your respects.

SFG Rating

8

Lincoln Park

Prosperity Social Club

Cleveland, Ohio

Brunch is a forgivable offense.

SFG Rating

8

Ohio City

ABC the Tavern

Cleveland, Ohio

Ohio City is great, dive bars are better.

SFG Rating

7

Detroit Shoreway

B and G Tavern

Cleveland, Ohio

Trust us, they’re open.

SFG Rating

6

Detroit Shoreway

Tina's Nite Club

Cleveland, Ohio

Cinder blocks never provided so much ambiance.

SFG Rating

8

Ohio City

Major Hooples

Cleveland, Ohio

Nothing like a good bridge to really appreciate a beer.

SFG Rating

7

Johnny's Little Bar

Cleveland, Ohio

Because alley beers are just better beers.

SFG Rating

7

Becky's

Cleveland, Ohio

Because illuminated liquor is mesmerizing.

SFG Rating

7

Detroit Shoreway

McNamara's Pub

Cleveland, Ohio

Pure. Neighborhood. Dive.

SFG Rating

7

Lincoln Park

Edison's Pub

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland summer drinking requires ivy.

SFG Rating

6

Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park Pub

Cleveland, Ohio

As organic to Cleveland as baseball.

We have not had the great pleasure of getting to every possible dive bar (life goals), so inevitably there are great bars that we simply haven't been able to get to yet. The list below includes noteworthy dive bars that by all accounts look amazing but do not have a review associated with them just yet.

Academy Tavern

12800 Larchmere Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44120

(216) 229-1171

Clark Bar

1201 Clark Ave, Cleveland, OH 44109

(216) 344-9999

Dover Gardens

27402 Detroit Rd, Westlake, OH 44145

(440) 471-7038

Funhouse

1539 W 117th St, Cleveland, OH 44107

(216) 221-9566

Gino's Cento Anno

1314 Denison Ave, Cleveland, OH 44109

(216) 351-9608

Judd's City Tavern

10323 Madison Ave, Cleveland, OH 44102

(216) 675-4316

Lounge Leo

2161 Murray Hill Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106

(216) 600-9733

Payne Café

3528 Payne Ave, Cleveland, OH 44114

(216) 431-2114

Porco Lounge

2527 W 25th St, Cleveland, OH 44113

(216) 802-9222

Sachsenheim Hall

7001 Denison Ave, Cleveland, OH 44102

(216) 651-0888

Other Divey Drinking Options

The bars listed here are the best of the rest, great local drinking options that may not quite be classified as must-visit dive bar destinations (in our rudimentary estimation). There is no doubt a hidden gem or five in the list below. Happy hunting.

Billy's Old Front Bar

36229 Lakeshore Blvd, Eastlake, OH 44095

(440) 942-0544

Corky's Place

13302 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107

(216) 521-3662

Croatian Tavern

3244 St Clair Ave NE, Cleveland, OH 44114

(216) 431-2114

Five O'Clock Lounge

11904 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107

(216) 521-4949

Flying Monkey

819 Jefferson Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113

(216) 861-6659

Greenville Inn

7150 Pine St, Chagrin Falls, OH 44022

(440) 600-2879

Inn Between

8684 Ridge Rd, North Royalton, OH 44133

(440) 237-6700

Jukebox

1404 W 29th St, Cleveland, OH 44113

(216) 206-7699

Kelley's Pub

13525 Lakewood Heights Blvd, Lakewood, OH 44107

(216) 521-1250

Lakewood Village Tavern

13437 Madison Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107

(216) 228-4004

Lincoln Inn

5409 State Rd, Cleveland, OH 44134

(216) 741-9492

Map Room

1281 W 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44113

(216) 621-7747

Mars Bar

15314 Madison Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107

(216) 221-9566

McCarthy's

1231 Main Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113

(216) 344-9099

Normandy Tavern

13999 Lorain Ave, Cleveland, OH 44111

(216) 941-9599

Old Brooklyn Social Club

2301 Broadview Rd, Cleveland, OH 44109

(216) 459-0012

Red Circle Bar & Lanes

6056 State Rd, Parma, OH 44134

(216) 741-9611

Rowley Inn

1104 Rowley Ave, Cleveland, OH 44109

(216) 795-5345

Seven Hills Tavern

7265 Broadview Rd, Seven Hills, OH 44131

(216) 524-1447

Smedley's

17004 Lorain Ave, Cleveland, OH 44111

(216) 476-3535

The Hawk

11217 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, OH 44102

(216) 521-8884

The Social Room

2261 Lee Rd, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

(216) 321-0313

Tucker's Casino

15532 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44112

(216) 451-7613

Union Club Tavern

2549 St Clair Ave NE, Cleveland, OH 44114

(216) 689-2000

Valley Tavern

5907 Canal Rd, Valley View, OH 44125

(216) 524-2134

VIP Inn

4107 Rocky River Dr, Cleveland, OH 44135

(216) 252-4753

VSP Lounge

3551 E 93rd St, Cleveland, OH 44105

(216) 441-3551

Winchester

12112 Madison Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107

(216) 226-5681

Contact Us

What did we miss? Where should we go? We'd love to hear your ideas, your favorite spots, your profound disappointments and anything in between.


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