Dallas Dive Bar Guide

Diverse Neighborhoods, Unique Dive Bars

Dive bar diversity comes with the type of urban diversity that serves as one of Dallas’ signature features. The city’s neighborhoods shift from reclaimed urban cores to forgotten stretches of highway-adjacent to semi-suburban neighborhoods, all offering their own flavor of dive bar offering. Where Fireplace Lounge looks a bit like an abandoned building on the side of the road, The Grapevine Bar serves as the classic neighborhood dive bar hub. Where Reno’s Chop Shop Saloon persists as a biker dive bar in a quickly evolving Deep Ellum district, The Goat sits in a strip mall quietly cranking out great blues.

Dallas is, of course, no small city. And some of the dive bars presented here sit a fair distance away from each other, but with that distance comes unique, hyper-localized flavor. Because Dallas continues to grow, at times that growth means a dive bar gets renovated or a new concept is introduced. Normally, a revamped dive bar is a death sentence, but Ships Lounge has persisted since 1947 despite strip mall renovations and Mike’s Gemini Twin is only a handful of years old but might be the best cocktail dive bar in the city.

Though the Dallas sprawl is real, the result is a compelling and diverse set of dive bars that makes for good touring of the city. That one of those dive bars features a patio that resembles a prison but still makes for a fun drinking locale in the shadow of an old drive-in diner shelter (Charlie’s Star Lounge) only underscores the strength of Dallas’ dive bar inventory.

Dive Bar Map

Dallas Dive Bar Reviews

Ranked Order

Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Adair's Saloon

Review Rating: 10 out of 10
Few dive bars can rival Adair's Saloon, where decades of graffiti cake the walls and a single egg is on the menu.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Fireplace Lounge

Review Rating: 10 out of 10
Yes, this white, rectangle shoebox of a dive bar just off the highway does indeed boast a fireplace inside.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Lakewood Landing

Review Rating: 9 out of 10
Picture a steakhouse circa 1960, age it up a few decades and remove the steak. In an awesome way.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Lee Harvey's

Review Rating: 9 out of 10
The front yard is great, but inside may be better where Lee Harvey's doubles as a vintage beer sign museum.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Reno's Chop Shop Saloon

Review Rating: 9 out of 10
Black paint, bras hanging from the ceiling, dollar bills everywhere and live music to keep Deep Ellum cool.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Charlie's Star Lounge

Review Rating: 8 out of 10
A front patio in the style of a prison perfectly complements the drive-in food shelter in the parking lot.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Grapevine Bar

Review Rating: 8 out of 10
Years of organic growth at this neighborhood dive manifests in purple drapes and Everclear slushees.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Mike's Gemini Twin

Review Rating: 8 out of 10
Dive bar or not, keep an eye out for the stripper pole and perhaps the best cocktail dive in Dallas.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Ships Lounge

Review Rating: 7 out of 10
The years have not been kind to the strip mall that hosts Ships, but inside the classic vibe is alive.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Wits End

Review Rating: 7 out of 10
To get to the rooftop bar, walk past the sawed-in-half food truck bursting from a brick wall.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

The Goat

Review Rating: 7 out of 10
Dim lighting and live blues go together perfectly in this east Dallas staple.
Johnnie's Glenn Avenue Grill - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Single Wide

Review Rating: 5 out of 10
A little too intentional to be a true dive bar, don't let that ruin a good Yoo-Hoo cocktail opportunity.

Dallas Bar Crawls

Bier Stube - Columbus Dive Bar Exterior

Deep Ellum

Dodging trendy nightclubs in favor of divey, stalwart gems.

Dallas Dive Bars Not Yet Reviewed

Must Visit Recommendations

Unfortunately, we have not yet been to every single dive bar in the city, but there probably a few more punch cards on our livers, so we’ll make it there soon. In the meantime, the curated list of dives below comes highly recommended by a variety of friends, online sources and drunks.

Bluffview

Inwood Tavern

7717 Inwood Rd
Dallas, TX 75209
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Deep Ellum

Double Wide

3510 Commerce St
Dallas, TX 75226
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North Dallas

King's X

9191 Forest Ln # 1
Dallas, TX 75243
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Other Dive Bar Options

Barbara's Pavilion

325 Centre St
Dallas, TX 75208
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Chesterfield's

1475 W Mockingbird Ln
Dallas, TX 75247
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Cock and Bull

6330 Gaston Ave
Dallas, TX 75214
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Cosmo's

1212 Skillman St
Dallas, TX 75206
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Cowboy Saloon

10241 N Walton Walker Blvd
Dallas, TX 75220
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Dallasite Billiards

4822 Bryan St
Dallas, TX 75204
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Drink's Bar

13440 T I Blvd #2
Dallas, TX 75243
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Dubliner

2818 Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75206
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Eight Bells Alehouse

831 Exposition Ave
Dallas, TX 75226
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Logie's On Belltine

5290 Belt Line Rd
Dallas, TX 75254
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Milo Butterfingers

5645 SMU Boulevard
Dallas, TX 75206
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Oak Cliff Social

238 W Davis St
Dallas, TX 75208
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OE Penguin

1404 Main St.
Dallas, TX 75202
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Old Crow

1911 Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75206
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One Nostalgia Place

6521 Abrams Rd
Dallas, TX 75231
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Stan's Blue Note

2908 Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75206
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The Forum Pub

300 N Coit Rd Suite 260
Richardson, TX 75080
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The Peak Inn

132 N Peak St
Dallas, TX 75226
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Time Out Tavern

5101 W Lovers Ln
Dallas, TX 75209
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Wits End

2724 Elm St
Dallas, TX 75226
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