Cincinnati is a confluence of forces in a number of way, inclusive of the Ohio River of course but also in the cultural combinations that create interesting dive bars throughout the city. At the juncture of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, influences can be found from any number of sources, including geography that is anything but flat. City View Tavern and other dive bars in Mount Adams and elsewhere benefit from some of that variation.

Xavier institution Dana Gardens adds another dimension to the dive bar mix, adding a classic college dive bar to a host of other options. Nearby Pilot Inn looks and feels like it has been serving lunch since the city was founded and neighbor Edge Inn Tavern looks like it could have been about the first building constructed (ok, not quite that old).

Dive drinking options encircle the city of course, but downtown Cincinnati hides one gem in plain sight, the aptly named O'Malley's in the Alley that sits, you guessed it, down a quiet alley. Options expand to all reaches of Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky, in particular, just across the river, making for a varied dive bar scavenger hunt across hills, flatland and three different states.