Hartford Dive Bar Guide

East Coast Mix of Friendly Dives

If there was ever an East Coast town perfect for a neighborhood dive bar, it might be Hartford with its potent city core but relaxed atmosphere when compared to some of its more populous East Coast neighbors. The city’s dive bar options each cater to unique communities, many of them serving the same types of unassuming regulars for decades.

One great example of a community-focused, durable Hartford dive bar is The Spigot Café, opened in 1963 as part of a pizza shop operated by David Taylor who also happened to work a full-time job in between shifts. Today, the bright red building is a dive bar icon within the city, recent renovations adding a bit of polish to the interior spaces while preserving the signature red exterior color and daring to add credit cards as a payment options.

Downtown Hartford has its own bit of divey drinking in the form of Pigs Eye Pub, owner of easily the best dive bar tagline in the city, “Oinkin and boinkin since 1997.” The spacious dive bar sits on the second floor of a downtown building and includes decorations including a few installations built out of items left behind by drinkers, including strung-up hats dangling from the ceiling.

These options and others provide a way to explore some of the nooks and crannies of Hartford, the kind of East Coast city that makes casually discovering each option an enjoyable (divey) experience.

Dive Bar Map

Hartford 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.

Downtown

Pigs Eye Pub

356 Asylum St
Hartford, CT 6103
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West End

Spigot Café

468 Prospect Ave
Hartford, CT 6105
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Other Dive Bar Options

Baker's Café

85 New Britain Ave
Hartford, CT 6106
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Cherry Street Station

491 N Cherry St Ext
Wallingford, CT 6492
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Digger McDuff's Tavern

195 Shunpike Rd
Cromwell, CT 6416
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Grady Tavern

622 Middle Turnpike E
Manchester, CT 6040
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Michael's Penalty Box

11 Daly Rd
Coventry, CT 6238
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Shamrock Café

1117 East Street S
Suffield, CT 6078
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Speak Easy Café

1089 Highland Ave
Waterbury, CT 6708
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State Line Station

4 College Hwy
Southwick, MA 1077
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Sullivan's Café

22 Church St
Naugatuck, CT 6770
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