The best thing a dive bar can be is a refuge from pretention, gentrification, image and maybe overly complex craft cocktails. All of those attributes and more can be found in Miami, a city that benefits greatly from the dive bars that balance out some of the ostentatious consumption that can be found within the city.

Look no further than Miami’s unquestioned dive bar king, Mac’s Clube Deuce, a dive bar that has somehow managed to resist its South Beach location and remain true to its 1926 roots. Anthony Bourdain of all people once called Mac’s Club Deuce one of his favorite places on Earth, high praise for a space two blocks off of Ocean Drive.

Happy’s Stork Lounge & Liquor Store provides another dose of old-school Miami, a dive bar on a series of island dredged from the bottom of Biscayne Bay. Dean Martin once owned a club nearby and Frank Sinatra once played next door, giving Happy’s Stork Lounge all the credibility it needs before accounting for the fact that it is open for drinks and to-go purchase until 5 AM.

And what would a trip to a Florida hub be without a nautically-themed dive bar, in this case Seven Seas (sometimes written Se7en Seas because why not). The vibe here is like drinking (and singing karaoke) in the hull of a pirate ship and it’s hard to overstate just how perfect that is for a Miami dive bar.

No city is ever one thing and Miami is not defined by its high image, high profile districts, people and bars alone. The city’s dive bars provide a source of balance to entertainment options in Miami, many of them with roots that stretch back into the city’s fascinating past.