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Well, the weekend's rolling around again, and thankfully this issue of Time Out New York has rounded up some of the city's finest dive bars. Gothamist loves dive bars, particulary those with good jukeboxes. TONY lists some of our divey faves, including International Bar, Holiday Cocktail Lounge, Siberia (although we liked the old one better), Bellevue Bar, and The Stoned Crow (which isn't really that divey, in our humble opinion), but seems to have forgotten an old standby -- the Mars Bar. We once had the pleasure of seeing a patron puke on the on the bar there only to be followed by the bartender cleaning it up with a mop. Now that's a dive.
What are your favorite dive bars?
Looking for some suggestions? Even though they're not all dives, Manhattan Transfer has a great list of 240 bars below 14th Street.
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Thank you for pointing out that Mars bar was sadly overlooked. I have a friend who witnessed a guy punch out a window there. Jesus, Mars Bar doesn't have a phone. How more divey can you get?
I briefly looked over the list and was shocked that Max Fish was included and Mars and Walter's Bar near MSG were not.
Sly Fox.
speaking of the Mars bar, I can remember stopping in for one more before the subway after a Saturday afternoon pub crawl and seeing a dog sitting on a stool at the bar.
And, yes, I guess he was having a...
Bronx: Piper's Kilt
Bklyn: Brazen Head
Manna-hatta: Kettle of Fish
McHale's at 8th and 46th in the theater district is a great dive bar with amazingly delicious enormous burgers. They also have excellent fish & chips on Fridays during Lent. I used to work a block from there and once a month or so we'd go to McHale's for lunch. Eating there might be the only thing I miss about working in midtown (I work downtown now). It also looks like a good dive-y place for a post-show drink or three.
I have to agree that the new Siberia kind of blows. I have fond memories of the old 1/9 location. Oh, the salad days. And by the way, what's up with the no cursing and no hitting on people rule? Maybe I'm old fashioned, but aren't those the two best things about bars?
Well this may be a manufactured dive but I have to go with Welcome to the Johnson's as being a fav. I live in Philly now but it's always been a mainstay for me even on my frequent trips back to your fair city.
I like the dive bars that let you smoke inside at like 2am--and I don't even smoke. It feels natural and liberating to be in a cigarette haze. Does anyone have a list of those bars?
O'Connor's in Brooklyn.
Is Jimmy's Corner on 44th St. just east of Times Square on there? That's one of my personal favorites... McHale's is good too, cheers, Phil.
I second that O'Connor's is awesome. Freddy's too. I love Brooklyn bars. All of them. My #1 favorite being Boat, although I wouldn't call it a dive.
Shhh! Don't tell people which bars let you smoke on here! It's a secret!
Botanica, Nancy's Whiskey Pub, and Sophie's are my favorite dives. Grassroots is always fun as well...
If you want a smoking bar just go to Circa Tabac- it is legal there- but it is far from being a dive.
You can't forget Rudy's on 9th between 44th and 45th. Cheap beer, smells terrible, pig statue on the outside, and you can't forget the cheap hot dogs.
The Ding Dong Lounge on 106 and Columbus! It used to be a candy store and record store, but they tore down the wall between the two and put in a bar. They have an old Ms. Pacman game, and drinks are cheap.
The Holiday Lounge, St Marks and 1st Avenue. The same dude has been running the place for decades. A NYC treasure...still got its 1965 cig machine
www.forgotten-ny.com
The Bellevue linked above is not the Bellevue there now. The soul of Bellevue left with ex-partner Jim Duff last October. It now resides in Williamsburg at Duff's Brooklyn where you will find everything that made Bellvue globally famous in the Heavy Metal World. Bartenders, Jukebox, Porn, Eye Candy, Dime Bag's last Bellvue Crown Royal bottle, Dancin'Dominick's videos and memorabilia, bona fide Bellevue Customers of old, the Big Guy himself, and The Hearse. You can find out how to get there at duffsbrooklyn.com . It's the real deal.
Most of y'all don't know what a dive is. Dive does not mean simply "not a yuppie bar."
It can't be a dive if it makes food (McHales). It can't be a dive if half of its population is under 25 and wears horn-rims and baseball shirts (Johnsons, Botanica). It can't be a dive if the Buds cost $5 (Walter's). Etc. etc.
Where's a place where they allow you to pee on the bar? That's how I feel after a few drinks and it's a hassle to find the bathroom sometimes.
1020 Reprazent!!!
i second jimmy's corner.
I personally believe Siberia has crossed over from "dive bar" to a "bar that sucks". Last time I was there, they had inexplicably replaced some of the edgier CD choices in the juke box with absolute shite... Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Toronto cast starring Donnie Osmond!)... original cast of Mamma Mia... Garth Brooks?! Maybe I'm just not cool enough to "get it". I ordered Maker's Mark up, and they served it to me in a tiny plastic shot glass. And, the drinks aren't even cheap. Unbelievable.