Just where the hell is the Big Bamboo?

Stan's Blue Note, lower Greenville Ave, Dallas (new window)

The original Stan's back in the late 80s was maybe 30 feet wide, and went back forever into a crummy old courtyard. The bathrooms reeked, and never really worked right, but nobody cared.

The interior booths were old school bus seats, and the floor was covered with "carpet" that was primarily beer and ciggie ashes.

To this day the original chandeliers hanging over the bar, loaded with bras and panties.

On Sundays they used to do Bingo, and give away prizes like cow organs, farm implements, plastic inflatable Flintstone swimming pools, and other cheezy crap. Bingo was opened with the ceremonial throwing out of the first biatch, which involved several bouncers picking some girl at random, and dragging her outside, while Ethel Merman belted out "God Bless America" on the jukebox.

Of course, when the called out O-69, the place went crazy.

Good times......

They've cleaned up quite a bit over the decades, and now have a full food service along with the beer.

What's the world coming to??

Back in the day, "Shanghaiing" was a regular practice in Portland. Able bodied men who would pass out drunk at the bar (or be drugged by bribed bartenders) would be kidnapped and carried through the tunnel to the river and taken out to sea. They would wake up in the morning as a slave worker on a ship bound for the Orient.

Wow... awesome prank.

Well, I've been to the one in the only city that counts, Chicago.

....

I don't think the author knows what a "dive bar" is. Those bars look downright upper-class compared to some bars I've been to.

The Flora Bama Lounge (pops) is pretty awesome. I haven't been there since the hurricane tho.

flucto: Just where the hell is the Big Bamboo?

It's in Orlando near Disneyworld. It's where the employees hang out after work.

When I was in college I used to enjoy hanging out here:



The bar is called the Casino and you can barely see "Lousy Service" at the bottom of the sign. This was true more often than not, especially on the weekends. But they had a beer selection that was second to none. It's been years since I've been in the area, but I highly recommend it to any beer snobs in La Crosse if its still around.

It's in the Yukon, Canada, but ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Pit (new window).

Built 1898.

Last redecorated circa 1964.

Last cleaned God only knows.

The Town House, Venice, CA. Some of the piss on the floor is from the Prohibition era when it was a speakeasy. But I haven't been there in a while, so I don't know if it's still the same shiathole with the owner's bastard son living in the basement with the nine cats or not.

optikeye: It's in Orlando near Disneyworld. It's where the employees hang out after work.

Um, yeah - I meant "where is it on the list?" it's the best dive bar I know.

markie_farkie:

Stan's Blue Note, lower Greenville Ave, Dallas

Do they still serve their beer in mason jars?

As far as hole-in-wall bars go, I prefer Adair's in Deep Ellum, and The Double Wide.

I don't make it to the dives too often anymore though.

I wrote that without RTFA. I didn't realize that Adair's was the second one on the list.

Funny.

Bildo: Do they still serve their beer in mason jars?

I think so.. Haven't been there in several years.. I think this calls for further investigation....

The Divebar should not have even been mentioned for Vegas. Everyone knows The Double Down (new window)is the real king of bars!

Unright: I don't think the author knows what a "dive bar" is. Those bars look downright upper-class compared to some bars I've been to.

Pretty much what I cam in to say. If you want to see a real dive bar, check outside the gates of any military base.

Nasty City, California bars FTW.
//North Chicago is tame by comparison.

If a bar has its own website, it's not a true dive.

I personally like The Zephyr here in Kent, although it's kind of borderline dive-bar / club. If anyone ever wants to go check out that town where some students got shot, I'd recommend it.

First on the list is my favorite dive bar. Two blocks from my place in Seattle. Love it.

Proletariat is muerto but I liked the shoutout to Catbirds. I'm about to head there (in 36 minutes!) to my drink on. Cheers!

Ron Paul Revere: What part of Alaska are you from?

Kiana. It's about 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle

Bildo: markie_farkie:

Stan's Blue Note, lower Greenville Ave, Dallas

Do they still serve their beer in mason jars?

As far as hole-in-wall bars go, I prefer Adair's in Deep Ellum, and The Double Wide.

I don't make it to the dives too often anymore though.

Yes Adair's and The Double-Wide are great dives but neither can hold a candle to Ships.

Best dive in East Dallas, cool juke box but be sure and bring cash no credit cards here. Oh yea remember not to cuss or they will kick you out.

Want to find a real dive bar?

Walk along any railroad track till you come to a place with boarded windows with a message about no fighting allowed. If anyone is there during the day... it's not a dive bar.

Of course that's not the kind of place you drink in unless you like trouble.

Baltimore, MD.. or nearby:

The Bird River Inn, on Bird River Road.

Cash only... HUGE burgers for $3... Shuffleboard. Many patrons arrive on horseback or bicycles. The best.

Oh.. I forgot the slogan. "Where cold beer and Nascar fans meet!"

Oh yeah.

optikeye: The Flora Bama Lounge (pops) is pretty awesome. I haven't been there since the hurricane tho.

Never went there, but my cousin and my sister went there and loved the place. Did it get rebuilt after the storm? I've been to the Proletariat and Ginny's Little Longhorn, though I never saw their wimpy excuse for a chicken drop (the chicken's in a cage? WTF?). I'm stunned that New Orleans isn't represented -- you could make a Top 10 list just from that one town, no problem.

The 5-Point is a true dive. Started going there in the early 80's and it never really changed much since then. It used to be so smoky that if you complained about it they'd turn the fan on and point it right at yer table, which wasn't very helpful. The meatloaf, the Chicken fried steak, the prime rib and any breakfast on the menu is going to be worth it. They used to have a giant king Crab on the wall on the bar side, it slowly got whittled down by people picking at it, it was there for years untill all it was was the carapace. There are security monitors facing the bar, so the bartenders can watch the junkies off themselves in the laundry place next door.

Do NOT fark with the bartenders, especially the shortish dark-haired one. She WILL hurdle the bar from a standing start and kick your ass as hard as you can possibly imagine. Seen her frogmarch men twice her size out the door.

Seen a lot of post-closing fights spill out onto the square there. Good times. It's one of my favorite places.

I have to agree with the Goat Hill. There is another one around the corner or up the street, I was too drunk to remember where when I went there. It is a beautiful irony that one of the lands great dive bar is in Republican O.C. across from Nike town.

The article author is a jackass.

Also: I bet there are bars in places other than the big metros.

Funky Winkerbeans in Vancouver,BC
The Bird, Surrey,BC
Cap Hansen's Bellingham,WA



the latter I actually went to a few times when I was down there, Funky Winkerbeans not so much, The bird only ever once

I still miss the Howard Street Tavern that used to be in Omaha, and hasn't been around for some time now.

It was a long, narrow bar with a few booths & tables with cheap ass chairs and no real decorations. They had live music, beer, and shots.

It was a bit of a dump but dammit, that was MY dump!

Ron Paul Revere: What part of Alaska are you from? My girlfriend's from Ketchikan, and there right now as a matter of fact.

You'll find a lot of the rest of Alaska doesn't consider we poor souls in Southeast Alaska to REALLLY be Alaska.

And where the hell is the Cheshire Lounge on this list? It's where old strippers go to die.

Hey. If you guys want to go to some dives, there are some on the south side of Chicago that I could take you to.

+10 for the 5 point!

drewbidy: Cap Hansen's Bellingham,WA


The Horseshoe cafe is pretty gnarly. Mostly the younger crowd but that place hasn't been redecorated since I was a little kid. They even have the same paintings on the walls. That whole area next to Railroad Ave in Bellingham used to be nothing but crappy taverns and hock shops. the town grew up on fishing, logging and coal mining, so there is a lot of real wild west type history there. Freind of mine back in the 70's, his folks used to own a place called "The Flame" which was the knife fight capital of the town.

Subby neglects to mention that 99.9% of all bars are dive bars. Here's my favorite in Sacto, though:

Guess this guy has never been to Dutch.
The Elbow Room (at least pre-90's)wins hands down.

The old Village Idiot in NY's East Village in the 80's and early 90's.

/who said I can't reminisce?

The Tam in Boston. 2.75 for a 16oz brubaker, no doors on anything in the bathroom and right in the heart of the city's nightlife. Good times.

The Dirty Duke ....it has it's own facebook page where they mis-spell dirty,,,


last time I was there it was somewhat surreal..that night a large percentage of the people either had a broken hand in a cast or they had a black eye.The were equal men and women, wonder if the two were related.


Also the Four Aces,Jimmy Wongs, The TastyChicken, the Kick and Stab . The Hole in the Wall , ( Scaberia), The Denison. various booze cans that i don't wish to remember....

I need a beer!

They chose Gravity Pub over the Star Bar for Atlanta?

EPIC FAIL.

Punter's Pub, Boston, Mass.

Surrounded by Northeastern University and paradoxically located across the street from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, Punter's is anything but a typical "college" bar. Pitchers of BL go for $6, old pinball machine, dartboard, poll table and a hole in the wall that leads into the pizza joint next door for a late night slice.

No frills, floors, tables, stools and bar layered with decades' worth of lacquer, and a bartender/owner who's been there since before Jim Calhoun coached Reggie Lewis atnoocbr>It embodies why "dive bars" are so great.

Sam in SF is a dive bar? STFU, filled with nothing but drunk frat boys from North Beach.

Try Esta Noche, just your typical down home Mexican Working Class Tranny Bar.

Anyone mention Dixie Chicken in College Station TX?

My favorite dive bar from home, behold: The Belmar

I guess when he says "dive bar" he actually means "places with a 'dive bar' theme". I get the feeling that he would have written a different article if he would have went to some REAL dives.

/Maybe about how he got his Newport Beach, CA arse kicked.
//Written from a hospital bed?

You must be freaking kidding me, no:



I defy you to find another dive in the country with its own painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

My local hole in the wall did not make the list.

/relieved

Real dive bars don't have big signs.

Ye Olde Watering Hole in Northampton, MA... home to a "Beer Can Museum." I lived over it the summer I turned 21 and took advantage of the pitchers to go at last call.

"Is there a farking waste of life named Murray here?"


/obscure?