dive bar

Inside Austin’s Most Beloved Dive Bar
Largely unchanged since it first opened in 1972, Lala's Little Nugget, a Christmas-themed dive bar in Austin, remains one of the city's most popular bars.
- story: Deborah Stoll
- photo: Sandy Carson

One More Round for Rocky at the Palais Royale
What does the bar by which we judge all other bars look like today? In “Deep Dive,” we send writers back to their college haunts to find out what treasures…
- story: Kara Newman
- illustration: Yoonhwa Jang


The Upper Deck
One of the last surviving dive bars in the heart of King Street, the Upper Deck is a hidden, second-level bar that feels more like a college dude's apartment than…

The Royal American
The Royal American is a newer joint, so they haven’t quite earned their dive stripes, but the look of this place—which is located in an old metal smith shop on…

Tattooed Moose
In the former home of Kitty’s Fine Foods, a once loved meat-and-three on the Upper Peninsula, is “The Moose.” From the same folks of Voodoo Tiki Bar & Lounge, it’s…

Big John’s Tavern
Opened in 1954, Big John’s ranks as Charleston’s oldest dive bar. After a recent renovation by the gents behind swanky downtown drinking destination The Rarebit, Big John’s bones are still…

Madam’s Organ
A play on the name of the bar's neighborhood, Adams Morgan, Madam's Organ is a D.C. institution welcoming in misfits, musicians, punks and artists for over two decades. While the food and…


My Father’s Place
My Father's Place (MFP for short) is a bar wrapped in a diner wrapped in a 35-year (plus) patina of grease and grizzle. The diner counter—where pancakes and burgers are…