What’s not to love about a dive bar? The gritty charm, the people, the pool tables, and most importantly, the cheap drinks. Honestly, we’ll probably hit one up after we bang out this article.
If you’ve experienced this recent trend of “upscale dive" bars, you’ll know that the patina from these classic pictures is impossible to recreate. The word “upscale” really just gives them an excuse to charge $12 for a pint and $18 for a burger, and like those designer jeans that come pre-ripped and faded, authenticity like this can’t be fabricated!
The owners can look to these old dives for inspiration as much as they’d like, but it’d take decades to get the same dingy (yet somehow still comfortable) vibe as these 16 legitimately retro watering holes.
1
A Woman Walking To A Bar
The Bay Ridge Cocktail Lounge in Brooklyn - 1970s
2
The '70s Pool Shark
A Redditor's mom hustling pool at the local dive bar - 1978
3
The Slash X Ranch
What some called "The coolest bar in Barstow" - California, 1978
4
A Redditor's Grandfather in 1969
On the day women were legally allowed to sit at the bar.
5
Little people behind the bar on Halloween - Chicago IL, 1969
"The Midget Club" was a bar in Chicago from 1948 to 1982 owned by former “Wizard of Oz” munchkins Parnell St. Aubin and Mary Ellen Burbach.
6
A Western Dive in the 1940s.
7
A Pool Hall in Jefferson County, Kentucky - April 1972
8
Dirty D's Pub in Bishopsgate, London - 1969
This is before the locals say it was "sanitized."
9
American guys on their "European Tavern Tour" in 1983.
10
Sho Bar on Bourbon St. in New Orleans - 1960's
11
The Roy Bar in Valletta, Malta - 1967
The strip of bars called "The Gut" was once infamous among sailors for its dive bars.
12
The Dan Lynch Blues Bar in New York City - 1984
13
Dan's Corner Tavern at 5302 Brighton Blvd in Denver - 1970s
14
Trinkets Galore
Gus’ Antique Bar in Cold Spring, NY - 1964
15
A Redditor's parents and some friends enjoying a night out - November 1979
16
Acting Serious
Friends in a Wisconsin dive in the mid ‘80s.
