I went to Andy's in Westport for an afternoon of frivolity 30 years ago that went unmatched for the rest of my drinking days. I wasn't driving. Andy's was upstairs over another business I think. Andy used to be a New Bedford or Fall River city councilor. He was a character.

Where is the biggest dive/joint/s*%&hole that any of you have ever been in?

The Mallard Club in the "Lithuanian Village" in Brockton many, many moons ago.
$0.10 draft beers and shooting pool. :cheers::yak::spin:

Triple O's in Southie.

15 years ago, the Anchor Inn in Whitter, Alaska. A little hole in the wall in a town you could only get to by boat or train at the time. The bartender, Beverly had a jar on the bar marked "Donations for Beverly's new t$$s". I spent a week there one night :).

The Mallard Club in the "Lithuanian Village" in Brockton many, many moons ago.
$0.10 draft beers and shooting pool. :cheers::yak::spin:

If that's the place I think it is, I'll second it. I used to take some classes at Massasoit CC when I was trying to decide what I wanted to be when I growed up. I'd go in between classes with a buddy and we'd order 2 beers each and throw down a buck for each round. Sometimes we never made it to our afternoon classes.

Another place I'd stumble into on occasion was Joe and Jim's in Holbrook. I don't know the real name of the place, but everyone knew it as that. I could go there when I was 19 because they didn't do much of a job checking ID's.

let's see grew up in Lynn, shot darts for 11 years and spent 7 years in the Navy....where do I begin.

In Lynn there was a place called the Crystal Grill in Central Square that had a kitchen counter for a bar and would serve anyone.

There was the 'Lit" club (lithuanian) 85 cent beers and they would serve anyone.

There was Conti's across from the Merit Station in downtown, owner was a neighbor and used to serve us til probably 4 in the morning.....cops used to come in afterhours to drink.

There was my old Dart Hangout the Venice on the train tracks in West Lynn....you literally had to be legally pronounced Dead before they stopped serving you.

Hogans II on Franklin street across from another fine establishment..... Bennies. A good friend of mine tended bar there and that was a great last call because he would definitely pour some heavy handed drinks.

Honorable mention...."The Buke" (Buchanan), Tony's, Frank's, and The Office (right Across from the Police Station).

if you ever want a challenge try to do the "107" run...have a pop at every bar on rt. 107 from Salem to Saugus.....probably 20 bars easily...and all dives.

When my ship was up in Portland we used to hang at a place called "Ralph's" they used to let you buy a keg from them and keep it on 1 of their taps....some epic nights there.

Puerto Rico there was Papa Joe's, 4 pool tables and a strip stage that was about the size of a kitchen table. There was another place in San Juan that I can't remember the name of.......I remember 1 one of our gunner's mates got shot there one time while we were there.

South Carolina was The bar at the Best Western....used to get the barmaid to shoot pool with uis and while she was shooting we would refill our pitchers at the tap......i often wondered if she thought we were light weights because we'd be wrecked after 2 pitchers of beer :hihi:

and how could I forget "Jakes" in Newburyport.....they actually had a mural on the wall of various disney characters in different sexual situations....I don't even want to try and explain what Snow White was doing. The Bartender would always pour "One for you and One for Me". We went there one night to shoot a match and one of the regulars there got killed in front of the place while we were going in. We asked them if they wanted to reschedule and they said "Nah, let's just play" :shocked:

The Mallard Club in the "Lithuanian Village" in Brockton many, many moons ago.
$0.10 draft beers and shooting pool. :cheers::yak::spin:

holy crap Bigbo, maybe I seen you there in the late eighties:cheers::laugha: that was a DIVE

anyone remember the Mad Hatter/ the Channel from way back? that was a huge dive

The Channel, hell yeah....dinking by the trash cans while Farenheit played....they must have played there a dozen times a year

Fairhaven VFW Bar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rotf2:

I can't wait to go back!

....all the Quincy bars I use to frequent..great dives back in the day..
Darcy's, Hat Rack, Brannigans, Golden Bowl, Roullards, Delanys, Sullys, Tully's, the Beachcomber,...
Honorable mention for a road trip were Fathers in Allston(man that place was cheap), PizzaPub in Brockton( $1 drafts and pizzas)....and the best dive for cheap beer (Pickwick Ale) and great music was THE RAT.

the Channel from way back? that was a huge dive

I lived there :spin:

before it was called the channel, it was the mad hatter. Wed. night's were drink and drown night = 5 bucks to enter and 25 cents for a 24 ounce beer:cheers2:many nights catching the last T home to Northeastern:sleeps:

Where is the biggest dive/joint/s*%&hole that any of you have ever been in?

The Middle East,,, :rumble: With Nigeria running a VERY close second....

before it was called the channel, it was the mad hatter. Wed. night's were drink and drown night = 5 bucks to enter and 25 cents for a 24 ounce beer:cheers2:many nights catching the last T home to Northeastern:sleeps:

I used to work near Fort Point 79-81....never went when it was the Mad Hatter...we use to do all those 5 buck enter things other places though.....:yak6:

The Red Lion

holy crap Bigbo, maybe I seen you there in the late eighties:cheers::laugha: that was a DIVE

Nah! I was done with that scene by then. I'm talking in the '70's
I got my azz kicked real good there once!:err: Broke a couple of bones in the fight. Went back on crutches a few days later and had my revenge on one of the perps with that crutch.:huh::tooth:
Never saw him there again.:bshake:

Ohh the Red Lion. Forgot all about that place. :hidin:

And Muldoons in W. Bridgewater.

Aquarius in Quincy.....mid 1980's.:gu: No cover....buck drafts all night! :gu::gu::gu::gu::gu::gu:Crap faced on a 10 spot and all the fights you could handle! Night like that today would cost you $20 easy!:rotflmao:

Close second.....Chet's in Weymouth! Biker bar.....I remember you had to turn sideways to get in the mens room to take a leak!:jester:

Oh! Honorable Mention for the Ranch House in Marshfield! Bounced there for a few years after I separated! $40.00 bucks a night, free drinks after shift and lots and lots of exercise! I hate MOSH Pits!!:rumble:

The Tender Trap on Long Island has to be it for me. Bunch of us high school seniors decided to go there one night to see some "exotic" dancing. The entire inside of the place looked like someone's basement painted all black, smelled like the men's room in Penn Station, I think the bathroom was out back. For .50 you got about 6 oz of warm Schmidtz in a jelly jar glass that no doubt had never been washed. I guess one of the stripers was off duty and decided to borrow some money from a patron while his head was turned. All of a sudden we hear, "I hate f'ing bar theives," and turn to see this guy clock the chick. She goes down on the floor in heap, out cold, no one did a thing, she just lay there slumped on the floor he went back to his perch at the bar. We left that place like the Delta brothers leaving the Dexter Lake Club.

T-San's on the outskirts of Fall River. It was owned by Professor Turo Tanaka, the pro wrestler. Also the clubhouse of the Sidewinders MC, a local biker gang. When I worked for Stop and Shop, the Asst. Produce Manager was the road captain for the Sidewinders, and he'd take us there after union meetings at the old Durfee HS.

The Port O'Call in Buzzards Bay is another biker dive. But I haven't been in there in years.

Any Portuguese club in Fall River that sells steak and eggs off of a Menu board in Portuguese.

T-San's on the outskirts of Fall River. It was owned by Professor Turo Tanaka, the pro wrestler. Also the clubhouse of the Sidewinders MC, a local biker gang. When I worked for Stop and Shop, the Asst. Produce Manager was the road captain for the Sidewinders, and he'd take us there after union meetings at the old Durfee HS.

The Port O'Call in Buzzards Bay is another biker dive. But I haven't been in there in years.

I was never a member, but a lot of the Sidewinders frequented the same bars I did, so I used to hang with them a lot.

Reading about the biker bars made me think of the Lincoln in Brockton. That was a place we used to go to every so often for "warm ups". It's probably the only place where I ever really feared that I might get my a$$ beat. Bunch of mean guys who didn't like anyone they didn't know. I once saw guy asked not so nicely to leave because he "didn't belong there".

I don't go to bars often but the Old Colony in P-town. We have a long history.

Ahhh, the lure of Dive Bars, augmented by years of throwing Darts..

Well, home above all homes would be the good ole Father's Too (now called PJ Kilroys - I was there for the, uhh, transition) on Beacon just outside of Kenmore.

Not only did I (1) imbibe there frequently, I (2) shot B then A league darts (Team Too Drunk), I also (3) worked the door there for a few years. Almost quitting when Glen Foley was buying drinks for his O'Line after beating N.D. (best way for a BC Athlete to get hammered and not get caught? Go to a BU bar). I had a good bit to do with a lot of the dart plaques up on the wall. Most of my roommates worked and/or shot darts there. Of course after closing for the night, a stop at Riley's Roast Beef for a Suicide Sandwich was in order.

Any place that would have Mr Butch call it home was a dive bar. Anyone remember Mr Butch? If you did Kenmore in the 90s, you knew Mr Butch.

Home, home town: Old Mill Cafe, East Dedham

Honorable mentions frequented:

Gerlandos - Brighton, worked there too. (new location, shot darts at old brick location)

Wallabys in Newton, not a dive bar per se but a home for Mushes - Any Moushes here? :rotf3:
Smaxies II


Additional Dive bars, dart related:

What TDF said about Lynn. We would hit some of those when playing City finals (we were often in city finals).

Allston/Brighton:
Silhouette
Murphys Place
Fathers First
Great Scotts (upscale for us)
Hapers Ferry - awesome blues club

Linwood in Fenway

Brookline:
Scary Anne's

Cambridge:
Bow & Arrow
C.P.S.
Joey Macs ( or was that Somerville?)

Somerville
Rosebud - eh Patrick?
Virgies

Everett
Chalet Club
Parkway Pub

Dot:
Upstairs Downstairs
Centre Village (home of the Irish Flyers)

Southie:
Peter - I'll echo Triple O's in Southy and raise you Quiet Man's Pub
Worst dive bar I can't remember the name

Malden
Honey Fitz

Holbrook
Matt's Villa

Quincy:
Dee Dees
Cagneys
Washington Tap

Hottie Patrols:
Daisey Bukes
Beacon Hill Pub
Crossroads
Back Bay Pub
Maxwell Jumps

Remember the old fantasies in Prov...Dive for sure.

AHHH The memories I think...
The Lit and the Mallard in Brockton
Any problem in the Lit the old bar tender just put his gun on the bar..Seemed to calm every down..I remember the .10 cent drafts
Muldoons
Hosea's
Casa Loma//East Bridgewater
And a very honorable mention//Uncle Miltys in Whitman,Along with Julians and White,s:buds:

Mr. C's in Lowell on Thursday nights, it was quarter night I went almost every Thursday 11th and 12th grade.

Remember the old fantasies in Prov...Dive for sure.

what about the Peppermint Lounge :eek:

Aww phuk....twelve years sober and I still can't remember names of joints. Don't want to name any for fear of leaving out ten or twenty.....

Dee Dees is gone....renovating it into a chinese retaurant! Matts Villa been torn down for years...a CVS sits there now!

We never called Upstairs/Downstairs...Upstairs/Downstairs......I am trying to remember what everyone called it.....it had to do with a horse name or something! The sign said Upstairs/Downstairs....but it was referred to as something else...Matt might know!:hs:

Something Pony???Its driving me crazy!!!

I can't believe nobody mentioned The Golden Banana???!!!:eyes::cheers2:

Upstairs/Downstairs was refferred to as "The Pony Room"!!!! Thanks Gawd I can sleep now!:sleeps:

I can't believe nobody mentioned The Golden Banana???!!!:eyes::cheers2:

Heard Rumors its Re-Opening.....:humpty:

dirty franks in Philly.:rolleyes:

Not rumors...its been open for a couple months now!:eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:

Wasn't the Sandara next to the Mallard? It hurts to remember.

Boston Travers pub -mission hill
Cape Cod Weigh station/ port o call buzzards bay

Recess Pub in Providence. We used to start there to get a nice buzz and then go somewhere better, 80 cent 10 oz drafts. Not sure if it is still there, I have not been to the bars in Providence in about 10 years.

PUNTERS PUB anyone ever in there? Man that was a great dive in my college days

Billy's Cafe in Fall River was a favorite when I lived there. I used to live a few doors up from a place in Bristol that was on the corner of State and Thames. Forget the name but I spent a lot of time there.:cheers2:

Spent most of my college years @ the Common Pub in Bristol, RI. Me and that place got along just fine.

Spent alot of time at Andy's. Then there was the Knickibocker cafe in Newport with the black and white tile floor. Casa Victoria in Fall River was one very portagee hole in the wall with $.35 drafts and pickled eggs and lambs tougnes. Spent a few years at Jakes in Fall River playing darts for thier team. Then there was Alhambra's in Westport, not really a dive, but it did have it's moments. Thursday night was race the clock night with drinks and beer starting at $.25 from 8-9 and the price went up a quarter every hour. talk about getting trashed.

Talk about timing, I was reading the NY Post today and it had top 10 dive bars in NYC. One stood out that I've been know to frequent, it's close to where I used to live in NYC, the Subway Inn. That place has the cleanest bathroom in any bar I've ever been in. Subway Inn also make Playboy's list of top 10 dive bars in the US. That should tell you something right there.

Ice

I frequented the Quarterdeck in hyannis for years, now the allure is gone...... Other than that, The Port o Call, The Raven (now Shooters), The old Sou Wester in Chatham. But nothing like the Whaleback in front of Knowltons junkyard in sagamore or kevins in Y-Town.

Whaleback, yup a dive for sure. That strip Bar in Dartmouth or what ever town it is in is is no Taj Mahal either. Probably the most disgusting bathroom I have ever peed in. Shag carpeting in a bathroom, squish, squish.

Some of these have already been mentioned, but brings back some old memories.

Boston: The Channel, The Rat, The Fathers Pubs, Mary Anns, The Becon Hill Pub
Late night munching @ Rileys or Buzzy's Roast Beef

Cambridge: The Boathouse, Bow and Arrow, Hong Kong-Scorpian Bowls

Cape: Joes Twin Villa in Oysterville. The Mill Hill Club

Amherst: The Drake - downstairs

The Wooden Shoe in South Yarmouth - gotta love a place where you park in the church parking lot and walk across the street to drink cheap draft beers :hihi:

:cheers2:

The Way station on the capeside Bourne rotary. Canal Cafe ?? (near the old Bridge Cafe) - we used to call it Yolandas or Yo Yo's.