An Ode to the Dive Bar

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You may come to a dive bar for the three-buck Bud, but you stay for the idiotic conversation. Just recently at the Tam, a charming Boston boozerie, I wasted a considerable amount of time exploring the following question: “Could Superman, if he wanted to, write a great novel? Is Superman actually more talented than Hemingway?” Hemingway – he of the “clean, well-lighted place” – would be shocked at how many taverns today are so conversation-unfriendly and so insistent on loud club music – even when the bar’s empty.

Places where a bowl of peanuts are amuse-bouche enough are getting harder to find. But when you arrive at a place like Friendly Lounge in Philadelphia or the Frolic Room in L.A. or even Sly’s Midtown Saloon in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, you’ll know you won’t be getting valet service, but you’ll also know you won’t be driving anywhere anyway.

PRAISING THE BAR

MCGLINCHEY’S BAR & GRILL
At this 1920-style Philadelphia saloon,
a big square bar pens in the barkeep.
McGlinchey’s is smoky and dark and makes quality sandwiches for starving artists and dive aficionados alike.
259 South 15th Street, Philadelphia PA
215-735-1259 

TOOTSIES ORCHID LOUNGE
This small Nashville honky-tonk has been graced by innumerable big acts before
they made it – Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, among others – as well as by frequent
singalongs.
422 Broadway Nashville, TN, 615-726-0463, tootsies.net

Write to us: letters@enroutemag.net

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