Top 5: Boston’s Best Dive Bars

Cheap drinks, rough crowds, no frills and terrible bathrooms — these are the essentials of the American dive bar. When it comes to simplicity and character, no other city has conquered the dive bar scene better than Boston.

The Lower Depths Tap Room – Kenmore

Down in the basement of what used to be the old Deli Haus on Commonwealth Avenue is a dark pub with walls that display an eerie mural: The Lower Depths. With 16 rotating drafts and more than 150 bottles, this Kenmore pub is a great place to stop before heading to the nearby Fenway Park. Just keep in mind this bar is cash only.

Old Sully’s – Charlestown

Relatively unknown to out-of-towners before Ben Affleck’s 2010 film, The Town, Old Sully’s has long been a Charlestown staple. This lunch-counter style watering hole has a front-row seat window view of the iconic Boston Sand and Gravel Company nearly across the street.

Paddy’s Lunch – Cambridge

Paddy’s Lunch is a dive bar legend, fittingly opening during the American Depression in 1934. It is easily confused as a city apartment, and it is about as small as one. Venture here if you want a simple workman’s elbow grease atmosphere.

Charlie’s Kitchen – Cambridge

On the other end of Cambridge is a famous Harvard Square meeting point: Charlie’s Kitchen. This multilevel, 1950s-diner-influenced stop is truly a social class melting pot full of students, professors, businessmen and working men alike. The regular live music is a welcomed bonus.

The Tam – Chinatown

In an area of the city once referred to in the 60s and 70s as the Combat Zone, this Boston landmark is the last bastion of the hard-knock, rough street life in what has become a sea of upscale nightclubs. On the outside: the famous giant twin Michelob and Budweiser signs hang. On the inside: a long bar counter, dusty TVs, darkness and beer. It has strong cheap drinks, a cash-only policy and no door to the restroom — all ingredients of the perfect dive.