Roundup Saloon
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De Mazzeltof
This is a bar you only pay a visit in case everything else is closed, and your beer muscle is calling steadily.
Just let us tell you about a night Pete and Fabio were on a mission (again). We tried to convince this bar girl of this standard no-fun-at all-Irish-bar O'Donnel's around the corner to keep her bar open (and taught her how to serve an "amsterdammertje") but she turned out to be a party-pooper. Fortunally, her colleague (let's call him Dwight) showed more balls and escorted us to the place where you don't want to be found dead: de Mazzeltof. Read more »
The Elbo Room
Let me say this about that.
A year or so ago, I wrote a series of blogs extolling the virtues of one of my favorite subjects - ‘Sleazy Bars’. Hanging out in a sleazy bar is like hands-on research for all the evils you hear about when you go to church. In fact, it is rumored that Moses did not receive the 10 Commandments from God during a little mountain-climbing expedition to Mount Sinai, but assembled these moral imperatives from notes taken while slamming tequila shots in a sleazy bar. Read more »
De Nachtzuster
The last time I visited this place it turned out that the name was changed to the owner's name but I forgot his name ;-)
Not really important cause it's still the same old dark, smokey shithole you're looking for after hours.
The atmosphere really depends on what night you come in, could be lost drunk students, or coke sniffing criminals having a party. Read more »
De Doofpot
Since ages the closing times of bars in amsterdam are a complete disaster.
This is a problem for me as a part-time bartender because I like to sit down and have a nice drink in a bar after a long night of work.
Or tell my clientele where to go when I have to sweep the floor. So nightbars are a must. Read more »
Feuermelder
Slightly after 3:00 am i stood in front of the Feuermelder. Attached to the door is a sign stating geoffnet: Ma-Sa ab 15:00, Sontag ab 13:00. Is this a joke? Or is there a thruth to it. Intrigued, i opened the sequential doors and entered. All patrons turned around instantly and stared at me. Determined, i found a place at the bar ready to order. No barman. Read more »
am to pm
Berlins first club daily 24 houres open!
Placed underneath the S-bahn at Hackescher Markt, this looks like a real dive. It is said that the am to pm is a normal cafe during the day. It changes into a club as the pm progresses and the am begins to dawn. So the am to pm transforms itself two times a day. Read more »
RAW
This is not a review of a single bar, but more of an area I stumbled upon. The Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk (RAW) is the old repair terrain for the trains during the DDR reign. The area contains numerous run down buildings, and is completely covered by grafiti. No worry here if you shout your lungs out. Or try a bit of frustrated beer bottle smashing. Read more »
Random bars
The Cove Lounge
Located near the campus of the University of Chicago, in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, The Cove is often filled with the same collection of human pickles from the neighborhood. Proximity to the University does create concerns about fake ID's, so be sure you're ready to flash the plastic.
Students tend to congregate on long benches in the second room, necking and fighting in the darker corners. Regulars often bring their lethargic dogs to sit alongside their master's favorite designated perch at the bar.
The washrooms can vary from clean and neat early in the evening to sticky with "I don't want to know" by the end of the night. Read more »
Hole in The Wall
Great little sleazy bar with live blues music. The roof leaks, the bathroom stinks, but what cold beer and great greasy hamburgers. One of the bartenders, Kiki, weighs about 300 lbs and looks like she washed her hair sometime last year wants you to do body shots with her.
The Greasy Spoon
Not a bar per se as no alcohol is allowed but definitely a place to check out for breakfast after a long night drinking.
Opens really early in the morning, the crowd mixes end-of-shift night owls and construction workers.
The (greasy) food is supposed to coat your stomach good before a new day begins/
Suggestion: bring your own booze.
Grossman's Tavern
Hearsay, but from a trusted source, and with a website promoting the place through reviews such as "The crowded tables will be full of half-filled pitchers of draft beer, and the air will be layered with a smoky haze." and Everything is covered in a layer of grime and ashes.
This is not a case of bad housekeeping; this is character. This is the real deal.
It's at 379 Spadina, about a block south from College.
Cloudburst Bar
Cloudburst bar is a nice little hole in the wall. Not much to look at, but great ambience, pleasant people and the best music to boot (or dance, or whatever takes your fancy...). Makes a nice change from all those "you could be anywhere" places for those of us who neither need nor care for the hand holding. Nothing special on the drinks list, but spirits are served strong and the beer almost as a slush. The owners can tell you more about the town than you'll ever need to know.
Frank's Place
Franks hides beneath a veneer of respectability ... a little more upmarket than the hooker-haven of The Den 100 yards away and a hop skip from Boys'n'Girls.
It is the starting point --the kicking off place-- to descend into the fleshpots of Sunlitun before the Government bulldozes them all in time for the Olympics.
It is possible to pick up the odd Yank or Russki English teacher but you are mercifully spared tourists.
Franks was our first -coming up on 20 years now - if for no other reason, it deserves its place in the sun ...great for Sunday morning Bloody Mary's!
Stone Lion Tavern
The Stone Lion is by far one of the best dive bars I've ever expeienced. Almost literally a hole in the wall, the bar, jukebox and 2 or 3 round tables take up almost the entire bottom floor. Luckily, there's an outdoor section and an upstairs, which is where you'll find the restrooms, dartboards, a second jukebox and the terrace. The restrooms are an experience in and of themselves. Not quite as scary as you'd expect toilets in a dive bar to be, but there's still good graffiti. From the terrace you can see the rest of downtown Chattanooga, including the Tennessee Aquarium. The jukebox has everything you could possibly want in bar music from punk and 80s rock and metal to country. They even have the Dropkick Murphies. The beer selection is pretty good too. Read more »