Talk:Dive bar

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i frequent many dive bars, and i feel that this is a perfectly acceptable definition of such and establishment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nbpetts (talk • contribs) 20:10, May 26, 2005

That suggestion of the origin of the term 'dive bar' seems pretty unlikely to me. Was it just speculation or is there some evidence? To use the term 'dive' to explain going down below street level to a bar just doesn't seem very 1800s to me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.216.175.58 (talk • contribs) 00:54, September 10, 2006

I've also removed another uncited etymology, this time linking "dive" to "divan". Since the etymology is clearly disputed, please add a cite if giving an etymology for this term. -- Karada 09:37, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

WP:FOOD Tagging

This article talk page was automatically added with {{WikiProject Food and drink}} banner as it falls under Category:Restaurants or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. You can find the related request for tagging here -- TinucherianBot (talk) 09:09, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Not Playboy magazine

The quote alleged to be from Playboy magazine is not from there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.196.37.45 (talk) 00:11, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

Poor, uncited definition

The definition given is:

Dive bars generally have a relaxed and informal atmosphere—they are often referred to by local residents as "neighborhood bars," where people in the neighborhood gather to drink and socialize.

I don't think that properly defines a dive bar at all, and worse, it's completely uncited. I can't find a verifiable source to properly define a dive bar, but some of the definitions given on Urban Dictionary seem much more fitting:

A well-worn, unglamorous bar, often serving a cheap, simple selection of drinks to a regular clientele.

Where did the definition given in the article even come from? It seems flat out wrong to me. Tarcieri (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 00:31, 2 March 2011 (UTC).

Introductory definition is completely wrong

The term "Dive bar" is used as an insult to describe a dirty, cheap place.

A dive bar is to be avoided. The term conjures up a place that is is dark and dirty, where the floor is sticky, the furniture is old and damaged, the bathroom has not been cleaned for 2 weeks, and the sign out front is broken. The staff is unfriendly, the liquor is cheap or watered down, and the patrons are down-and-out, scary alcoholics. It's in a bad part of town, and if you go there you are likely to be ripped off, robbed, beat up, or all three.

"Dive bar" would never be used for a friendly neighborhood bar except as a joke. Or to be ironically affectionate, in the same way that you might call your friend a "bastard". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.231.159.167 (talk) 09:07, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Perfect/ exactly Its lost in the translation with the current generation of Indie kids, who are naming anything with a grungy look aka what you to be punk alternative clubs as Dive bar. its just eye rolling. Some places the grunge/y "look", is part of the aesthetic but they think thats a dive bar. the terms has become popular again recently.

A dive bar is a down on its luck place, that's dirty, and full of alcoholics, which keep the prices cheap at the expense of the physical environment, in order to to keep its alcoholic clientele. I dont know about the beaten up part, but its a place where "regular" people would not really want to spend time.

That MerryMaker bar just seems like just a small town/village bar. With all the activities, posted outside, I can pretty much guess for sure that's not a dive bar. Starbwoy (talk) 22:59, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

Informal

I don't understand the definition ("A dive bar is an informal bar or pub"). First of all, is this equating a pub with an informal bar, or is it saying "informal {bar or pub}"? Secondly, how does an informal bar differ from a formal bar? Does it mean it lacks a licence to operate, or does it just somehow have a friendlier atmosphere? Are drinks ordered in the same way as in a formal bar, or differently? 15:48, 22 February 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.155.88.142 (talk)

Sorry — I think "informal bar or pub" is about as close as one can get with a written definition. For people who don't "get it", I think it would be necessary to resort to an ostensive definition. Wahrmund (talk) 16:25, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

The Burt Reynolds film Hooper has a scene with Hooper and his girl friend having dinner in a rather disreputable bar when a brawl breaks out. A friend of mine once told me that she recognized the location that it was a real dive and fights like that weren't that uncommon. Even so, she told me that the food was good and it was a fun place to go. My impression is that it's not so much the clientele that makes a place a dive, it's the atmosphere. JDZeff (talk) 19:53, 2 April 2017 (UTC)

Photo

Merrimaker Los Osos 2008

I've uploaded a picture of The Merrimaker which is higher resolution, and shows more of the building than the current photo. Does anyone have an opinion about replacing the current picture with this one? --Ppelleti (talk) 05:44, 11 July 2015 (UTC)

That MerryMaker bar just seems like just a small town/village bar. With all the activities it has going on, posted outside, I can pretty much guess for sure that's not a dive bar, just a small locals place.Starbwoy (talk) 23:09, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

photo deletion request - is this a hoax?

What evidence is there that qualifies the Merrimaker as a dive bar? I don't think it would be NPOV to suggest it and I believe it constitutes OR to suggest whether or not it is a dive bar based off of one's own findings. Having been a resident of Los Osos for 20+ years I don't know of anyone that truly believes it is a dive bar and the only citation anyone can provide is this Wikipedia article. There is no citation/reference that proves the Merrimaker is a dive bar. I wonder if this is some kind of hoax. I think the pictures should be removed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_create_hoaxes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia

Needs better title

I suggest "Dive bar (drinking establishment)" or "Dive bar (Pub)" and get rid of the long hatnote. Eagledj (talk) 19:47, 4 July 2020 (UTC)

Comments written above

Most of the above comments were written about a previous version of this article. I agree with many of the criticisms; in fact, the article was so far off the mark that I re-wrote it pretty much from scratch. I hope I improved it, but people never agree completely on subjective topics like this. Eagledj (talk) 13:28, 15 April 2021 (UTC)

Locations

The statement at the end of the article, "Dive bars can be found in the following ten cities" is patently absurd. Dive bars are everywhere. There are/have-been dive bars in every city I've lived in, none of which is one of the 10 listed cities.

The List of dive bars page linked from this article (is this where the "ten cities" statement comes from?) seems to be created and curated by a single person's perspective Sdp61 (talk) 18:24, 16 June 2023 (UTC)

Recognized authority on Dive Bar ?

I believe we should keep the Todd Dayton quote. The subject of dive bars is hardly academic science. There is no “recognized authority” on dive bars and nothing about subject is really verifiable in the sense of our typical articles. The block quote is presented, not as fact, but as one author’s opinion. The fact that it is taken from a published book written on the subject of dive bars is enough to get it over the relatively low bar to be included in the article. Eagledj (talk) 16:52, 27 August 2023 (UTC)

Bruine kroegen

In the intro it says a dive bar can be known as brown bars in parts of Western Europe, like bruine kroegen in the Netherlands. The source provided does not give this translation however, it does not mention 'dive bar'. By the way, I realize that the definition of dive bar is not very clear, but from personal experience, I would say bruine kroegen do not necessarily fit into what follows under Dive_bar#Description. But yeah, who am I? 2001:1C02:1990:A900:F22C:41F7:3B7A:2D77 (talk) 08:27, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

Other sense

In my speech (and I am a fluent, native speaker of American English), what is described in this article is a "dive", not a "dive bar". I don't think I've ever heard someone say "dive bar" in this sense. A dive is a bar, but I would never add "bar". A "dive bar" means something quite different, namely a bar frequented by scuba divers.Bill (talk) 23:32, 4 December 2023 (UTC)