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When The Inquirer put out a call for Philly’s favorite dive bars, people responded in droves: We received close to 400 responses praising all kinds of establishments, from well-trafficked Center City watering holes to humble corner bars tucked away in deep South Philly, the far corners of Kensington, and the slopes of Wissahickon. (There were also numerous suburban submissions, which we plan to feature at a later date.)

Several write-ins highlighted what are often considered essential trappings of a dive — dirty bathrooms, beat-up interiors, a jukebox, and the occasional slow-cooker — but many more cited something less reproducible: the feeling of community found inside these neighborhood haunts. Turns out Philly has a lot of places that feel like real-life Cheers, whether it’s thanks to a friendly owner or bartending crew, or regulars who readily welcome newcomers.

We built this 20-bar list based on the responses to our callout, but it comes with a caveat. There are degrees of diveyness, and some owners strenuously objected to being classified as such. We consider “dive bar” to be a compliment, not a pejorative.

Yes, there’s a smoking bar or three on this list, but there are also spots that serve craft beer and solid food (sometimes even salad), or have upholstery that hasn’t been worn through. Every bar we included, however, is cheap and cheerful, with a dedicated crowd of admirers.

12 Steps Down

Times do change, and this basement bar in Bella Vista is proof: “They don’t allow smoking inside anymore, but when they did I would still order the food because their kitchen was that talented,” writes Point Breeze resident Matteo Palmas. Yes, 12 Steps is a rare dive bar with food worth recommending, with a menu that ranges from hand-cut, Michael Solomonov-approved fries and a “bowl o’ balls” (meatballs, that is, topped with house gravy and ricotta) to $3 rotating tacos and $1 hot dogs during Phillies games. Whether you head down for a post-work game of pool, Quizzo, or karaoke, don’t be afraid to come hungry — or in search of a good time. “I have never had a bad time at that bar,” Palmas says. — Jenn Ladd

Billy Murphy’s

Wood-paneled, drop-ceilinged, and cluttered with old pictures and memorabilia, this corner bar tucked in the elbow of East Falls is “packed with neighbors every day,” says local Devin Van Gorden. The welcoming atmosphere is a legacy of the late William Murphy, who took over the former rough-and-tumble shot-and-a-beer bar with his wife, Patty, in 1977. Michael Murphy, their son, runs the bar today and has been working there since high school; he’s kept up the approachable attitude and expanded the food menu, which ranges from “pig wings” (flash-fried pork shank) and cheese curds to fish tacos and BLTs. Billy Murphy’s is as much a family-friendly neighborhood spot as it is a dive, but extremely reasonable prices (75-cent wing specials twice a week), weathered decor, and a cash-only policy tip the scales. — J.L.

Bob & Barbara’s Lounge

Scads of Philadelphians and passers-through have whiled hours away at this 57-year-old South Street institution, either perched on a swiveling barstool, knocking back a can of Pabst and a shot of Jim Beam, an iconic combo the dive popularized citywide; grooving to whatever free, live music (from jazz to “low-key house”) the bar’s savvy talent bookers tap on a near-nightly basis; or cheering on the charismatic performers in Philly’s longest-running drag show. It’s a bar for absolutely everyone and anyone, which readers love. “There’s a deep, almost sacred essence of cool there,” writes South Philly resident Collin Keefe. “You will find the most far-out, fascinating, diverse, and beautiful crowd [there] on any given night.” — J.L.

Bonnie’s Capistrano

Run by the same family for more than 50 years, Bonnie’s nearly blends into the rest of the well-kept three-story rowhouses on this East Passyunk block. But step inside and you’ll be thrown back to the era when formica-topped bars with drop ceilings reined. Here, you can still smoke a cigarette and down a $3 pint and $6 citywide, maybe over a bag of Combos. As Hawthorne resident Luca Serio puts it, “In a world of expensive breweries and designer rooftop bars, they don’t make ’em like Bonnie’s anymore.” — J.L.

Cherry Street Tavern

Don’t call this 125-year-old watering hole a dive bar in front of co-owners (and brothers) Bob and Bill Loughery, even if employees and regulars use the term as a compliment. The decor is a mashup of bygone eras — a back bar from the Civil War, tile flooring from the early 1900s, and even a classic phone booth — but the warm conversation and juicy roast beef sandwiches remain timeless. The sandwiches riff on a Loughery family recipe, and both brothers take turns slicing the roast thin and piling it onto a kaiser roll dripping with jus. Bob and Bill “[memorize] patron’s names and histories with an accuracy you can never comprehend,” writes bartender Kira Baldwin. “It’s a rare place of nostalgia and comfort. I feel lucky to be a part of it.” — Beatrice Forman

Dahlak

For some, getting called out by Gordon Ramsay on national television would be a nightmare. For Dahlak, it’s only added to their street cred. This family-run Eritrean and Ethiopian bar and restaurant has stood on Baltimore Avenue since 1983 and has had only a few upgrades since. You can thank Ramsay, who spent time there last year, for a refurbished dining and a revamped menu that includes fusion food like tibs sliders and a chopped cheese seasoned with mitmita. Yet what attracts regulars are Dahlak’s atmosphere of spontaneity, eclectic rotation of DJs, and late-night berbere-spiced chicken cheesesteaks. “Everyone goes to Dahlak,” writes Nina of West Philly. “There’s a real freewheeling, anything-might-happen feel on the weekends when the dinner service ends and the DIY live music, jukebox, and hookah come out.” — B.F.

Dawson Street Pub

It’s been 37 years since owner David Wilby converted what was once a stone-clad biker bar in the city’s hilly Wissahickon section into a tavern so welcoming, you can bring your kids here. For what it’s worth, the staff that make this compact corner bar so homey don’t count it as a dive. And there are some trappings of Dawson Street that, yes, could make you question that categorization — for one, how many dives serve a cheese plate (that you would actually order)? But for those that have ponied up to its polished wooden bar, the equation is simple: It’s a real lived-in neighborhood bar and it’s cheap. Why think harder about it? “Awesome live bands and good beer on tap. Nothing fancy, just pure class,” says Mike O’Brien of Manayunk. — J.L.

Dirty Franks

An essential entry in the Center City bar canon, Franks is an undisputed dive — just eyeball the bathroom to verify — but it’s also a hub for creatives, postgrads, industry folks, and down-to-earth Washington Square West residents (and their dogs). It’s host to rotating art shows, dart and softball leagues, chili cook-offs, and a customer hall of fame tradition that’s shockingly tender for a bar with occasional-to-often-bristly service. For decades it served as a twin pillar alongside McGlinchey’s (RIP) as the hazy, cheap default hangout in a drinking scene that had yet to explode. Under the stewardship of co-owner Jody Sweitzer since 2011, Franks is no less treasured in a scene with many more options. For some, like Scott Burger of Logan Square, an appreciation of its funky, memorabilia-stuffed environs is a personal barometer: “If you don’t like Dirty Franks, then we shouldn’t be friends.” — J.L.

The Dive

At just 21 years old, this Bella Vista bar is in league with Lorraine, the other relative newbie on this list, in that it’s a purpose-built dive, down to the on-the-nose name, that somehow sticks the smoky, dimly lit landing. Yes, it’s always had craft beer on draft — previous owner Jonn Klein, who opened the Dive in 2005, had a beer-bar background — but the three-story bar slings cheap drinks and microwaveable snacks, welcomes dogs, has a pool table, and insists on cash payment. It’s also probably the last bar in Philadelphia to have a smoking section, on the second and third floors. That’s one reason West Philly resident Garrett Carvajal makes the trek to South Philly to drink here: “I always feel really at ease there. The bartenders are cool and the patrons are welcoming. I feel comfortably enveloped by the cigarette smoke … plus, it has a solid queer scene while still being cheap and chill!” — J.L.

Grumpy’s Tavern

Grumpy’s Tavern has always been “South Philly distilled into a single bar,” wrote Inquirer reporter Samantha Melamed in 2019, regardless of whatever name it went by. As Pinto’s, the bar was allotted one of the first liquor licenses in Philly history when it opened in 1934. And when current owner Joe DeSimone re-christened it Grumpy’s in 2002, the bar earned one of the city’s last smoking variances — an honor Grumpy’s proudly clung to until it went smoke-free in 2025. Not that it matters. Patrons come to Grumpy’s for the pool tables (the “best in the city, possibly the universe,” according to Steve from East Passyunk) and the clientele (“old neighborhood Italians that have plenty of stories” writes John of Girard Estates). — B.F.

J.R.’s Saloon

Urban legend asserts that J.R.’s Saloon is “Fishtown’s oldest bar” (or so says patron Miriam Smith Dructor). The dive opened sometime in the ’80s and is named after owner James Rowson, who lives above the bar and puts together Christmas gifts for neighborhood kids every year. J.R.’s opens early — 7 a.m. except for Sundays, when it opens at 9 a.m. — and has the feel of a neighborhood living room due to what Kensington resident Max Tindall calls a “tough crowd” of area lifers who hold court at the bar and welcome transplants after some good-natured ribbing. Nearly everything at J.R’s is no frills — the well-worn pool table, the tiny wood-paneled bathroom — save the Bloody Marys, which punch well above their weight with skewers of bacon, hash browns, salami, and cheese cubes. Dave, a 56-year-old Fishtowner, perhaps put it best: “If you grew up around here, you feel right at home the second you walk in.” — B.F.

Kostas Bar Restaurant

$5 citywides and great homemade Greek food are what keeps Kostas buzzing until 2 a.m. daily. The dive bar-restaurant hybrid attracts all, from finance bros knocking back Miller High Lifes after work to construction workers scarfing down hulking beef gyro platters over lunch, to foodies in search of some of the city’s best straight-ahead Mediterranean food. Where else, after all, can you get a PBR and a saganaki plate with pan-seared Kasseri cheese? Or challenge a stranger to pool after pounding some baba ganoush with pita? Kostas’ back patio is oddly serene, even if you can hear revelers singing their hearts out to throwback pop hits on the jukebox indoors. “It’s the perfect mix of crazy and calm,” according to Fishtown resident Julia Drummond. — B.F.

Krupa’s Tavern

Despite being squarely in Fairmount, just blocks from the Water Works, Krupa’s has for decades remained a bare-bones, bargain-rate watering hole even as the neighborhood has grown leafier and leafier. The building at 27th and Brown has been in the same family for over 100 years, and three women have kept the bar chugging along for much of that time. That’s semi-detectable to patrons: “It feels like you’re a guest of someone’s old South Philly basement bar,” writes Emily Krause of Kingsessing. (Truly: How many bars have curtains on the windows in 2026?) There can be an air of frostiness about Krupa’s if you’re not a local, but stop in during an Eagles game and you’ll find “a crock pot of complementary meatballs in sauce with rolls and cheese along with soft pretzels and chips,” says neighbor Nick Petryszyn, who declares the bar “a much more charming alternative to a splashy prix fixe reservation.” — J.L.

Les and Doreen’s Happy Tap

“Everyone looks out for you” at Les and Doreen’s Happy Tap, writes Kris Reutlinger of Fishtown. Named after husband-and-wife owners Les and Doreen Thompson, the bar has remained practically unchanged since the sign went up on the corner of Susquehanna Avenue and Thompson Street in 1986. The green walls patterned with tiny shamrocks give it an Irish-pub aura, and the bartenders’ distinctly Philadelphian mix of kindness and gruffness couldn’t work anywhere else. Karaoke nights are a big draw, as is their use of Merrill Reese and Mike Quick Eagles broadcasts for game-day audio. — B.F.

Lorraine

What this Francisville corner bar lacks in experience — at just 10 years old, it’s the youngest establishment on this list — it makes up for in approachability. Curtis from Fairmount lists its many virtues: “Killer indoor and outdoor art by [Philly graffiti artist] Septic the Outlaw, smoking in the backyard with fellow patrons, solid bartenders, [plus] Kirin pitchers, 24-ounce Asahi cans, and Godzilla Pinball.” Don’t let the Japanese beer options mislead you, there is nothing fancy about Lorraine. Philadelphia-raised brothers Jimmy and Chris Lardani have pulled off a feat here that many modern bar owners aspire to but few achieve: creating a dive from scratch. What else would you expect from a pair of guys who got Gritty tattoos within days of the mascot’s public debut? — J.L.

Locust Rendezvous

Located across from the Academy of Music and a smattering of ritzy apartment buildings, Locust Rendezvous is “the grilled cheese on white bread of the neighborhood,” or at least that’s what longtime general manager Michele Recupido once told The Inquirer. The bar’s signature red awning has beckoned to passersby seeking an unpretentious place to drink in Center City since 1989, but the ’Vous, as fans call it, has a menu that catapults it to the upper echelon of dive bars: Think crocks of French onion soup with picture-perfect cheese pulls, wings coated in a Buffalo garlic sauce, and slices of homemade pie. “It’s one of the few places in Center City that still has that ‘how ya doin’, hun’ [vibe] when you walk in,” writes Rittenhouse Square resident Jackson Healy. — B.F.

Monkey Club

This two-floor East Kensington dive looks kind of like an unfinished fraternity house, featuring black-and-white checkered floors, with a clashing, half-done rock wall and folding chairs interspersed between pool and foosball tables. It’s the kind of place that inspires devotion: In 2020, East Kensington resident Jennie missed Monkey Club so much during COVID-19 shutdowns that she recreated the bar in the virtual reality game the Sims during 2020. Originally just another cash-only dive with $5 citywides, the Monkey Club has started to level up thanks to food pop-ups and a frozen drink machine that spits out concoctions like guava margarita and boozy creamsicle slushies in the summer. The bathroom, however, has remained “disgusting” (in the best way), writes Port Richmond resident Kevin Hicks. — B.F.

Oscar’s Tavern

Few bars inspire the depth of affection as does this Center City landmark, whose red glow, vintage paper place mats, and low-slung booths have been a low-key constant on a bustling block of Samson Street since 1972. It’s where inveterate dive bargoers mix with the suit-clad white-collar crowd and everyone in between. “I hope we experience the heat death of the universe before we experience the end of Oscar’s,” writes Point Breeze resident Will Fenton. “Best bar in the country,” writes David Simon of Cherry Hill. “Absolute perfection. No notes,” says Gregory Maughan of Rittenhouse. There have been changes over the years — beloved longtime GM Joe Mullan passed, the bar experimented with outdoor seating (!) during the pandemic, and the tiny kitchen moved from the front window to the rear (adding more bar seating) — but the soul of Oscar’s is untouched. — J.L.

Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar

No, it does not have to be your birthday for you to have a good time at Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar (though it will earn you a free shot). This East Passyunk Avenue dive just turned 88 years old, and it’s the rituals that keep it timeless, like Friday night karaoke, a sandwich board that bartenders update daily with notable birthdays, and opening at 7 a.m. (even on Christmas!) Once a smoking bar, Ray’s did away with indoor cigs in 2011 at the behest of owner Lou Capozzoli (the bar was renamed after his dad, who died in 1997). Much else feels frozen in time, like the old-timey spittoon that runs beneath Ray’s original oak-and-tile bar and its $4 citywide. — B.F.

Rosewood Bar

If the unaffected nostalgia of Philly’s classic red-gravy restaurants strikes a chord, the Rosewood should be your kind of dive. Its old-school bar atmosphere is so pitch-perfect — down to the block glass, wood laminate bar, and the weathered checkerboard — that it has served as a backdrop not only in the Vince Papale/Eagles ode Invincible, but three other films beside it. This is a true mom-and-pop spot, run by Robert and Donna Kubicky and family since 1973. The Kubickys put out a free spread on holidays, providing a warm, welcoming landing place for customers who don’t have family get-togethers of their own to attend. The house rule is, appropriately, “be nice or leave.” No wonder, then, that the Rosewood casts a quick spell according to South Philly resident Michael Cahill: “Customers who are visiting for their first time usually become repeat customers because they are welcomed with open arms.” — J.L.