The Dive Bar
947 E Passyunk Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19147 (215) 465-5505
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: No
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Music: Juke Box
- Best Nights: Mon, Wed, Sat
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: Yes
- Coat Check: No
29 Reviews for The Dive Bar
John is my down the block neighbor so I've known him longer then his bar has existed. He's good people in every way. I love to patronize his spot and am thrilled that he is doing well. He always has something interesting to talk about and takes an interest in his clientele. Dive always has about a half dozen yummy beers on draught and smokers will love that he allows smoking on the main floor after 7p. John is not a sports fan so expect cartoons, cash cab, deadliest catch, or the John Stewart Show to be on rather then the game. Another bonus is that there is free pizza during happy hour.
People thought this was:
Useful (5)
Funny (1)
Cool (5)
Relive your childhood at The Dive Bar with selections from Chef Boyardee and snacks like Hot Pockets, popcorn and ice cream. Sadly, I'd already had dinner when I ducked in here, or else I would have partaken.
Instead I grabbed a pint and settled comfortably in at this neighborhood bar. Patrons were singing and folks were generally sweet. An old dog lay on the ground and enjoyed being stroked by various patrons.
If you smoke, you'll love this place.
If you don't, either light one up or take regular fresh air breaks outside. Trust me, you'll need 'em.
People thought this was:
Useful (6)
Funny (3)
Cool (4)
This place is tops as far as I'm concerned. Besides having a great selection of beer (I had something apricotty - wait, is that even a word?) and enjoyed overhearing the conversations of the other patrons. I wish I could recount them for you, but the very best ones weren't very family friendly, hence, my love for this bar.
Nobody would ever dream of bringing a child in here, unless they were up for "Worst Parent of the Century." The music was good and there was even an interlude where a Monty Python song was simulcast on the speakers, television and from the lungs, heart and soul of the customers. Plus, the bathroom did not skeeve me out at all. Who woulda guessed?
If you don't mind walking out smelling like an ashtray, then this just may be your favorite bar in Philly.
People thought this was:
Useful (5)
Funny (3)
Cool (7)
Recipe for excellent night in Philly:
3 hours of PBR/Jager and cigarettes at The Dive + quick bike ride over to Center City Pretzel factory right as there coming out.
This is a great bar.
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Cool (1)
To me, The Dive Bar needs no review to keep up the hype. This place is homey, cozy, fun as hell, and bartended well.
And that's all I can say about that.
Peace, bitches. I'll be there again and again.
People thought this was:
Useful (4)
Funny (1)
Cool (3)
If you judge a good Dive by the hangovers you've had after going there, this is a real winner.
I've never been not wasted here, somehow. Once I flew at John in a panic cause "his" ATM ate my card. He said, "Are you sure you didn't jam it into the receipt slot?"
Well, yeah, that is possible, since it's one a.m. and I've been drinking your triple shots of Powers for three hours and I've actually smoked a few of Kelly's cigarettes and watched Metalacolypse and this weird dude has been trying to talk to me the whole time so I was drinking faster to avoid talking, and I think I ate a Lean Pocket, too, who fucking knows what flavor it even was.
Anyway John magically unstuck the card from wherever it was jammed and I got more money and kept drinking until the girls put me over the top bar of my bike and rolled me home. So, yeah, good bar.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (5)
Cool (2)
The Dive is a great little neighborhood hole in the wall. The best part it is one of the few place I can walk to and share a beer and bar stool with my dog. John your doing a great job. Keep up the goog work.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Cool (2)
Wow, I didn't even realize this place had a pool table. I will hit that up next time I'm in the hood. I had a real nice time when I was here, good beer, good company, good times, and dogs like to hang out here too.
There are all kinds of quality imports(La Fin Du Monde for instance), and of course budget standards(PBR) They also have all kinds of microwavable goodies to eat, all I can seem to recall right now is the popcorn though. And the Juke is pretty darn good. My bar experience is always exponentially increased when I hear something from Primus, and the AIDS song by Ween.
People thought this was:
Useful (5)
Cool (4)
Now that the upstairs is open again, The Dive has reclaimed its status as being really unique in a city of boring bars. John the bartender is great and always listens and makes boisterous conversation (which isn't always a good thing).
Everybody knows about the 2 dollar beer of the week from 5-7 as well as the free pizza from J&J's, but I have to say that the main reason I go here is because of the TV and Pool table. I don't have cable nor a 31 inch flatscreen, and I love the Discovery Channel and insane Japenese games shows like Ninja Warrior.
I simply do the math: 2 slices of pizza+2 good beers for $4+1hour of awesome TV after soul-crushing work=slightly more acceptable existence. That is, until my liver gives out or the pizza gives me a heart attack.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (3)
Cool (3)
As far as neighborhood bars go this one take the cake. It's not even really in my neighborhood, but I'll take a quick bike ride there anytime for a cheap can of beer and munchies that bring me back to after school special days. Add free pizza happy hours and I'm set.
The upstairs was closed for a while, which, I'll admit kept me from coming. But now there's pool again and plenty of DJs spinning, including my friends Just Jess and Klembot. Yeaya!
It's a great place for an after-work drink or just to chill for a while. Damn, now I want a drink.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
My favorite in the neighborhood bar.
The good thing is you can pick and choose depending on if you feel like an overly talkative bartender (Fri-Tues) or a grumpy but nice bartender (Weds-Thurs). I'm not a big fan of the Jager and PBR special, but you can order anyone on their birthday a pint glass combining all the Mad Dog flavors topped off with a little bit of vodka.
I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't mention that this is basically the home base for the Pabst Blue Ribbon Philadelphia Rock Paper Scissors City League Championship Series. Which I run.
People thought this was:
Useful (7)
Funny (4)
Cool (8)
It has been entirely too long since I have frequented the Dive, due to my relocation to West Philly. But just like Chapterhouse, it's a place like this that will bring me back to the east side of the river when my lease is up.
I agree with Marissa - there's no pretention at all. There's always a good crowd, some assorted dogs sitting with owners at happy hour ,and so on. The happy hour is hands down one of the best in Philly - free f'in pizza, with the beer and liquor of the week. Beyond happy hour, drink prices are still reasonable. And of course, there's Philly's friendliest bartender, John. How can you go wrong?
People thought this was:
Useful (5)
Cool (5)
Basically the only thing i will miss about all of Philadelphia.
Best staff in the whole city, good beer side by side with canned Schlitz, free pizza, cheap pool, forced mingling due to narrowness, a bunch of sluts, artfags, lesbians and neighborhooders, Adult Swim, sex on camera, shirtless dancing, pot pies and LOVE.
The Dive, i will always have my hat tipped to you. I'm still looking for your Chicago equivalent.
People thought this was:
Useful (7)
Funny (6)
Cool (7)
Good chill spot. Free Pizza at Happy Hour, plus decent drink specials. Dog Friendly provided yours is chill and there isn't a Fido Convention.
Smoking allowed after 7 works for all persuasions. Right on Passyunk Ave where the action is in S Philly. Come in and explore it's levels.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Cool (3)
As the name implies, The Dive, it a small and cozy neighborhood haunt of mine. Great selection of beer (Fin du Monde for only $5) and good group of local regulars. The owner is wonderful and you can smoke here!
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Cool (1)
This is the best bar ever... just sayn.
People thought this was:
Funny (2)
Cool (1)
John has surely re-invented the 'dive' bar. Coining the very name itself it caters to both locals, hipsters, and probably some sea captains. This place is too hard to describe that you literally just have to walk in and see for yourself. There's an upstairs area now open again where sometimes djs spin and a third floor hidden pool table. The bonus of getting some booze and chatting it up with some friends is the wonderful free pizza provided for your service. Though don't be greedy, two slices per person, but after 7pm it's up for grabs. Where else will you get beer with free pizza? John, usually the bartender most nights, will greet you and have some very amazing stories to share for you or just listen to the stories he's already shouting as he runs up and down the walk tapping glasses and exchanging smiles. So if you're feeling like a rogue pirate or um not... just pop inside and get ready to watch 'The Simpsons' on the big screen as your sipping down a cold one with PIZZA!
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Cool (2)
Friendly neighborhood bar. One of the only places where I don't feel embarrassed for going to more than a few times a week. Jon, who is the owner and bartender, is a self proclaimed "beer snob" and is extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the product he is serving. They have a great rotation of seasonal draughts -- I highly recommend the Peach Wheat when its in season. But don't worry, he won't make fun of you for ordering a $1.50 can of Schlitz and a $1.00 shot of Mad Dog 20/20 -- my usual when I'm thirsty and tight for cash.
Above all, a great place to bring friends, meet some more, eat cold pizza and get extremely wasted.
People thought this was:
Useful (6)
Funny (1)
Cool (5)
Quite possibly my favorite place in the world to get a drink and shoot a game of pool (yes the second and third floors are open again).
I'm so biased it's hard for me to even write a coherent review. In general, the friendliest people, a good happy hour, a great selection of beer for a place this size, really reasonable prices, and just a great vibe.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Cool (1)
That dude in the picture is John. He's the bartender/owner of The Dive. He has gotta be one of the most attentive and friendly bartenders ever. The second time i ever went in there he knew my name. He's never forgotten it. Even though I went a year without going there when I lived in Fairmount, the next time I walked in there he was like "What's Up, Pat. What can I get you?" The dude just knows everybody's name. That's tight. Like Sammy Malone, without the toupee. And he never leaves you waiting to get served.
To reiterate what some of the others said, the happy hour rules, there are $2 drafts of the week, normally something awesome like Hopdevil, never PBR cause that's always 2 bucks. And i think you can get a Schlitz for a dollar always. That's what a good bar should be, a place with great beer if you like and shitty beer if you're broke. The wine is a tiny screwtop and it's awful, so if you only like wine you're pretty fucked. I used to come here all the time when Jam Master Shawn hosted Quizzo and i didn't have anything to do. Now there is no more JMS although i hear that Quizzo is coming back. Upstairs there is pool and darts and the second floor room is a nice little bar when it's open. Though it does get smoky as hell in there.
My biggest objection to the Dive is something that actually sets it apart from most bars, and some people probably really like, but it just seems out of place to me. Many times when I've been there, in the first floor bar, the TV volume is pumping throughout. This usually occurs during Family Guy, South Park, or The Simpsons, which is awesome, but I don't know. I guess if I wanted to watch TV i just wouldn't be at a bar. Especially not narrative TV where you have to listen to the words. Sports I get, but cartoons. A little weird. Other than that i think the dive is A.O.K. and a good compliment to the Royal Tavern a few doors down.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (3)
Cool (3)
lots o' dirty dykes upstairs on a saturday night.
good tunes to dance your sweaty arse to.
tight like a swollen foot stomping about all day in a leather boot.
People thought this was:
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
Now I'm ready to review The Dive, much to the chagrin of a Twelve Steps Down loving schmoe. I walked in for the first time last night and instantly felt welcome from the very beginning. It definitely had a good lot of things that appealed to me:
1) good beer variety ranging from PBR to Hop Devil and Flying Fish on tap
2) Random Khyber posters that flashed me back to some good shows.
3) FREE PIZZA!!!
4) a friendly bartender and interesting tattooed regulars.
5) a jukebox that played random songs by Primus and SLAYER!!!
6) a radioactive sign on the mens room that at least made them kind of honest.
7) A bar that lets you smoke inside. take that for what you will. but I didn't mind it thanks to the air conditioning.
8) Cartoons and Comedy Central on the Television instead of sports.
9) a priceless sign that said EVADE HOT NADS placed randomly in the corner.
Overall it's a good place that has a little bit of something that anybody can appreciate.
People thought this was:
Useful (5)
Funny (2)
Cool (4)
Not feeling this place. Grumpy mean bartenders!! Thought it would be a winner with a knickname like "themuffdive" but sadly NOT!
Better places are out there than here, Royal Tavern right next to it for instance!
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
Alrite, first off, the name of this place eats shit.
By just reading the name, the bar automatically depicts itself as a hipster-wanna-be discharging hole. I even got a few friends who wont touch this place solely based on its name.... which might make them elitist assholes, but, they admit to that... so... anyway....
So yea, this place is cheap, its gotta big flat screen tv over the bar that plays cartoons and bad movies, and an upstairs rec-room that your allowed to smoke in. The main clientel here is cute, "dont call me a hipster", bad tattoo sportin', 20 something lez-chicks mixed in with neighborhood lackeys, and the run-off of the Royal Tavern.
This place is novel the first few times you show up to it, and it makes you sorta wish you lived closer, but as you keep going, you sorta look up the street and see the lights of Royal Tavern, and look down the street and see the darkness and filth of Rays Happy Hate Day, and you start wonderin' what your doin stuck in the middle.
When your on Passyunk Ave, you either gotta get classy or get nasty, those are the two options... and Dive Bar isn't one of um.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (6)
Cool (3)
This is the sort of place you go to with a group of friends, very very drunk, ready to yell and sing. Follow those instructions and make friends with everyone there. You are guarenteed to fit right in and have ball. Do it.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (4)
Cool (1)
Thank god Low bar is dead!!! Thank you Jon for destroying that atrocity and opening The Dive. Where else can you get $1 shots of Mad Dog and $1.50 cans of Schlitz with a nice draught selection and great bottle beer selection. It is a south Philly neighborhood bar, almost like cheers. Every body knows each other and the staff is great, well except Ryan, just kidding he is fun too. If you are in the area of Italian market after five, stop in and have a drink. Tell them Tim sent you and you may get a present like an extra ice cube in your water. There are few great bars like this left, you will have a good time. If you are lucky you may be able to play the x-box that they have set up.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (4)
Cool (1)
The Dive Bar used to be my neighborhood pub back when I lived in Bella Vista. It moved in to the space which was formerly Low Bar, a dank, cliquey and pretty awful den of debauchery. In an even earlier incarnation it was Smocky Bar (yes, that was how it was spelled) which hosted the type of clientele you might see in the bars in Ghost Dog. Most of the bar flies were old Italian-American men who wouldn't curse in the presence of women so if a chick walked in they said nothing at all.
Now feels much more alive. Jon opened up the second floor for DJs, live music, quizzo and the occassional poetry event and the third for pool, darts and video games. The bar definitely caters to the young at heart with an X-Box and Adult Swim sponsorship. Their brews are reasonably priced as is the liquor. A four dollar Fin du Monde and a John Powers for another four? Yes, please. (Note: I don't do Schlitz and PBR which is MUCH cheaper). I'm also a fan of the mural of a naked boobie which the lesbians (who have a weekly 'Dyke Night') petitioned to have kept up when Jon was planning to paint over it.
The jukebox is good and the music the staff plays is usually rocking (punk, new wave, hardcore, etc.) I love the staff. They are the perfect blend of surly, funny and cool. Good kids, all of 'em.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
for all the pbr sold in this, one of my favorite bars, it should be known more for its draft and bottles list. now i know not alot of people go here for the "la fin du monde" or "blithering idiot" but they should, the drafts change frequently and they are almost always good. there is smoking allowed after a certain time which is great for some of you out there, just know that you will smell like the dive the next day. honestly, i'm glad they allow smoking, real bars always used to and its a nice reminder of those days. SIDE NOTE, if you own a dog you should probably know that they have EXTREMELY GOOD SENSES OF SMELL,which are very sensative to very smoke filled bars, so yeah, i think its cute you brought your dog and i'll pet it but i'll be hatin your cruel ass too. john is a great bartender, at first i was a little wary of how nice he is but i think its genuine and his way of dealing with 700 drunk jerks like me a night, he does always remember your name which is awesome and he is a real bartender even though he has to sling so much pbr, by that i mean, he makes a mean manhattan, can make an old fashioned and can discuss beer styles and peculiarities with the best of 'em. nice graffiti filled bathroom, and one of the best reasons for going.... a garuntee that the SIMPSONS will be on. keep up the good work the dive. i'll be in soon. oh yeah, you woulda got a fifth star but you need to have some food, i know theres the microwave which is funny but if you had a kitchen that did hot dogs and hamburgers, wow!!!, you'd have it all.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (2)
Cool (2)
So...I see that this place has gotten some really mixed reviews. I have to say I'm a lover of it!
As a smoker...have your own opinion on the subject...I smoke and I like it. I love places like this!
It's a bar...they've got all of the drinks you'd expect them too....but they have something that other Dive's don't have....Jonn. He's awesome(also the owner). We were in here the other night and I watched not one not two but three arm wrestling matches (all non malicious of course), and one match was Jonn battling over not receiving an extra tip from one of his regulars. What other bartender tells you you're trying to pay him too much!?
The jukebox is alright...I was sad that there was no Social Distortion on it...but was informed that there is nothing on their end that can be done about it...some musicians will not license their music and not much can be done to change it.
If you're a dive fan...check it out! If you're not...you should be...so go anyway!
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Cool (1)
People Who Viewed This Also Viewed...
Related Lists
-
Divey Joints
Places to fill up your belly with booze and hang… -
Pack! Pack! Pack!
Places that have Pacman, Ms. Pacman and other… -
South Philly
My (old) local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli,… -
Real Dirty Dive Bars
A shortlist of the best liquor parlors where the… -
Goin' Divin'
I like my bars dirty and cheap...just like my…
Hot and New
- Zen Tea House
10 reviews
Philadelphia, PA
- Naked Chocolate Cafe
60 reviews
Neighborhood: Market East
- Honey's Sit-N-Eat
82 reviews
Neighborhood: Northern Liberties
- Monk's Cafe
130 reviews
Neighborhood: Rittenhouse Square
- Eulogy Belgian Tavern
80 reviews
Neighborhood: Olde City
