Chinatown Boston, MA- Dive Bar

About five years ago, my husband and I were in Chinatown and found a little dive bar on one of the side streets. The only signage on the outside of the building was a small, faded red awning that said Budweise. We went back a month ago and couldn%26#39;t find it, though! Does anyone know what we%26#39;re talking about? It was real dark and dingy but one of those places that we ended up enjoying quite a bit for no reason other than the cheap drinks and unique atmosphere.

Chinatown Boston, MA- Dive Bar

Hm, now I%26#39;m curious too. Bernies and Weggies (RIP to both) come to mind, but I%26#39;m pretty sure both of them had proper signage.

Whatever it was, I wouldn%26#39;t count on finding too many replacements for it. The dive bar is going by way of the dinosaur in this city, unfortunately.

Chinatown Boston, MA- Dive Bar

Check out TC%26#39;s Lounge on Haviland in the Back Bay. Textbook dive bar. I also love Silhouette in Allston. And you might like Penalty Box across from the Garden too.

There are actually quite a few dive bars in Boston, but because they are almost always inexpensive by definition, they tend to be pretty popular with the college set and recent grads. So depending on the night, the crowd can be a bit on the young side and you%26#39;re not always going to get that great local flavor.

A really unique one is the Shangri-La on Cambridge St at the bottom of Beacon Hill. It%26#39;s a Chinese Restaurant, but it has a bar room in the back. It just has an incredibly odd, diverse cast of regulars and really cheap drinks. It used to be a hotspot for pre-drinking-age Suffolk students, but it%26#39;s also been shut down a bunch of times and I%26#39;m not sure they can really get away with it anymore.

TC%26#39;s is great, if only to feel like a giantess in the low, low-ceillinged ladie%26#39;s room. The ashtrays on the toilets in days past used to be a nice touch as well. And those giant buckets of scratch tickets!

Yours are are good suggestions, but I do think it%26#39;s a fine line between dive bar and normal shi**y college bar (and I use that term with affection, I assure you). Also, I find time of day/night of the week alters a place dramatically. Beacon Hill Pub on a Wednesday at 3pm? Dive. On a Saturday at midnight? Frat party.

But didn%26#39;t Bernie%26#39;s have a prominent Budweiser sign, more prominent than their own signage? Or am I think of the Tam?

Sullivan%26#39;s Tap over by the garden is a dive.

The Tam%26#39;s sign is definitely visible, though I think they have a Budweiser sign as well.

Bernie%26#39;s had that really simple green-lettering-on-a-white-background, right? It just said Bernie%26#39;s Pub?

Veronica ... when did Weggie%26#39;s go? I haven%26#39;t been IN there in over 15 years ... but I thought I had seen the sign recently ... or maybe my memory is showing its age?