Top Ten Dive Bars in Palm Beach County

Continuing with our list of the top tier, grimiest joints to have a drink, here are the top ten dive bars in Palm Beach County.

See also

- Top Ten Dive Bars in Broward County

10. The Ugly Mug

About half an hour after the Eastside of Atlantic Avenue shuts down, across town, things are popping at the Ugly Mug.

Open until 5 a.m., this nondescript bar in Delray Beach is one of the city's few after-hours drinking holes. Its clientele consists of two sorts -- in the biz people knocking back a few after their respective shifts and stumbling lushes who had too much to drink hours ago, but refuse to hang it up for the night.

The mugs with sad clown-meets-court jester faces that hang from the ceiling here aren't so much ugly as they are creepy, though maybe a little cool if you're tipsy. Chances are good, if you've ever visited this grubby joint, it was at the tail end of a blackout.

9. Tiki Waterfront Sea Grill

Best watch your step as you make your way into this open-air waterfront haunt. The deck floor is a wee bit shaky. Located in an underdeveloped portion of the Rivera Beach Marina, there is a charming clandestine quality to this thatched roof locale.

It bears resemblance to one of those sketchy places you see in the movies where major drug deals go down. Matter of fact, we'd bet this biker and barfly haven has seen its fair share of illegal activity throughout the years. The food here isn't too shabby though, and the dirt cheap rum punch is said to have a handful of different rums poured inside it. Tiki is your best bet at spotting a dolphin while drinking hard all day long.

8. Buddy's Singer Island Pub

A legendary dive that's been around (with one relocation) for more than 30 years, Buddy's has a solid eight-hour long happy hour from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Couple that with this homely spot's all day, every day four-for-one special on well drinks, and it will come as no surprise that this is Singer Island's foremost boozer hangout. Dodging the fans that hang from its low ceiling tiles makes for a fun drinking game too.

7. El Paso Taco

Amidst a strip mall buried under Southern Boulevard's massive underpass, this family-owned eatery is easy to miss, but if you are an older Hispanic dude living in West Palm Beach, chances are you've dropped by this place more than once for a drink.

Yes, as the name suggests, El Paso Taco is a Mexican joint (with damn good tortas we might add), but at night, this is where the salty dog Latin fellas congregate. For a Mexican joint, it pulls a fair share of Cubanos too. These grey-haired Caribbeans join friends at the quaint bar, exchanging stories of the old country and guzzling down micheladas. The funky ethnic art that adorns the bright blue and gold walls adds some character to this tiny establishment.

(No image available)6. Downtown Pub and Café

The name of this nondescript lounge off Palmetto Park Road and Dixie Highway is very misleading. For one, it's not in downtown Boca Raton. Not that Boca technically has an official Downtown anyway, but its location is not what most would consider downtown. Secondly, it's not much of a café either. Don't go there expecting lattes and macaroons is all we are saying.

This dimly lit hole-in-the-wall does not have any crème brûlé on its menu. What Boca Raton's Downtown Pub and Cafe does have is $1 drafts and $10 buckets of domestic beer during its happy hour. Tattered pleather bar chairs line the cushy bar, and huge mirrors with Michelob Light emblems hang on the walls. We don't know the entire backstory, but the ambiance of this place is much closer to it's previous name, the Dive Bar than its current one.

5. Harry's Banana Farm

Penthouse Magazine once named this Lake Worth watering hole one of America's ten sleaziest bars. Need we say more?

We probably should. Harry's is a touch grimy, its floor can get a bit sticky, and the crowd is somewhat questionable at times, but it has the most inviting staff around. Honestly, despite its reputation as a nationally recognized dive bar, Harry's is not very dodgy. You can do much worse, right around the corner (see Sneakers next). It does open at 7 a.m. though, and is so jammed packed with unusual decorations -- such as a female mannequin, a mounted deer's ass, a ten-foot alligator -- that it is teetering on the bring of guest starring on TLC's Buried Alive hoarding show. There's also a 60-ounce pitcher for just six bucks. So, plenty of Harry's attributes place it in this category.

4. Sneakers Bar and Grill

Sneakers is yet another bar on our list that caters to those finicky individuals who prefer Budweiser over pancakes for breakfast (we wonder though, what if there were a pancake with Budweiser syrup option?)

Sneakers is open from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m., except on Sundays, when it opens at noon. On Dixie Highway, it is down the street from Harry's, but lacks the charm of its renowned neighbor. The owners have tried hard to change its seedy taproom reputation, but like white on rice, Sneakers is still the preferred hangout for Lake Worth's sketchiest.

Speaking of white, in the men's bathroom, you might see a line of people waiting to use the toilets only, with a couple of urinals unoccupied. We all know nobody really takes a crap in dive bar toilets. Despite a new shiny alpine wood-looking bar, plasma TVs, and electronic dart games, cheap Bud Lights remain Sneakers main draw.

3. Turn 3

A love of NASCAR and bandanas is de rigueur at this rundown joint in West Boca. Located inside the Sandalfoot Plaza shopping center, Turn 3 takes the checkered flag for most smoker-friendly venue on our list.

Judging by the level of chain smoking inside, It would seem as if smoking is not only acceptable, but also rewarded at this cozy venue. Stock cars is a common thread here, with spinning rubber tires affixed to its ceiling fans and race car driver posters aborning every wall.

Sure, it could probably use a fresh coat of paint, but no other spot offers such an escape from Palm Beach County reality. Stepping into Turn 3 is like stepping into West Virginia itself. The regulars here sport more T-shirts with Dixie flags than anyplace we have seen south of Stuart. Happy hour prices are solid with $1.75 domestic drafts and $2.25 well drinks too.

(No image available)2. Foster's Shak

A toothless senior citizen who just gambled away his entire social security check sits to your right, and a stripper with enormous breast implants coming off her shift is to your left. You just ordered a dollar draft, and it's 4 a.m.

This is the kind of characters and scenario you are likely to find at Foster's Shak. Across the street from the Palm Beach Kennel Club and a stone's throw from the Palm Beach International Airport, the dark wood confines of this West Palm Beach haunt provide a unique confluence of people like nowhere else. Lawyers, junkies, hookers, CEOs -- you'll find all walks of life at Foster's Shak. It's hard to believe all these colorful characters and egos fit in such small quarters. The bar will hit you square in the face if you aren't careful while walking into this the Shak, it's dark in there and cramped.

1. Tricky Dick's Pub

Boca Raton's answer to South Beach's infamous Mac's Club Deuce, this dicey dive closes its doors for only two hours each day (open from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m.), giving the binge drinker plenty of options. You know, the drink before work option, drink after work option, or the drink all-night and go straight to work option.

In addition, after the binge is over, there is even an Alcoholics Anonymous room next door to clear your head. With its adjoining fully stocked liquor store, Tricky Dick's has one up on Club Deuce too, giving the friendly neighborhood drunk a chance to grab some holdover brews until the bar reopens.

Located off 441 in the Sandalfoot Plaza, this is the not the German luxury car-driving part of Boca. Trick Dick's is a no frills blue-collar joint 100 percent, with a few carousing collage kids here and there, and a couple of dart boards and billiards.