Nightlife

Got Any Good Dive-Bar Stories?

Photo: Daniel Maurer

Just like certain people don’t want to give away their favorite dumpling spots, others refuse to out their favorite dive bars. But bless the sultan of slumming Joshua M. Bernstein for sharing (during the most recent episode of “Brooklyn Eats”) some love for one of his favorites, Imperial Bikers, a “clubhouse of an African-American motorcycle gang” that you have to get buzzed into in order to drink “OP and milk” (overproof rum and milk) and mamajuana (“Dominican viagara” that “tastes a little bit like tequila and terror”). Even if you don’t plan to attend the place’s next fish fry, you’ll want to listen to the episode to hear recollections of Holiday Cocktail Lounge (bringing in bodega beers after the late owner-bartender Stefan Lutak passed out), Jr. and Son (where the ladies’ room is used so infrequently the bartender has to root around for the keys), Jackie’s 5th Amendment (who hasn’t enjoyed some Nips in the “secret back room” known as the Judge’s Chambers?), and Navy Yard Cocktail Lounge (you don’t want to know).

We’ll spare you our own story about the guy who got up on the bar at Mars Bar last Sunday night and did a frontally nude dance with his pants around the ankles before falling onto his naked ass, and the guy with the albino rat on his shoulder that same night (also spotted: punk legend Leee Black Childers in a Beverly Hills 90210 shirt), and instead we’ll direct you to the audio and ask that you leave your own favorite dive-bar tales in the comments.

Brooklyn Eats - Episode 15 - Dive Bar [Heritage Radio Network]

Got Any Good Dive-Bar Stories?