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The 10 Best Dive Bars in Houston

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The best dive bars in Houston, according to the experts: Huckberry, The Infatuation, and Houstonia have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Poison Girl comes out on top.

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EZ's Liquor Lounge and Grand Prize Bar hold the next two places. Houstonia shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with The Infatuation next.

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  1. Poison Girl is a dark, narrow Montrose dive on Westheimer where personal space is treated as a rumor. The bourbon list is deep, but plenty of people at the bar are just ordering Lone Star and nodding at it. Everyone eventually drifts out to the backyard patio, where the evening opens up a little. Dress for sweat and spilled beer, and plan on a cheap tab and a bathroom with a past.


  2. EZ's is a Heights dive bar that has somehow acquired a very good bottle list, so you can pair a pool game and a chili dog with a pour of champagne, or stay loyal to the beer that calls itself the champagne of beers. The jukebox swings from George Strait to DJ Screw without apology. It's suspiciously clean for a dive, but give it time, this is Houston.


  3. Grand Prize is a two-story dive where the interior is blacked out so thoroughly that the neon is mostly there to help you read the drink menu. Happy hour offers a "Happy Meal," which is a beer and a shot, and the pool tables are good for losing to a stranger. The kitchen rotates through bar food, birria tacos one week and chili-cheese dogs the next, and the terrace is where you go to confirm the sun still exists.


  4. Voodoo Queen Daiquiri Dive in the East End is a dive bar that also contains an arcade, a po'boy counter, and eight frozen drink machines churning like a laundromat for neon. Pool and air hockey keep the hands busy, and the menu runs to fried shrimp, hush puppies, and tater tots under roast beef. Come in jeans, split a flaming tiki boat with whoever you trust most, and expect to leave with a very green tongue.



  5. Address
    1005 W 19th St, Houston, TX · Houston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Wednesday 4 PM–2 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  6. Rank 5. Catbirds

    Dive Bar


    Address
    1336 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX · Houston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 3:30 PM

    Wednesday 3:30 PM–2 AM

    Online
    Website
  7. Rank 5. La Carafe

    Dive Bar



  8. Rank 5. Notsuoh

    Dive Bar

    Taxidermy, graffitied walls, mannequins, shelves of old shoes, and a trippy dome with bean bag chairs on the second floor: Notsuoh is less a dive bar and more a three-story cabinet of curiosities that also happens to serve drinks. The art is strange, the vibe is stranger, and the whole place reads like a dare Houston issues to anyone who thinks Austin has a monopoly on weird. An old-school Main Street institution that earns every square foot.


    Address
    314 Main St, Houston, TX · Houston
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 7 PM

    Wednesday 7 PM–2 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  9. Rank 5. Sunny's Bar

    Dive Bar


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