The Closest Dive Bar

6 comments

  1. Just Moved Downtown says:

    Cinebar on San Fernando Street.

    Afternoon. Light slants. The door’s open. Guys on stools at the bar, evenly spaced. No women, but I walk in. And nobody looks at me. Not even the bartender. They’re all watching JFK on the High Def TV above the bar. During a downtime the bartender notices me. I order a PBR because everybody else does. He nods. They nod. I watch the movie. This is like being at home with my brothers.

    October 19th, 2010 at 12:53 AM

  2. Theophony says:

    The Caravan turns its back on the Greyhound station on a day that started out wet and now is clearing. I come in a little warily, it’s my first time. Bartender nods, so do the regulars at the end of the bar, quietly chatting at noon. But something else is in here, you can feel it. Something touched here last night, some camraderie, some crazy joke, some amazing pool shot, some perfectly-chosen jukebox song. Maybe all of that. It’s like a warm shadow that lingers, a whiff of fading incense, a warm wall even now that the sun has set. Community strikes here, brotherhood of drinkers, and while it may not be here right now, it waits patiently, and so do we.

    October 19th, 2010 at 8:23 PM

  3. Drew Clark says:

    cinebar

    Tacobilly scene queen
    Totters past the projected
    Paintings of Marilyn Monroe
    Hank Williams &
    Robert Smith
    Rolling gait
    A sailor on the deck
    of a ship
    PBR on tap
    Outside
    Fixies chained up to
    Parking meters
    I saw a guy throw up
    Against the wall
    While waiting to use
    The bathroom
    What the hell?

    October 20th, 2010 at 12:15 AM

  4. The Den says:

    Some movies catch this idea. Dark inside. People talking. Jukebox acts as soundtrack. And then the outside door opens and you realize it’s daytime. A shot of light. Then another beer. Another pool game. Another shuffleboard.

    October 20th, 2010 at 2:16 AM

  5. Giants Fan says:

    The Bears on West San Carlos

    deserve an award. Not just for the biker clientele, the smokers out in the back parking lot, the Grateful Dead on the jukebox. All that’s great, but mostly this: You front the street with windows. Full floor to ceiling windows. So people can look in. And people can look out. No dark hideaway this, no incognito: this is open and transparent and defiantly so.

    October 20th, 2010 at 6:24 PM

  6. Old Timer says:

    The Red Stag

    I can remember when you used to rewrite the idea of ’strip mall dive bar.’ You’re nicer now, more of a k aroaker place. But still, in the afternoons: your door opens onto the parking lot, the click of poolballs, hank williams on the jukebox. Like a bubble iin a storm.

    October 23rd, 2010 at 1:49 AM