Everything You Need to Know about Dive Bars in Austin

Ah, dive bars. The esteemed hole-in-the-wall establishments. Reviled by some and adored by many, dive bars are their own breed of bar.
Austin, TX is home to many of these fine locales, and each one has their own distinct flair. But which ones should you visit while you're in Austin? We've got the answers for you right here.

What Is an Austin Dive Bar?

Dive bars have the extra dose of personality that other bars don't. When you go to a dive bar, you're guaranteed to run into regulars.
You'll see, dive bars may not look like much on the inside, but they have established a stable clientele that ensures you'll find a sense of community in the bar you visit.

Other things you'll find? Pool tables, jukeboxes, oddball décor and dirty bathrooms. That last one isn't exactly a positive aspect, but the quality of the bathrooms has become a staple of dive bars everywhere.
A few things to remember about dive bars:

• Some of them still allow smoking indoors
• Some of them only accept cash
• Some of them only have one beer on tap, and it may not be very good (one local dive bar has only Natural Light on tap for $2 a pint).

The three above points are reasons some people don't prefer to visit dive bars, but many would argue that those "negative" qualities are part of their charm!
There is a wonderful unpretentious quality to dive bars that many people find endearing, so if you are one of those people then keep on reading!

How Can a Dive Bar Tour Improve Your Bachelor Party?

Visiting a few dive bars can add a little bit of character to your bachelor party (not that you don't have enough already).
It can also be a fun change of scenery from the formal wineries and casual breweries that people tend to visit on their big weekends. Of course, when you go to a dive bar you're going to get something very casual, but that's kind of the point, isn't it?

If you've got a whole weekend planned, and one of those nights is spent on 6th Street, consider switching it up a bit and doing a dive bar tour. Look at it this way: everyone goes to 6th Street when they come to Austin.
If you're coming into town and you tell a local "Let's go to 6th Street!", they're probably going to roll their eyes.

However, if you opt to do a dive bar tour, then that brings something fresh and exciting to the proceedings.
The added bonus of dive bars is that there are plenty of them which even locals haven't discovered yet, so you could easily find a diamond in the rough that most people haven't caught on to yet.
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​How Can Ninja Buses Help?

Austin is home to dozens of dive bars. Whether you're north, east, south, west or central, there's always a dive bar near you.

But which ones are the must-visit bars? Here at Ninja Buses, we know all the best dive bars to visit in town.
In fact, one of our favorite dive bars is located just five minutes from our garage! Located in central Austin on the west side of 5th street, The Mean-Eyed Cat is a Johnny Cash-themed dive bar that also doubles as a satellite location for Stubb's BBQ.

In the same area (on the other side of Mopac/Loop 1) you'll find Deep Eddy Cabaret, which has been opened for more than 60 years!
Moving to the north side of town, it's imperative that you visit Lala's Little Nugget, which is decorated like Christmas all year round, and Workhorse Bar with its tree stump chairs.

Heading on over to the East side, you'll find a plethora of houses that have been converted into bars. The legendary East side is changing fast, but you'll still find a good bit of old-fashioned dive bars like La Perla and its friendly staff and Shangri-La with its enormous outside patio.

Not all of the best dive bars are centered in one location, so you're going to want to travel around the city to hit all of the hot spots.
Ninja Buses can help you do that by renting you one of our party buses! Not only does this allow you to keep everyone in your group together from bar to bar, but it also ensures that you're able to keep the party going between stops.

• Don't split everyone up in a bunch of Ubers.
• And don't drive around town in your own cars (drinking and driving is a big no-no!).

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​Rent a party bus, which comes packed with tons of cool amenities like speaker systems with Bluetooth capabilities, flat-screen TVs, Nintendos and more!

Contact Ninja Buses today to book a party bus for your dive bar tour in Austin!