So, I’ll launch the Dustbin Confessionals by professing my
love of the dive bar. Perhaps this hearkens back to a time in which dive bars were
the only places that would serve my 19-year-old self. Perhaps I just had such
fun times playing entire Madonna albums on the dive jukes and dancing away with
my girlfriends. Or perhaps the smell of stale Coors Light is somehow
comforting. Whatever the reason, no matter what poshness I’ve experienced, my
heart belongs in a dive.
I had a few standards in New York that I loved. Holiday Cocktail
Lounge on St Mark’s Place is fantastic – small, dark, with stinky loos and a
no-nonsense barman. As if all that isn’t charming enough, the black leather
booth seats were proudly repaired with duct tape. Ah, yes, many a morning did I
find the sticky remnants on my ass. Milano’s is another gem. Located on Houston, it’s a surprising little haven from the hustle
and bustle of SoHo. But don’t mistake calm for
class: Milano’s is the real deal. The walls are jammed with beer signs, band
advertisements, whatever. Dim neon barely lights up the interior – not that
you’d actually want to see what’s going on, mind you. Pop in sometime mid-day
for enlightening barfly conversation. O’Connor’s in Brooklyn
taught me not to drink bourbon. Well, I still do, but O’Connor’s taught me that
I shouldn’t. It was my post-tattoo bar of choice back in the day, and I still
long for its grit.
Thankfully, Buffalo has many
a dive bar – so many, in fact, that several friends and I entertained the idea
of creating a Monopoly using Buffalo
dive bars. Although we’re far too lazy to actually do it, I think I found the Park Place of Buffalo dive bars: The
Rendezvous.
ElMarko was raving about how The Rendezvous was THE place to
go, albeit briefly. A series of mishaps and bad business decisions closed it
before its time. Located on the struggling Niagara Street on the west side of Buffalo, The Rendezvous
is now straight-up hood. We stumbled (literally) in one night after pretending to
be classy elsewhere and we were greeted by a frisk and a $3 cover. I wouldn’t
mind the frisk so much, but $3? For what? Apparently for the pleasure of blasting
hip-hop, which I actually didn’t mind at all. Had I been stone-cold sober, I
*might* have minded the security guard’s many guns strapped to his body, but
happily, I didn’t care. I also might have worried that we were by far the
whitest people in there, but no one else seemed to care, so neither did I. The
barman was really friendly and accommodating, and as soon as I heard me some
Jay-Z, I was good. ElMarko lamented the loss of the interior - apparently,
there’d been some great old booths and such – but I was blissful in my
ignorance.
Will I be hanging out at The Rendezvous on a regular basis?
Eh, probably not. But it’s good to know of yet another dive that I can crawl
into when the need presents itself.
Ah, Rendezvous. The death and bizarre re-animation of another Buffalo institution... It had these uniquely high booths so that no one would know who was sitting in them. It was a place designed specifically for the unfaithful. So weird, so wonderful, so Buffalo.
Posted by: Johnny Lager | 03/13/2010 at 07:31 AM
It's straight up gangsta. Imma have to go back with my door knocker earrings.
Posted by: Jay | 03/13/2010 at 07:41 AM
Dive bar monopoly, Awesome!!!!
Posted by: Prichinna | 03/13/2010 at 12:03 PM
Jay - You can borrow my gold Ghetto Blaster necklace to complete your look.
Posted by: Kels | 03/13/2010 at 07:48 PM
I know O'Connor's well. And also Last Exit on Atlantic Ave. Don't get me started on CBGB's, it was historical dive! I used to haunt a Goth Dive called The Pyramid nestled in the lower east side before it was invaded by hipsters.
Posted by: Bridget | 03/13/2010 at 10:21 PM
Kels, You can wear it when you visit and I give you a tour of the sights... nothing but the best for you, pumpkin!
Bridget, how do I not know Last Exit? I used live really close to Atlantic and walk along it to go to work all the time. Where is it? And how can I rectify my ignorance STAT?
Posted by: Jay | 03/14/2010 at 12:45 PM