Sometimes, you just want to go where everyone knows your name; that safe, familiar dive where the drinks are cheap, the lighting is low, and you can always get away with wearing sandals and a T-shirt. If you have landed in a place where high-fives fly and your granddaddy smiles when he tells the tales of kicking back a few in his younger days, you have most likely found yourself in one of the top three oldest and iconic Dive Bars on Fort Lauderdale Beach.
Whether you pull up a barstool and visit on National Dive Bar Day (April 9) or any one of the other 364 days in the year – you will surely make a great memory at these landmark dive bar locations – raise a glass, cheers!
Blondies
Located oceanfront in the heart of Fort Lauderdale Beach, Blondies is a favorite amongst locals and a throwback to the infamous Spring Break Headquarter days. Voted ‘Best Bar to Take Out-Of-Towners’ by New Times and ‘Five Must-Visit Fort Lauderdale Bars’ by InTown 411, Blondies massive bar filled with friendly bartenders, 50+ flat screen TV’s, pool tables, arcade games and a beachfront view like no other, make this Fort Lauderdale Beach dive bar / sports bar a Fort Lauderdale beach staple.
Elbo Room
The Elbo Room has long occupied a special place in Fort Lauderdale, both its physical location at the iconic corner where Las Olas Boulevard meets the ocean and in the collective heart and sometimes hazy memory of those who may have happily wasted some of their youth there. Since its opening in 1938, through a 1956 rebuild, the Elbo Room has served as a dive-bar institution, a national Spring Break mecca and a cultural touchstone. There is always something for someone, and if you like loud music, legendary bars and history you will love the Elbo Room.
World Famous Parrot Lounge
Fun. Food. Libation. Those are the words stamped above the door at the Parrot Lounge, one of Fort Lauderdale’s oldest bars, which opened it’s doors in 1970. The folks inside stick to that slogan but there is something special about the Parrot that you have to visit to understand – and it’s the family atmosphere and friendly service which link it to dive bar status. Tucked inside a corner near the beach, the red-brick building is sandwiched between a gamut which runs from a tattoo shop to ice cream parlor, but despite its close proximity to a slew of spring-break hangouts, this is where the locals go. Technically a beach bar, the exposed brick walls, sports memorabilia, and patrons make it feel like a Northeastern watering hole.
