This is the starting point of our blog covering authentic dive bars in Detroit.
The popularity of Authentic dive bars in Metropolitan Detroit is a resurgence of interest in all things genuine of a bygone era. This is the era that made Detroit great. Detroit Metro Airport is the hub for residents and travelers flowing through the Southeastern Michigan. Surrounding this hub are Detroit suburbs containing authentic, old-school, bars & grills dating back to 1940. That was a formative year on the west side of metro Detroit.
At the time, the area surrounding Detroit proper wasn’t referred to as “metro Detroit.” But rather, residents either lived in Detroit or they lived in the farming communities and scattered townships that surrounded the Detroit boundary.
Detroit area only hipster dive bars. The criteria will be local, family owned, neighborhood, long-standing, Mid-Century pedigree, shot-and-a-beer, and a heavy dose of ‘regular customers.’
The best ways to approach this are alphabetical, geographic, and best-to-worst. Ironically being the worst in this roster may still convey a level of panache, moxie, and hipster attractiveness. If you live in Bloomfield Hills, Franklin Village, or Grosse Pointe Shores you may be suppressing a desire to frequent a corner bar destination. Does the mid-century era excite you? These establishments contain much of the original design that was installed from 1940 through 1970.
A change began to occur within the American food and beverage industry starting in 1970. What happened in the 1970’s? There was a national expansion of franchises. Most baby-boomers (and millennials) grew up with national food & beverage chains that cloud the attractiveness of all things old-fashioned.
Best Dive Bars of Detroit 