10 Best Florida Dive Bars For Beer Lovers

December 31, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day Orlando lost one of its most storied dive bars. Numerous bar patrons had descended down the staircase at the corner of Orange Avenue and Pine Street to Tanqueray's, an underground dive bar that opened in 1989 and looked like it could barely fit 100 people. The air was coated in cigarette smoke and haze, the lights were dim to nonexistent, the seats and tables proudly showed their wear and tear, and the beer was cheap and plentiful. That was the vibe at Tanqueray's, and its smoke-tainted walls held countless stories. Then, as the clock struck midnight to bring in the new year, it was all over. 

The closing of a must-visit bar in Orlando's nightlife scene left a hole waiting to be filled. What are the other dive bars in Florida that hold the same charm as this beloved bar? Thankfully, many of the state's best dive bars are still open, with cheap beer continuing to flow to countless patrons who see these places not just as a place to have a cold beer, but as local institutions. So, using online reviews and bar blogs, we came up with a collection of the Sunshine State's best dive bars that beer lovers will thoroughly enjoy. If this is your vibe, it's time to take a trip to experience a slice of Americana that's slowly being lost to the winds of time.

When coming over the Pensacola Beach Bridge into this scenic beach city, you'll almost miss one of the best dive bars in the region on the right-hand side. Sitting near the corner of Via De Luna Drive and Fort Pickens Road, Shandshaker seems hidden from view, but it is a place where the reward is bountiful for those who seek to find it. The indoor-outdoor bar is a no-frills place where you go to have a cold drink, socialize, and listen to live music while the sun sinks into the turquoise blue waters of the sea. 

There is another reason people flock to the Sandshaker: To partake in the ritual of drinking the beloved Bushwacker. First appearing on the drink menu in 1977, the Bushwacker is a frozen drink made with Kahlua, a coffee liqueur that gives it its signature chocolate aesthetic. According to the bar's website, the Bushwacker is Sandshaker's top-selling drink, but this place is also a haven for beer lovers. This beach dive has seen plenty over the years, and it looks almost the same as when it first opened. The clientele and vibes remain the same, with locals and tourists mingling together, enjoying the quintessential Florida beach dive bar, all while sipping on a nice cold beer. 

Destin is one of the premier tourist magnets on the Florida Panhandle. With tourists flocking to this fishing city with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Destin really is a place where the fun never ends. Among the throngs of chains that eagerly cater to tourists sits a dive bar that has managed to retain its local feel, unflinching to the tourist-driven gentrification of Harbor Boulevard: The Red Door Saloon. 

You'll have to look hard to find it, as it sits a ways off the road, but peaking out from the driftwood trees, you'll see the bar with its red-coated windows and the famous red door that gave the bar its name. The Red Door Saloon is unassuming, to say the least. It's not as clean as some of the touristy bars that dot HarborWalk Village just down the street from the bar, and you may be caught off guard by the cigarette smoke that dominates the sensory experience of the outdoor patio (which offers some of the best views of Destin Harbor). Still, the beer is cheap, and Tripadvisor reviews give the bar high marks for food. The clientele of the bar is as local as it gets, and while some reviewers note that it can get a bit rowdy at times, that adds to the overall atmosphere of this rough-around-the-edges, pull-no-punches dive bar in a sea of tourist chains.

When you arrive at AJ's Grayton Beach, you might find yourself questioning who put the bar together. When you lay eyes on it for the first time, the giant mass of kayaks sticking out from the roof of its wood frame will almost inevitably stand out. In many ways, the wacky exterior fits the vibe of Grayton Beach, a Florida town that could pass for the Caribbean, with a motto of "Nice dogs, strange people." AJ's is an establishment that does things its own way, marches to its own drumbeat, and this is what makes it one of the state's best bar finds.

While the exterior decor is delightfully eccentric, the interior is arguably weirder. You'll see all of the neon signs from famous beer brands that you tend to find at other dive bars, but hanging from the roof are an assortment of things, from kayaks that found their way to the ceiling to a small chandelier hanging from a circle of kayak paddles. While it can be sensory overload for a first-time visitor, the cold beer will help relax your sensory palate. AJ's has a great happy hour special, with $5.50 draft beer on weeknights that includes the bar's signature draft, AJ's Sunset Ale, a golden ale blonde that goes down incredibly well. AJ's is not just your regular dive bar; it's an experience, just like the town itself.

Coming over the Eau Gallie Boulevard causeway from Indian Harbour Beach, you might not be aware that you're passing by one of the best dive bars on the Space Coast. The signage for the Salty Fox is small, and the bar is at the end of a strip mall that contains investment firms and hardware stores. If you blink, you may miss it, but if you love cheap beer, good food, and a local atmosphere, you won't get much better than The Salty Fox. 

The Salty Fox isn't your typical dive bar, especially when it comes to the food it offers. Taking a peek at the bar's food menu, you'll see selections you wouldn't normally find in a dive bar, with some of these food options seeming more at home in a mid-priced sit-down restaurant. However, it's here, and it is delicious. Of course, the main reason people come to a dive bar is for a cold drink, and the Salty Fox perfectly accommodates the crowd. Each night is different, from emo Mondays to bottomless mimosas and a Bloody Mary bar on Hungover Sundays. Karaoke? You'll find that here on Thursdays. The star of the show is the beer, with several Tripadvisor reviews complimenting the bar's extensive selection of craft options. 

Traveling east out of the urban sprawl of Fort Myers, you'll enter the unincorporated area of Buckingham, a part of Lee County that has managed to retain that unmistakable Old Florida look and feel. Enjoying the rural feel of the area, however, isn't the only reason to take a drive out here, as sitting on Buckingham Road is one of the best dive bars in Florida, the legendary Buckingham Blues Bar. From the outside, it certainly looks like your typical, normal dive bar, all opaque windows and doors that, at first glance, don't seem all that inviting.

But once you open the door and step inside, you are walking into history. Surrounded by rural land, this out-of-the-way dive bar is a delightful juggernaut, beloved for cheap, cold beer and live blues music. According to the Fort Myers News-Press, big names in the genre, such as Delbert McClinton and JJ Grey & Mofro, have come to Buckingham Blues Bar to perform a set. Blues history runs deep from these nondescript walls, and while you're listening to some of the best blues this side of the Mississippi River, the inexpensive beer is also on ice, ready for eager patrons in search of a cold one or two. Buckingham Blues Bar is a treat that you'll be rewarded with for going out of your way to find it.

When you think of bar culture in Jacksonville, there are a couple of areas that stand out. We're talking about the beach bars of Duval's coastal communities, and the Five Points area just to the southeast of downtown. Springfield is another area that's slowly coming into its own as a place to grab a cold beer, and it is here that we find one of Jacksonville's best dive bars, the Shanty Town Pub. 

A colorful mural greets you as you walk up to the red front door, and the dive bar qualities become apparent as soon as you enter. The illuminated beer signs appear to give the bar its only light, and the ceiling looks like it's seen better days, but the hanging beer taps make for a truly unique aesthetic. Shanty Town Pub has plenty of cool murals inside, along with a small area where musicians perform their craft. If you're the type of beer lover who prefers to drink their cheap suds outside, Shanty Town Pub has a lush backyard with picnic tables, colored lawn chairs of different styles, and almost impeccable vibes.

If you're looking for a dive bar, the Scoundrel's Field Guide is a reliable resource for finding hidden-gem bars. In its review of Tampa's Hole In the Wall, located on a stretch of West Hillsborough Avenue, the publication gave the bar a score of eight out of 10, with this place offering a dive bar experience that is as authentic as you can get in this town. According to the reviewer, "it's remarkable what Hole in the Wall was able to pack into such a small dive bar space." Hole In the Wall is located away from Tampa's flourishing brewpub scene, but this dive bar seemingly hides in plain sight, sitting auspiciously in a sea of pawn shops, auto parts stores, gas stations, and drug stores.

The inside of Hole In the Wall certainly gives off that dive bar feel. It's barely lit, has a stripper pole for patrons, and a Ms. Pac-Man video game machine that has surely seen countless intoxicated patrons try to beat its high score. The narrow bar serves cold, cheap beer to a local clientele and has a one-of-a-kind atmosphere jammed into its tiny space.

The closing of Tanquaray's Bar in downtown Orlando sparked the idea for this article, but there will always be alternatives waiting to fill the void. Sitting on Mills Avenue is Will's Pub, which moved to a larger building in 2008, and while you might think that a pub would lose its dive bar identity once it moved to bigger digs, you'd be wrong. Instead, it did something remarkable, maintaining its ambiance while expanding what it offers in terms of live music.

Will's is a prime bar for local and underground acts to entertain patrons with their latest musical creations. The schedule covers everything from hip-hop artists to garage bands, and all will find willing ears sipping on cheap domestic and craft beer while bobbing their heads to the eclectic tunes. It is arguably because of this musical diversity that the clientele of Will's Pub is unlike the stereotypical patrons one might expect to frequent establishments such as these. You'll find the young, the old, those who dress up for a night out, and others who prefer to wear sweatpants and a T-shirt, all mingling and socializing together. So, while Tanquaray's is gone, dive bar lovers in Orlando can rejoice knowing that there is another bar that will capture their hearts.

In the 1960 comedy "Where the Boys Are," one of the bars the college students frequented while on their Spring Break voyage was the Elbo Room on Fort Lauderdale Beach. First opened in 1938, the Elbo Room was a long-time hot spot for Spring Breakers, and while the annual party has died down quite a bit over the years, those vibes have never left this historic dive. For one, the bar still only accepts cash. 

Occupying a two-story building with a jaw-dropping view of the beach, the Elbo Room serves beer that is still (relatively) cheap, while the decor is your standard beach bar dive, complete with license plates from different states nailed around the main bar and memorabilia and photos hanging as proud ornaments above it. If you've seen how the inside of the place looks in the movie and compare it to the present day, you'll come away with the notion that this place hasn't changed one bit. There's just something about having a cold beer while watching the mighty Atlantic Ocean crash harmlessly into the sand that makes you feel as if you truly are in paradise. A visit to the Elbo Room technically isn't a free thing to do in Fort Lauderdale, but that shouldn't stop you from stopping by for a beer or three.

When you think of Miami nightlife, one thing that immediately comes to mind is the pulsating nightclubs that go all night long. But what a lot of people may not know is that Miami also has a vibrant dive bar scene that has carved out its own niche in Magic City. One of the best dive bars in the city is the funky-named Mama Tried. Opening its doors in 2018, the 2,250 square-foot bar brought new life to a downtown bar scene, but with the influx of new, shiny condo towers and residents with disposable income to match, the time was just right for this hip dive bar to move in. 

Mama Tried has many of the same trappings you'll find at a traditional dive, such as arcade games, a pool table, sports-filled TVs, and a more relaxed vibe than you'll find in the bars of Miami. But don't let this dive fool you, it also has some touches that highlight its "Miami flavor," with fancy stools and golden light globes surrounding the bar. The While Mama Tried beer is Miami at its most flash, but this is a dive bar at its core. The happy hours here are some of the best and cheapest in the region, with $4 beers and $5 whisky shots that will socially lubricate anyone who walks through their doors.

One of the Sunshine State's coolest destinations for sunset views and unique shops, Key West's official motto is "One Human Family," an opening gambit that screams loud and proud that this island city is welcoming to all. But its unofficial motto should be "Bar Capital of Florida," as this city is a beer lover's paradise, having more bars per capita than any other place in America. At the corner of Southard and Whitehead Streets sits one of the most legendary dive bars not only in Key West, but in all of Florida, and that is the Green Parrot Bar.

This over 100-year-old bar is packed with Key West history. Beginning its life as a corner store in 1890, this wooden-framed building was transformed in the early 1970s. Replacing windows for open-air shutters and the AC for ceiling fans, the Green Parrot is a dimly lit dive with sultry tropical air rushing in while patrons keep cool by downing ice-cold suds. The Green Parrot has been called "the last little piece of old Key West," a place where the locals flock to have a cold drink and socialize under the humid moonlight of the Florida Keys. The numerous beers that flow from the tap and out of the cooler continue to lure in beer aficionados, with everything from big brands to microbrewery IPAs available. The Green Parrot is more than a dive bar; it's an institution, one that no beer fan hopes will ever change.

To discover the best dive bars in Florida for beer lovers, we researched blog sites such as Scoundrel's Field Guide, one of the premier resources for finding off-the-beaten-path bars. We also explored review sites such as Yelp and Tripadvisor to curate our list, which covers every part of the Sunshine State from Pensacola Beach in the Panhandle to Key West in the Florida Keys, and everywhere in between. Long live the dive bar, one of America's great institutions.