McArdle's Pub

McArdle’s is an Irish dive bar on a side street in the Southside with surprisingly—no smoking. It still has that dank smoking feel to it. If we hadn’t known it was non-smoking now, we would not have guessed. In all honesty we could just leave it right there. The space is almost entirely occupied by a giant rectangular bar. There is a pool table in a back room. The lighting is very dim, which is nice. The drinks are cheap. They have a very small draft selection, two of which were plastic cupped when we were there.

Recently, A had a friend in town for a few days to put up a show at City Theater. He was in from Philly; yes, you can hold that against him. A was excited to show him the joys and wonders that a rejuvenated Pittsburgh has to offer. But where did A’s friend want to go? McArdle’s. Why? Because it was close. Out of all the bars in the entire Southside, he chose McArdle’s. So for two nights in a row, A went to McArdle’s with theater people. Of course that was not on official blog business. We had tried to go there to review it a couple of times only to find it closed, but we finally made it recently.

When A was there for unofficial business he saw some of the same faces that were there when he went in an official capacity. We are assuming there is a little community that exists there, which is nice. Probably some locals who don’t want to deal with Carson Street.

We love a good dive bar and this one is fine, but it is not somewhere you would go out of your way to go to. Or, you know, be the main bar you hang out in when you are visiting a different city.

Address:	1600 Bingham St, 15203	Games:	Pool, Darts
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Irish Dive
Parking:	Wear Walking Shoes	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	5pm-2am  (seem to be closed Sun-Mon)	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Dirt Cheap	# taps:	10
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	None
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$6
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	2	Size:	Normal

Shale's Cafe

This bar looks completely sketchy and scary from the outside. There's no light on the sign and it looks dirty and dingy. We had to do a double take to determine whether it was even open.

Once inside, though, we realized it's our favorite kind of dive bar. It was a non-hockey night so there were just a few people in the bar. A couple of regulars were down the way and we sat next to a new Pittsburgh transplant from Russia who had also never been in the bar. The bartender was super friendly and engaging and made all of us feel at home. We had a nice chat about Pittsburgh, New York, and the history of the bar. Most importantly, she had a heavy hand on her pour. We contemplated getting another drink there and just hanging out because we were having such a nice time, but alas the next bar called.

She also totally caught us taking a picture of the exterior. It’s always hard to come up with an excuse as to why we do the things we do when pressed. We have a few stock answers, but sometimes we get caught off guard. At any rate, we had to be extra sly about reviewing the place and as a result we're missing a little info and a lot of pictures. You'll have to just take our word.

It doesn't have a great selection. It's a little worn down and smoky. But it was our favorite bar of the night. The next time we go to a Pens game we are looking forward to seeing what it’s like in full swing. 

Address:	1208 Fifth Ave, 15219	Games:	Pinball, Golden Tee, Poker
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Hockey Dive
Parking:	Easy (on non-game nights)	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	Some (non-smoking bar upstairs)	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	6
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Game Specials
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	Don't Know
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	3	Size:	Normal

Murphy's Tap Room

We have mixed feelings about this bar. It is a great space with a huge bar and a back room that just keeps going. There are pool tables, a shuffleboard table and multiple dart boards as well as a back bar, which we have never seen open. Maybe it’s just for St. Patrick’s Day. A has had some great nights, even pivotal moments in his life at this bar and plays pool there on a regular basis. A has a special place in his heart for Murphy’s, J hates it. Why? It is SO FUCKING SMOKY!!

We go to a lot of smoking bars and most of them are okay. They have ventilation and you can open your eyes, but not at Murphy's. On a weeknight it is almost bearable; there are only 10 or 20 people puffing away. But on a Saturday night with 80 drunk people chain smoking you can barely open your eyes. It actually hurts. If the person who owns this bar or someone who knows the person who owns this bar reads this: please, please, please get some airflow or something. This is a great space, and we cannot go here on weekends.

Sadly, that colors everything about the place. It’s pretty cheap and the bartenders are always nice. In fact, we had a brief discussion with the bartender about the “sometimes it’s not Jameson” scandal and she agrees. The people are just a nice mix of locals. We go to Gooski's and Remedy without blinking an eye, even though they are very smoky bars, but Murphy's is just too smoky. However, A still loves it and will be there soon, but probably on a weeknight.

Address:	1106 S. Braddock Ave, 15218 http://www.murphystaproom.com/	Games:	Pool, Darts, Shuffleboard, Pinball
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Local Smoky Dive
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	1970s Pittsburgh	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	12pm-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	6
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Daily
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$8.00
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	4 in front	Size:	Friggin' Huge

Conley's

This is one of those bars that you aren't going to go to unless you live right near it. Well, even if you live near it we're still not sure you should go there. It's not that it's terrible; it's just that it’s an average dumpy dive-bar on a street with a lot of great options.

It's cheap as hell, it's dirty and it's smoky even on a Monday night. The decor is pretty dive-bar standard: drop-ceilings and dust. The bartender very nicely wiped down the entire bar area in front of us when we sat down. We doubt the regulars such treatment.


There were a fair number of people there for a Monday and a group of guys playing pool. We were out of place there for sure. Mostly it seems like the place you get your cheap six packs from, or where you buy 40s when you're underage. They did not have Jameson, which is a big strike against a bar as far as we’re concerned.

Address:	5245 Butler St, 15201	Games:	Pool, poker
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Drop ceilings and cigarette smoke
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Nasty
Smoking:	1970s Pittsburgh	Jukebox:	None
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Dirt Cheap	# taps:	2
Bathrooms:	Hover	Specials:	Being Cheap
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$6.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	2	Size:	Hole in the Wall

Howard's Park Place Pub

We're going to be honest with you. If you don't live within a five block radius of this bar; you're never going to go there. J lives within throwing distance of it and only goes there for Emergency Six Packs. So, who does go there? Lonely people that live within walking distance, that’s who.

We know that sounds harsh, but we think it's actually kind of nice that they have a place to go. Howard's (previously Donny's, but apparently that had some bad associations with it) is the smallest of neighborhood bars. The people in Howard's live nearby and know each other well. They really seemed like a little support group for each other. There were inside jokes and gossip. When someone came in they spent time catching up with the others, asking after pets and family like old friends do. Everyone who walked in was greeted by the bartender by name and got a drink immediately.

The bartender told us a story about trying to buy what ended up being a $40 copy of Vogue at Barnes and Noble. Someone still goes to Barnes and Noble? Print media is not dead! That was just too much for the bartender to handle, though, and she didn’t buy it. One of the patrons mused, how can they afford to buy the clothes if they spend all that money on the magazine. How indeed?

You have to buzz to get in and it’s brighter than we would like for a little dive bar. It used to be a pretty bad smoke box, but recently turned non-smoking. It’s on a residential street, so it closes at 10pm. For real, if you're not one of the existing twelve patrons, you're not going to go there. If you move into the area and want to meet and have a drink with your neighbors, it's your best bet.

Address:	534 Peebles St, 15221	Games:	Poker
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Neighborhood Dive
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	None
Hours:	-10pm	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Dirt Cheap	# taps:	2
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Being Cheap
Live music:	Almost Never	Riley Factor:	$7.00
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	3	Size:	Hole in the Wall

The Real Luck Cafe

The Real Luck Cafe, or Lucky's, is a weird little dive gay bar down on Penn Avenue. It’s near downtown, but still in the strip. The building is old  and marked by an unlit, duct-taped shamrock sign outside. You have to go around to a side door to get in, so it automatically seems sketchy.

Once you're inside, it's less sketchy, but just as divey. The downstairs bar isn't decorated much and has an old diner vibe to it. On a Monday night, we were the only people in the bar. The bartender wasn't what you would call friendly, but got us our drinks and they were cheap enough. There was popcorn on the bar and free wings on a side table, but I don't know if I would actually eat anything there. It's definitely still a dirty dive bar.

The upstairs bar has DJs and "Hot Male Nude Dancers" on most nights. On a dead Monday though, there were no naked men on the bar. It was just us, a bored bartender, and Mike and Molly on the TV.

Address:	1519 Penn Ave, 15222	Games:	Pinball, Poker
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Dive
Parking:	Easy at night	Patio/Outdoor:	Yes
Kitchen:	Pizza and Wings	Cleanliness:	Nasty
Smoking:	Some	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	4pm-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	4
Bathrooms:	Hover	Specials:	Daily Special and Happy Hour
Live music:	DJs upstairs	Riley Factor:	$8.00
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	3	Size:	Normal

Lefty's

Lefty's is one of the only true dive bars left in the strip. It's pretty much what you would expect. It's not filthy, but it's not especially clean. The drinks are cheap, but they're not fancy or varied. The two drink specials consisted of a “strong” island iced tea and red bull and vodka. There's a pool table and darts. Everyone there seemed pretty content to keep to themselves and drink their drinks.

The last time J was there on a weekend afternoon (errands gone astray with editor C), a girl came in, sat down on a stool, ordered a whiskey, and then fell right off of said stool. "I'm not even drunk," she said. Haven't we all said that lie at some drunken point? The bartender was quick and decisive: picked the girl up, put her on a couch, took away her whiskey, and got her water.


So, it might not be a fancy place, but they know what to do with your drunk ass if it falls over. That's always nice. Plus they have Coors Original which no one ever has. It's like the forgotten cheap domestic beer.

Address:	2021 Penn Ave, 15222	Games:	Pool, Darts
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Sports Dive
Parking:	Easy at night	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Nasty to Normal
Smoking:	Some	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	11am-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Dirt Cheap	# taps:	0
Bathrooms:	Hover	Specials:	"Strong" Islands
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$5.00 but really a strong single
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	>10	Size:	Hole in the Wall