“These types of places are the fabric of America,” says Fieri, whose Restaurant Relief Fund raised $25 million to assist unemployed restaurant workers during the pandemic. “They represent the mom-and-pops, the young entrepreneurs, the timeless classics, the college stories, the good old days, the newest, the latest, and the greatest. When I hit the road for DDD back in 2007, I knew that there was a lot to discover out there but I had no idea just how vast and exciting our roadside (or otherwise) food culture was.”
As for Head—whose favorite Texas dives includes Casino El Camino, just off Austin’s Monarch Highway, which serves a mean burger with roasted serrano chiles, and San Marcos’s Showdown, home to southwestern delicacy the Frito pie—he believes the beauty of these dive bars lies in their histories, some of which clock in at around 150 years old. The Shooting Star Saloon in Huntsville, Utah (population 585), for example, serves “Burgers, Beers, Soda and Chips. NO Fries!!” and has been in operation since 1879.
Why the longevity? Dives are affordable, accessible places that generations have enjoyed, many of which Head notes are family businesses that have been handed down through the years. They possess “a humble atmosphere, one that’s not striving to be a life-altering experience but one that meets you exactly as you are,” says McGorman. And perhaps most importantly, they are spaces that satisfy regulars and travelers alike, crossing age demographics and tax brackets, thanks to an increasingly rare quality: a disregard for keeping up with the trends. A dive bar just is what it is.
“Dive bars are essentially continuing conversations which began long before you arrived, and will continue after you leave,” says Head. Hopefully, over the same single patty with cheese that has never been taken off the menu.
