Watering Hole

The Dive

947 E. Passyunk Ave., 215-465-5505

The Dive, tucked into a little brick row home on Passyunk, is the type of neighborhood bar you wished you had just around the corner from your place. Happy hour is from 5 to 7 p.m. every day, with $2 liquor, $2 beers and free slices from J&J's Pizza, just down the street.

Manager Scott Bicksler has been with The Dive since it opened a year ago, but also worked there when it was still called Low. When current owner Jonn Klein bought the place, he added another bar to the second floor and turned the third story into a game room.

The wood-paneled ground floor has a long bar that spans the length of the space. Colored Christmas lights are strung along the perimeter of the tin ceiling, and a big flat screen TV hangs in the middle of the bar. TV Dinners, Chef Boyardee, Hot Pockets, popcorn and ice cream are served from the glass-front fridge, and heated in the microwave conveniently located below it. Friendly as hell, the bartenders serve five different beers on tap, including Yuengling and the seasonal Lancaster Milk Stout.

The signature drink is whatever you want, but the bartenders recommend a Planters Punch. Bicksler, who says he's quitting soon and moving to St. Croix with his fiancee, makes the punch by mixing Captain Morgan's and Bacardi with OJ, pineapple and a splash of grenadine. It tastes like something you'd drink with breakfast—that is, until you're knocked flat-ass on the floor.

"We have so many different types of people here," says Bicksler. "And by the time they leave, they all get along. We have age ranges from 20s to 60s, from construction workers to hipsters. We have some surprising friendships come out of here."