This story was originally published in February 2024.
In an age where $15 cocktails have become the norm, beer lists read like novels and words like “elevated” and “gastronomy” appear on menus, a dive bar can really hit the spot.
It’s hard to define what exactly a dive bar is, but it’s probably unglamorous, lived-in and decidedly unpretentious.
The decor isn’t fancy, though it can certainly be fanciful. There’s probably a pool table or a jukebox. It’s likely cash only. The food — if there is any — is simple.
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Dive bars in some places in Maine can be a dying breed, as profit margins shrink in the face of rising costs of doing business. But make no mistake: there are many that continue to thrive, offering a place where the beer is cheap, the company is colorful and nobody is worried about how cool they look.
Here are some of the greatest dive bars in Maine, from the farthest points east all the way to the south. Do you think we missed one? Let us know in the comments.
The New Waverly
36 Merchants Plaza, Bangor
This cash only staple in Bangor has been run by four generations of the Puiia family since it first opened on Exchange Street in 1918, and barely lost a step when it moved to its current home in Merchants Plaza in 1974. You’ll find an eclectic mix of old timers nursing a beer at the bar and younger folks playing pool and dominating the jukebox upstairs. Buddy the chocolate lab is not just the Wave’s mascot: he’s also the mayor of downtown Bangor. It says so on the T-shirts.
The Main Tavern
The Jaguar Tavern in downtown Bangor, seen in 1974. Today it’s known as the Main Tavern. Credit: BDN file photo
152 Main St., Bangor
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Another local institution, the Main Tavern is also a multi-generational family business, with the Brountas family holding down the fort on Main Street since 1939, under a few different names like the Jaguar or Peter’s Candlelighter. It’s famous for a lot of stuff, including as the go-to place for karaoke in downtown Bangor, and for its infamous Bong Water shots — a proprietary blend of various sweet liquors that might get you in trouble if you have more than one.
Caps Tavern
494 South Main St., Brewer
This South Brewer bar was rebuilt and reopened in 2018 after a fire in 2017 burned the original to the ground, and aside from the building itself, not much else changed. Cheap beer. Fun mixed drinks. Lots of motorcycles in the parking lot. Classic rock and country, either on the jukebox or played by a live band.
Peppers Pub
20 Water St., Ellsworth
Peppers Pub keeps it real by focusing on friendly bartenders and simple — and good — food. Its Sunday breakfasts are a popular stop after church or before another long work week. The bar does a lot of fundraisers for people in the community struggling with medical bills or other issues. There’s a reason it’s been beloved by locals for years now.
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Ole Hookers
106 Water St., Eastport
Nothing makes you feel like more of a salty sea dog than sidling up to a bar in a town like Eastport — and Ole Hookers East, across the street from the Coast Guard station, certainly fosters those vibes. You kind of feel like you’re in somebody’s house. The decor is funky, the food is home cooked and it gets extra spicy during the Eastport Pirate Festival in September.
Myrtle Street Tavern
12 Myrtle St., Rockland
Does a bar automatically get to be a dive if they have pickled sausages and eggs? Because Myrtle Street Tavern in Rockland does. There’s lots of other reasons why it’s a classic dive, however — not least because it’s been around for a whopping 127 years. You can truly let loose at Myrtle. Generations of people have.
Amigos
Bartender Madison Thibert pours a beer for a customer at Amigo’s in Portland on Jan. 3, 2023. Amigo’s, opened in 1972, is the longest-running bar in the city’s Old Port. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN
9 Dana St., Portland
Amigos is supposed to be a Mexican restaurant, and it is — but it’s at night when the longest-running bar in the Old Port really shines. There’s live music on the patio during the warmer months. It has one of the best happy hours in town. They may have spruced up the menu and there’s craft beer available, sure, but Amigo’s is still a divey classic amid a sea of trendy newcomers in the Old Port.
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Ruski’s
212 Danforth St., Portland
The oldest continually operating bar on this list, Ruski’s opened under a different name in 1892 as an Irish-run beer hall — before cars, before phones and before widespread electricity. It’s hard not to love this place. It’s one of the few remaining bars of its kind in Portland, as mom and pop businesses get priced out.
Skip’s Lounge
288 Narragansett Trail, Buxton
This longtime rural joint has been around since the 1970s, as its elegant wood paneling suggests. It’s got six pool tables and a function room large enough to hold professional wrestling in, and a fully carpeted, floor to ceiling stage — but its dive bar credentials came first. It started out as a house trailer and has grown and grown. It’s the only roadhouse for miles around.
The National Weather Service is predicting a scorcher for parts of western and northern Maine on Tuesday, with the possibility of thunderstorms, high winds and hail.
“The heat and humidity is going to supply energy to the atmosphere,” said meteorologist Hunter Tubbs on Monday. “That energy is going to clash with a cold front expected to come down from Canada tomorrow night. That clash has the potential to produce severe storms.”
The evening storms could bring large hail up to 2 inches in diameter and heavy thunderstorms, but severe winds are likely to cause the most damage, forecasters say. There is a low possibility oftornadoes, according to the severe weather bulletin.
The areas at most risk include Maine’s western mountains and the northern part of Maine, from its northern foothills up to the Canadian border, Tubbs said. There is some risk of severe storms in the south, but not as much, he said.
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Heat and humidity are expected to peak Tuesday, Tubbs said, with heat indices climbing into the upper 90s in cities like Augusta, Lewiston and Waterville. The heat index temperature — or how hot it feels when combining heat and humidity — is predicted to hit 104 in Fryeburg.
The humidity will ease Wednesday, Tubbs said, but the heat will linger into Thursday with highs in the low 90s. By Thursday evening, a gradual cooling trend will emerge that is likely to last into the weekend.
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Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics…
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The poster for “The Texas Carol.” (Courtesy of Lakewood Theater)
“THE TEXAS CAROL”
Don’t miss “The Texas Carol” set to be performed at various times July 16-25 at Lakewood Theater, 76 Theater Road in Madison.
The production by Jayme McGhan and Kevin Dean focuses on the Dinkel family as they head to Mee-Maw Jane’s East Texas ranch for what might be her last Christmas. The only problem? When the first two grandchildren arrive, they discover that Mee-Maw is already gone! Now how to keep that fact (and her body) from a family on the edge and salvage what remains of Christmas?
Starring Donna Irish, Shana Page, Will Stecher, Addie King, Caleb Landry, Quincy Morin, David Shedd and Earl Boyd.
Tickets cost $30-$52 for adults or $23 for children 4-17; lakewoodtheater.org.
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Brothers Will and Reid Nichols, of 12/OC, performing August 2025 at Thompson’s Point in Portland. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
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12/OC
Bowl in the Pines plans to host 12/OC at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at 1 Geranium Lane in Sidney.
Born in a family kitchen in Portland, 12/OC began as a shared dream between brothers Will and Reid, 14 and 11 years old, cutting their teeth at jam sessions and open mic nights. Their sound quickly resonated beyond Maine, capturing the attention of country music fans near and far. With a chart-topping single holding the No. 1 spot on Maine’s premier country radio station for 16 consecutive weeks, their momentum became impossible to ignore.
Tickets cost $52.73-$84-61; bowlinthepines.com.
Singer-songwriter Alice Limoges. (Photo by Alex Burnett)
Alice Limoges & missofija
Stop in at The Playhouse at Waterville Station at 7 p.m. Saturday for an intimate double‑bill featuring two of Maine’s most compelling rising artists: Alice Limoges and missofija.
Limoges has been singing since before she could walk. Whether performing her award-winning poetic songs about love and nature, or shining a light on mental health, her canon is lit up by her storytelling, unique, soulful voice and textural instrumentals. She has released six original albums/EPs, toured festivals and colleges across North America, and performed on Jon Samson’s Grammy Award winning album. She placed in the 2021 International Songwriting Contest and won the 2025 Maine Songwriting Contest.
After writing her first song at 3 years old, missofija never looked back. Her unique sound is inspired by her background as an opera singer and by the folk songs of her Lithuanian upbringing. She uses profound, symbolic lyrics, intricate melodies and complex harmonic structures to send chills through every audience she performs for.
Tickets cost $20; theplayhouse.me.
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Trombone Shorty will play Bowl in the Pines in Sidney in July. (Photo by Jean Frank)
TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE
Don’t miss the Let ‘Em Go Tour set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bowl in the Pines – Amphitheather 1 Geranium Lane, Sidney.
Perhaps the most recognizable ambassador for New Orleans music working today, Shorty has spent his entire life carrying the torch for Crescent City culture, and propelling it forward into the 21st century with his ecstatic live performances and intoxicating blend of rock, funk, soul, jazz, blues, hip-hop, and Caribbean influences.
Born Troy Andrews, Shorty made his first appearance at New Orleans’ iconic Jazz Fest at 4 years old, when he took the stage for an impromptu performance with Bo Diddley. By 6, he was heading up his own brass band, and by his early 20s, he’d released the first in a string of albums that would lead to performances everywhere from the White House and the Grammy Awards to Madison Square Garden and the 2025 Super Bowl.
Tickets cost $63-$120; bowlinthepines.com.
THE PRINCESS CONCERT
Check out The Princess Concert set for 3:30 and again at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Waterville Opera House, 1 Common St. in Waterville.
The performance will pay tribute to the iconic, heartwarming, and nostalgic songs from films including “Frozen,” “Wicked,” “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” “Moana,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Beauty & The Beast,” “Anastasia,” “Pocahontas,” “Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Lion King,” “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” and more.
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Tickets cost $30-$67 for ages 16-plus; operahouse.org.
BLACK WOLF BAND
Waterfront Wednesday plans to host Black Wolf Band at 6 p.m. Wednesday in downtown Augusta.
The weekly Waterfront Wednesday events scheduled through Aug. 5 will feature free music, food and family fun returning to the Kennebec River.
Each week, concertgoers can bring a lawn chair or blanket and settle in for live music from local bands and DJs. There will be a food truck at every event.
For more information visit mainstreetmaine.org.
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Looking for more? Check out theonline calendar listings for other entertainment offerings.
AUGUSTA — As part of the summer speed reduction awareness and high-visibility enforcement campaign, the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety is working in conjunction with the other New England Highway Safety Offices, in a combined effort to slow drivers down. The New England Drive to Save Lives campaign calls on all drivers to recognize speeding as an unnecessary and aggressive driving behavior that endangers all road users.
Communities across America are affected every year by fatalities that occur in speeding-related crashes. In 2024, there were 11,288 speed-related traffic fatalities, accounting for 29% of all traffic fatalities. Young drivers have a higher chance of being involved in speeding-related crashes. In 2024, 39% of male drivers and 20% of female drivers in the 15- to 20-year-old age group involved in fatal traffic crashes, speeding was a factor.
Between July 6th and the 31st, from Aroostook County to York County, more than 47 law enforcement agencies will continue to conduct high-visibility speed enforcement to save lives and reduce speeding and aggressive driving. Law enforcement will be out reminding drivers to slow down and drive with care. Drivers should plan to leave sooner to allow more time to arrive without rushing. Maine Highway Safety Director Lauren Stewart says, “The seconds that you save by speeding are not significant enough to risk your safety or that of anyone sharing the road with you. Crashes are significantly more dangerous, resulting in death or serious injury when speeding is involved. Everyone wants to arrive at their destination safely.”
From Maine to Connecticut, New England is reminding drivers to Drive to Save Lives across the region. Whether you’re vacationing in another state or having a staycation, please slow down and take your time getting to your destination this summer.
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Chief Matt Cummings of the Fort Fairfield Police Department says, “Keeping Maine safe isn’t just a job for law enforcement; it’s a shared commitment across our entire community. When you slow down on our local roads, you aren’t just following the law; you are actively protecting your neighbors, our children, and the character of our town. Let’s work together to keep our streets safe for everyone.”
Speeding is an aggressive and deadly behavior. It reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around another vehicle, a pedestrian, hazardous objects, or an unexpected curve. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), local roads are more dangerous than highways for speeders. It’s a common misconception that speeding is an interstate-related issue: In fact, in 2024, 87% of all speeding-related traffic fatalities in the United States occurred on routes other than interstates.
“Every mile per hour matters. Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to react, increases stopping distance, and turns a preventable crash into a deadly one. As Maine’s roads become busier during the summer months, we urge drivers to slow down, stay alert and help ensure everyone arrives safely to their destinations,” says Sgt. Josh Stewart of the Kittery Police Department.
The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety is reminding drivers to Drive to Save Lives this month. Spend your time on the way to your destination, enjoying all of the beauty New England has to offer, not speeding through it. From the lighthouses across Maine’s coastline, New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, Vermont’s Moss Glen Falls, Massachusetts’s Fenway Park, a ferry ride from Point Judith in Rhode Island, to Connecticut’s Gillette Castle State Park, slow down and enjoy your drive.
