PBR, Strippers, and Kitsch

Anthony Bourdain's five favorite dive bars

May 18, 2006—When he's not trolling the globe for stomach-churning delicacies, bad-boy chef Anthony Bourdain likes to seek out equally stomach-churning drinking environments. To mark the publication of his latest book, The Nasty Bits (out May 23), we called to ask him to name his five favorite dives. Naturally, we reached him at a Namibian cigarette stand five minutes from where Brangelina await the blessed event. After paying for his Marlboro Reds, he had this to say:

Siberia Bar, New York: "Still reigns supreme among dives, though some weekend nights lately are reserved for an all-male leather crowd. Better phone ahead."

Holland Bar, New York: "A classic old-man bar a couple doors down from Siberia. You know, the kind of place it's okay to drink during the day."

The Distinguished Wakamba Cocktail Lounge, New York: "Tiki decor and ultra-cheese kitsch with an element of danger. I believe people have died there."

Mac's Club Deuce, Miami: "An island of calm, enlightenment, and sleaze in the middle of all the South Beach crap. It's populated with hookers getting off work, restaurant and hotel people, and locals. It's bullshit-free—if you ask for bottle service, you'll get one cracked over your head."

Clermont Lounge, Atlanta: "The lost-luggage department for strippers. The headliner, Blondie, is a large black woman with dyed blond hair who crushes Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans between her mammoth breasts. She weighs 200 pounds and has been working there for 20 years. Not really a strip club, more a bar with a few really old strippers waddling around."

Siberia Bar, 356 W. 40th St., NYC, (212) 333-4141; Holland Bar, 532 Ninth Ave, NYC, (212) 502-4609; The Distinguished Wakamba Cocktail Lounge, 543 8th Ave. (between 37th & 38th Sts.), NYC, (no phone); Mac's Club Deuce, 222 14th St., Miami Beach, (305) 531-6200; Clermont Lounge, 789 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE, Atlanta, (404) 874-4783, www.clermontlounge.net.