Preakness Travel Tips: Top Five Baltimore Dive Bars

Preakness Travel Tips: Top Five Baltimore Dive Bars- Baltimore has plenty to offer any Preakness Stakes visitors, including some of the best dive bars in the country. Try any one of the top five dive bars in Baltimore, and you’ll be sure to have a memorable experience while visiting for the 140th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 16, 2015.

For your first stop in Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes, try Bad Decisions. It offers a relaxed vibe and features a full bar along with specialty cocktails, and you are also able to fill your hungry stomach with some of its great classic pub fare. The bar is located on Fleet Street and looks like a regular corner bar, but it actually has as really unique spin. Be sure to try the s’mores martini!

Club Charles is another great dive bar in Baltimore, featuring American gastro-pub fare and well-priced items. The Martin family owns the bar and the Zodiac Restaurant next door as well, which is also worth a try! The lounge is a 1940s-style cocktail lounge with art deco features.

Number three on the top dive bar list is Idle Hour. They have a signature shot featuring Chartreuse, and the bar itself has a quiet atmosphere with local art decorating the walls. As such, it is a great mellow hangout, especially after a full day at Pimlico Race Course and the Preakness Stakes.

In downtown Baltimore, try The Sidebar Tavern. They house plenty of liquor as well as some unique beer options on tap like Natty Boh and Fat Tire. Its unique atmosphere is also something to behold as it is Baltimore’s home to Punk and Hardcore music with featured graffiti.

Finally, stop in at The Drinkery, a bar with a focus on great music, including blues, rock, pop, country, bluegrass, jam-bands, hip-hop, reggae, and more. The drinks come strong but are well-priced. It is definitely a hole in the wall, but it still offers plenty of fun and quality and offers exactly what you want out of a dive bar.

Try any of these five bars and you’ll be sure to delve into the Baltimore experience that usually only locals know about for the 2015 Preakness Stakes!

Preakness Stakes 2015 Post Positions & Odds
Race 13 6:18 pm ET
1 American Pharoah 4-5 Espinoza/Baffert
2 Dortmund 7-2 Garcia/Baffert
3 Mr. Z 20-1 Nakatani/Lukas
4 Danzig Moon 15-1 Leparoux/Casse
5 Tale of Verve 30-1 Rosario/Stewart
6 Bodhisatttva 20-1 McCarthy/Corrales
7 Divining Rod 12-1 Castellano/Delacour
8 Firing Line 4-1 Stevens/Callaghan

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Homebred Divining Rod Heads to Baltimore for Preakness Stakes
Defending American Pharoah’s Derby Win
Preakness Travel Tips: Top Five Baltimore Dive Bars
Tale of Verve Needs Pace in Preakness Stakes
Post Favors Keen Pauline in Black-Eyed Susan Stakes