Don’t expect smoked cocktails or the latest craft beer at Dick’s Dive. Instead there’s “beers your dad would drink,” mismatched chairs, zero clocks and zero windows. It’s the kind of place where you could easily loose track of time, just as Owner Quinn Allen intended.
The bar is a tribute to Allen’s late father. The patriarch’s decades of bar ownership are memorialized on the walls and behind the bar at Dick’s Dive, representing a collection of neon signs and booze relics found in Allen’s parents’ garage and basement.
The bar is situated below Harrison West neighborhood mainstay Zeno’s at 384 W. Third Ave. And Allen says for those that think Zeno’s is a dive, Dick’s Dive is an even “divey-er dive.”
As Allen has watched more and more bars open in Columbus, from rooftop bars to 100 beer tap bars, there are fewer relaxed neighborhood hangouts like Meister’s or Mike’s Grill.
“Those places are always packed and it’s always people having the time of their lives,” Allen says. “They’re not looking at everybody else trying to find out what they’re doing or what they’re wearing… They’re just in there and they’re in their own world, and that’s kind of what we wanted to create, another one of those safe havens for people to go.”
Dick’s Dive can handle between 40-50 patrons. They’ll show Buckeyes and Browns’ games during football season, but guests can also keep themselves entertained with shuffleboard, and Allen expects plenty of quarters and card playing.
Dick’s Dive officially opens Friday, September 13. The bar will be open from 6 p.m. – 2 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. On Saturday they’ll open early in accordance with Buckeye kickoff, and serve on Sunday from 11 a.m. – 2 a.m.
All photos by Susan Post