Video: What Makes an Authentic Dive Bar?

In last week’s cover story — which, for the next few hours, you can still find on a newsstand near you — Jesse walked through a few of Dallas’s most authentic dive bars, from the “all hours mixed-use dive” (Starlight Lounge) to the “dive where even your grandparents might get kicked out” (Ships Lounge).

We covered 10 bars in all, but while narrowing down our list we had to define just what makes a dive bar. Cheap bear, wood paneling, video lottery and low-budget decorations are all some of the hallmarks — all things you’ll find in plentiful supply at Cooper’s Club in Oak Cliff, where we filmed the video above. Check it out for a little more about what defines an authentic dive bar, and take a look around the bar. Of course, we’ve also got photos from each bar in the story, here in our slideshow.