Sometimes you're drinking and it seems like as good a time as any to pick up the habit it took nearly 10 years of shame, hypnosis, electroshock treatment and overeating to get rid of. We're not here to judge but to help. Instead of having to walk drunk and alone to a gas station, or to keep offering a dollar to the stranger next to you who doesn't want your stupid dollar for just-one-more-cigarette, maybe you should be better prepared by visiting bars that have a cigarette machine.
Considering these dive bar staples are soon to be extinct due to regulation and a growingly health-conscious public, here, as a public service, are some of the last few dive bars and lounges in Dallas that still have cigarette machines.
Twilite Lounge
2640 Elm St.
We will start with the hidden jewel in plain sight of Deep Ellum, the Twilite Lounge. One thing that Twilite has that others on this list do not is an air of class. It certainly lives up to its name; on the dive bar-lounge continuum, Twilite is definitely the latter. The lounge does, however, share the low lighting, smoker’s patio and cheap beverages with its less well-dressed cousin, the dive bar. It also has a functional cigarette machine. Twilite has world-renowned bathrooms too, and the best frozen beverage in town, the Frozen Irish Coffee. Double Wide
3510 Commerce St.
Boasting “drinks that hit harder than Dad” such as the Yoohoo Yeehaw, HurriTANG and a less fancy version of an old-fashioned called an "old timer," the Deep Ellum/Exposition Park live music venue Double Wide shines distinctively on the dive bar scene. When you walk from the double-wide trailer that constitutes the main building and past the cigarette machine out to the patio, you get the distinct smell that only dives can muster. Revel in that scent and take a seat on one of the toilet-turned-chairs outside and light you up a stogie. Adair’s Saloon
2624 Commerce St.
If there were only one perfect prototype for a dive bar, and especially a Texas dive bar (otherwise known as a honky-tonk), it would be Adair’s Saloon. From the cigarette machine at the door to the graffitied-up walls, floors and ceiling, Adair’s is a dive through and through. But its claim to fame, definitely, is the cheeseburger — which sits atop almost any "best in Dallas" lists.
7248 Ave.
From its humble origins as "The Office Club" in the 1970s, the Goat has maintained dominance as White Rock's preeminent dive bar. Open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. for your convenience, it caters to day-people and night-owls alike, with blues bands almost every night, a smoking patio full of hastily arranged bar and office furniture and, to help you enjoy that patio, a cigarette machine nestled next to the door.
The Peak Inn
132 N. Peak St.
The friendly neighborhood dive The Peak Inn welcomes guests with a sign assuring them that it's a bar, not an inn. Its giant wooden bar, brick walls and fireplace area make it more of a "dive lodge" than a dive bar; nonetheless, pass by the fireplace room with its pool table and you'll find yourself next to the trademark of any dive, the cigarette machine. Venture further, good traveler, and find yourself outside on the bar's patio, which is equipped with a TV, a fire pit and some nice (albeit easily broken) mid-century-modern patio furniture. Lakewood Landing
5818 Live Oak St.
Lakewood Landing has been slinging drinks and food in Lakewood for over 20 years and it shows in its attitude. The vibes inside are private and dark — save for the lights over the bar and pool table and the glow emanating from the jukebox and cigarette machine. Notably, Lakewood Landing boasts not one but two patios and the best corn dogs this side of the State Fair of Texas.
The Whistling Pig Neighborhood Pub
8786 Ferguson Road, No. 133
Don’t let its position in the corner of a shopping center fool you, The Whistling Pig straddles the line between dive bar and restaurant with its uniquely upscale menu. Alongside normal bar fare of a burger and fries or fish and chips you can order such bar oddities (delicious oddities, but oddities still) as chipotle mussels in white wine sauce and Korean fried chicken strips. Elevated menu aside, its pool table and cigarette machine keep it humble and safely in the category of neighborhood dive.
Lee Harvey’s
1807 Gould St.
From the outside looking in, Lee Harvey's is two bars, plus a pool and patio that are the envy of every other bar in Dallas. The things it shares with all other dives bar, though, still keep it amazingly divey; the Cedars bar named after Dallas' most infamous alleged assassin has a cigarette machine, low lighting and cheap drinks.
Police stand outside Three Links on Elm Street. Maybe they were looking to score some smokes.
Mike Brooks
2704 Elm St.
Look, it feels like not one week goes by that we don't mention this bar. But they make it really hard to forget. With a front and back patio, a full roster of live music ranging from punk to jazz from local and touring acts and a street-facing stage, it's a wonder we've even noticed the cigarette machine. Especially when there's a vending machine in the bathroom that dispenses sex toys. Is it a bar dive exactly? That's debatable, but it certainly feels comfortable that way.
Reno's Chop Shop
210 N. Crowdus St.
If you're a leather-wearing, motorcycle-riding fan of metal, you probably already know this Deep Ellum corner bar, which is far friendlier than any of the newer, cleaner, more (what's a euphemism for "basic"?) spots. The cigarette machine is just right at home here.
