The best dive bars in New Jersey

The term "dive bar" used to be something derogatory. Nowadays it's more of a badge of honor to say to own one, go to one, or work at one.

Dive bars have become chic in a way. If you ask just about anyone where to find a dive bar in their area, they won't miss a beat in rattling off at least one or two.

Dive bars have been getting a lot of attention recently.

24/7 Tempo recently listed The Hudson House Bar in Beach Haven as New Jersey's best dive bar.

Meanwhile, a list on Trip Savvy thought that honor belonged to Tom's Tavern in Farmingdale.

Our favorite dive bars in New Jersey

The website Mediafeed.com listed the best dive bars in each state. That's actually impossible to do. What exactly constitutes the best dive bar?

Their conclusion for New Jersey is the Ivy Inn in Princeton. People rave about it and that's all well and good, but how does it compare to a dive bar in South Amboy or Riverside? So we came up with a list of the notable dive bars in New Jersey.

We started in South Jersey, stopped A LOT in Central Jersey and ended in North Jersey. We left out the Jersey Shore bar because there are just too many to choose from. If your favorite isn't on the list, don't be offended, just tell us about it.

Here we go.

JAYS ELBOW ROOM — Route 73 Mt. Laurel

THE HIGHLAND TAVERN — Gloucester City

TOM FISCHER'S TAVERN — Haddon Twp

LITTLE SPOT TAVERN — Somerdale

THE CORNER BAR — Pilesgrove

CRAWFORD'S CORNER BAR & KITCHEN — Riverside

HOB TAVERN — Bordentown

MCGUINN'S PLACE — Lawrence Twp.

AL'S AIRPORT INN — Ewing

EXIT 8 — East Windsor

TOMS TAVERN — Farmingdale

DOCKS'S CORNER — Monroe Twp.

IVY INN — Princeton

HILLBILLY HALL — Hopewell

33'S TAVERN — South River

LAST CALL — Sayreville

THE 244 SPOT — South Amboy

PATRICKS'S PUB — New Brunswick

RIVERSIDE INN BAR — Cranford

JOE'S PLACE — Union

PADDY'S PLACE — Union

DILLON'S TAVERN — West Orange

THE DEEP INN — Newark

DONEGAL SALOON — Kearny

OLD CANAL INN — Nutley

CLIF TAVERN — Clifton

HOOVER'S TAVERN — Morris Plains

GYP'S TAVERN — Branchville

Where everyone knows your name: Friendliest bars in NJ

Gallery Credit: Jordan Jansson

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Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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