The year is almost over, which means it's time to gather together and finally drink to a new year rather than to forget the current one.

First thing's first: smoking is legal -- and prevalent -- inside the confines of West Town's beloved Richard's.

Lakeview's L&L Tavern has a dark and storied past, but remains one of the city's more interesting dives because of it.

The moment you step inside Kingston Mines, you’ll immediately feel displaced from the bone-chilling Chicago air and at once in the warmth of Blues Country.

Equal parts dive bar and dance club, The Short Stop is an Echo Park hot spot located down the street from Dodger Stadium (get it?).

Noni’s, the family-owned-and-operated neighborhood trattoria in the Old Fourth Ward, was named for the founders’ Italian-born grandmother, and thus classic Italian fare rules the menu.

Since 1972, Northside Tavern has been plying the ATL with blues and booze.

Hidden in the lobby of the Stilwell Hotel on Grand St., Hank’s is a Downtown dive that’s been a neighborhood favorite for over half a century.

Judge the bar by its nomenclature: you can literally hide out -- and of course, imbibe -- at The Hideout in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood.

Located underneath an unassuming apartment building in Hollywood, Dirty Laundry is a subterranean speakeasy-style bar and nightclub with an entry-by-password-only policy.

Named after characters from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, King + Duke is a storybook tavern in Buckhead with colonial-style cooking.

Operating with the ethos that “a good sandwich is like an old friend,” All Star Sandwich Bar offers the ultimate sandwich experience from its post on Cambridge Street.