None of them will ever compare with places like Izzy Ott's, Jacks Lighthouse, The Hillbilly Ranch and The Stork Club. As far as low down dumps go there used to be a place in North Cambridge called Orlorffs, or "The Piggery." It would be hard to beat it for being a dump. -- Fred Sennott
Fred...my Dad has a few questions. Was The Stork the after hours place in Charlestown and where in N. Canbridge was Orloff's? He used to drink at the Crimson and the Stag Club in Harvard Square. -- Beso
Yes, The Stork Club was in City Sq. and even had detail cops keeping order after hours. They didn't open until Midnight. Orloff's was in North Cambridge opposite the car barns. I don't really think the Sligo was ever that bad certainly notin Orloff's league, it was too clean. The Golden Nugget was High Class for the old Combat Zone. It just wasn't in Izzy Orts league and was more expensive. -- Fred Sennott
I remember going to the Hillbilly Ranch in the fifities. At that time there uded to be a dive on Washington St. called The Golden Nugget. -- Helen Falck
The Hammond at Washington Square in Brookline - very very divy - when Brookline went non-smoking, I think they were nervous about losing their entire clientele, so they continued to allow patrons to smoke, and just paid the fines which to them was cheaper than losing their customers. Now it's called the Washington Square Cafe or something highly original like that.
Beso: The Washington Square Tavern is the antithesis of a dive bar. Highly sanitized ... yuck. -- miranda
Yeah, my sister is friends with the guy who cleaned it up ... he did a great job with it (if you like classy bars as opposed to dives). -- Will
