This Bar Selected to Represent MA on List of Best Dive Bars

Massachusetts is filled with so many fantastic restaurants that it's hard to pick a favorite. From delicious farm-to-table in the Berkshire hills to some of the best Italian food outside of Italy in Boston's North End, and everything in between, Massachusetts is chock-full of culinary greatness.

Besides awesome restaurants, Massachusetts also boasts some of the best BARS in the country. In fact, Bay State has quite a history with alcohol. Historians agree that bars in Massachusetts are about as old as the state itself. Early settlers wasted no time setting up local taverns, even before schoolhouses in some cases.

Massachusetts is home to what are believed to be the oldest bars in the United States like the Green Dragon Tavern, which dates back to 1654, or Warren Tavern in Charlestown, which was the first building the town erected after the British burned the whole town during the Battle of Bunker Hill in June of 1775.

Since the country's inception, the bar business in Massachusetts has continued to boom. In 2023, the state was home to 828 bars and 1,645 beer, wine, and liquor stores, so needless to say there are plenty of choices.

Certain bars in Massachusetts are simply iconic. Cheers, Bell in Hand, and the aforementioned Green Dragon are some of the most well-known bars in the nation, full of history and pride. While those places are great, there is just something magical about a dive bar.

USA Today Names Worcester, Massachusetts Bar to Best Dive Bars in America List

In a recently published article, USA Today named the best dive bars in the country, and one bar from the Bay State made the list. Contributors traveled around the country to select their favorite hole in the wall bar from each state.

The selection from Massachusetts? Vincent's in Worcester, Massachusetts. A self- proclaimed "old-school dive bar with the excitement of live music" Vincent's has been a favorite of locals and visitors alike.

Here's what USA Today had to say about the iconic venue:

Tucked away across from a row of mostly abandoned warehouses, Vincent’s might not be immediately obvious to the casual driver-by, save perhaps for the neon sign above the door that bears the bar’s name and another one in the window that reads “This Is It.” For locals? Vincent's very much is it. Renowned for its extremely limited menu – it's either the meatball sandwich, or the pasta and meatballs – and its overabundance of taxidermy mounts, what really makes Vincent’s stand out is its music. Almost every night, some of the region’s best singer–songwriters, blues artists and rockers roll through for a usually stripped-down set in a small space that literally gives them nowhere to hide ... and the results are nights of music that are electrifying.

What other Massachusetts dive bars should have made the list?