The Newport Dive Bar Hall of Fame: No Reservations Necessary

Published November 3, 2026

A collage of dive bar signs in Newport Beach, California, featuring various establishments.

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NEWPORT BEACH | AROUND NEWPORT | NOVEMBER 3, 2026

Newport Beach has plenty of places where dinner comes with a dress code, a reservation, and the quiet feeling your table might cost more than your first car. The peninsula still has a different kind of institution: bars where the history is on the walls, the stools have seen things, and nobody asks what your house is worth.

Here are six local bars that belong in Newport’s dive-bar hall of fame. “Dive” is a compliment here. It means the place has character that can’t be ordered from a design firm.

Blackie’s by the Sea
William “Blackie” Blackstock opened Blackie’s in 1953. It started as a seasonal spot; in 1964, new owner Chuck Frei kept it open all year. The surf break out front eventually picked up the bar’s name, which is better neighborhood branding than most places get from a billboard. Blackie’s still has pool tables, a view of the ocean, and a floor that doesn’t pretend peanut shells are a design trend.

Beach Ball
Beach Ball says it has been on the boardwalk since 1969. Its own short list of essentials: jukebox tunes, pool tables, Bloody Marys, and ocean views. That’s a complete Newport itinerary, unless somebody in your group insists on adding valet parking.

Cassidy’s Bar & Grill
At 2603 Newport Boulevard, near the Newport Pier area, Cassidy’s leans into its dive-bar identity and burger reputation. The website calls it Newport Beach’s “#1 dive bar”—that’s Cassidy’s talking, not a citywide ballot. The burger claim is also best settled the old-fashioned way: order one and argue about it afterward.

Class of ’47
Class of ’47 says it opened in 1977. But its best-known regular has a newspaper trail: OC Weekly reported in 2013 that John Wayne drank there more than once and called it his favorite bar on the Balboa Peninsula, alongside his regular spot at the Balboa Bay Club. The article even described his solo stool in the far-right corner. That’s more than local lore; the story made print.

Balboa Saloon
The Saloon sits in the Balboa Fun Zone, with pool tables, darts, and big screens. The building itself dates to 1924. A historical marker traces its previous jobs from hardware store to wartime USO, then Jolly’s Taproom; the Balboa Saloon opened there in 1984. That’s a better résumé than most buildings, and it never had to update LinkedIn.

The Alley
The Alley has been a Newport Beach fixture since 1986. It’s more neighborhood pub and restaurant than bare-bones dive, with home-cooked food, a full bar, and the “strongest pour on the shore,” according to its own site. Hall of fame status doesn’t require a sticky floor. It just helps if your place has a little personality left after the renovation.

Put all six on one night’s map and you get a pretty good Newport history lesson—with better snacks and fewer plaques. The best seat in town may still be the empty stool at the end of the bar.

Sources: Blackie’s history; Beach Ball; Cassidy’s; Class of ’47; OC Weekly on John Wayne at Class of ’47; City of Newport Beach Historical Register; Balboa Saloon historical marker; The Alley.

The Newport Dive Bar Hall of Fame: No Reservations Necessary

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