Last Sunday was my first and not my last! Brad the bartender is the absolute sweetest man ever!! Me and my girlfriend stood for 3hrs just having the best time ever. Great conversations along with getting offered tacos!! Best dive bar in Laguna by far Can't wait to come back!! read more

The sandpiper made for a fun night! When we came around 11, there was live music and lots of people dancing. I got a domestic beer that was five dollars, an imported beer that was seven dollars and two rums and Cokes. I went on a Friday after 11 pm and there was a five dollar cover. Cash only. There's an ATM inside but there's a three dollar fee. read more

Ackphft! Seriously?! I just read a pile of the one star reviews for the Sandpiper and felt I needed to put in my two cents. First point is that many of the complaints are true. Yeah, some of the folks who work there or have worked there are, quite frankly, not exactly coothe. They might say stupid and offensive things. Yep. True. And yeah, the place is a dive, which is a positive. Smells like mold/mildew? I didn't experience that but could be. You've lived in your posh cliffside house too long to know what a place with character is like. The Sandpiper is both great and crap at the same time. The latter is part of what makes it great! The booze is of low to average quality. The music is variable. The scene...great! This is where the locals hang out and they are as varied and entertaining as one could want. (Dennis Rodman used to come in from time to time as well.) Brad is awesome. And Chuck. I haven't been to "The Dirty Bird" in quite a while as I moved out of Laguna and so it's a bit more of a hike to get there..does Chuck (the owner) still drop by frequently? He used to work behind the bar nightly. Fantastic guy. No, that's wrong. He's more than fantastic. The Sandpiper is a jewel of Laguna and I hope it's around long after I'm gone. (Dude who's pissed he was kicked out at 1:45am...you're seriously upset over that? Oh boy.) read more

Against the onslaught of wealth, the Sandpiper Lounge is helping keep Laguna Beach weird. It's one of those rare ecosystems where boomers, millennials and even Gen Z (if they're old enough) can coexist among classic rock cover bands. read more

Was in town for a conference. So happy I sat down here and lived in its embrace for two nights. Exactly what I wanted and precisely as advertised. read more

Perfect atmosphere, music nightly, attentive bartenders and right down the street from our hotel made it a natural. read more

The Sandpiper Lounge - Tee Shirts for sale $18 - Dive Bars Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

See all

My friend and I ventured in here because we heard there's live music ($10 cover charge on weekends) It's a dive bar fersure We came in dressed up from dinner and we were way over dressed. Come in casual, grab some drinks; and dance! The band was great, good vibes all around, customers were having a blast. There's some games you can play, the bathrooms are dirty, come prepared. Fun place for younger crowd to come hang! Bartenders were friendly. read more

See all

Great dive bar. Real dart boards! We will be back. Nice people and open until 2! It is hard to fill up 95 characters. lol.

Rude bouncers, younger one kicked me out of a nearly empty bar for having my foot on a stool

Total dive bar but so much fun and the staff is very friendly. We stopped in several times when we stayed in Laguna.

Music band and drinks. Made our night dancing away. A gem glad to be found on Friday night

Great atmosphere and even greater employees. Had a fantsastic time and would definitely come back again. Also, the live music is superb.

Before I begin: this is a dive bar. But it's warm, inviting, and welcoming. I don't live in town and was passing through; I chose to come here because my partner and I wanted to visit a gay bar I had once visited many moons ago, but it had closed. However, I wouldn't have changed my experience for the world. Cheap drinks, great service, fun locals. Shout out to Brad, really sweet and smart guy. Fun decor. No pressure to be anything but yourself. read more

Okay so late night dives are few and far between in Laguna. This one is historic and service was great there. Highly recommend for after hours jams with a live band! Fun spot for sure read more

The Dirty Bird is a Classic dive bar with great music and dancing, even if you have two left feet.

Dive bar-amunamondo!! It's so damn loud and the DB levels are 110! My ears hurt and bf's tinnitus is raging. Other than that, the drinks are average and it's filled to capacity during the omicron Covid spike so I feel like Debbie downer...waaaah wahhhhh lol read more

See all

Walked in because we heard it was good dive. Bartender decided to make a racist comment trying to joke around as we were ordering. Drank our beers and left. Would never go back. read more

A very happening dive bar in Laguna Beach. Came for some drinks with friends and had a good time. $5 cover charge and live bands on weekends. However this place gets busy, as in no room to move busy. Getting drinks at the bar is not an easy feat and there is very limited tables and seating. And coming here in the summer was like walking into a sauna. Super hot and no ventilation, no patio to get any air. That was honestly the worst part, definitely won't come back in unless the weather is cool from now on. The band was great though and dance floor was fun and lively. read more

The Sandpiper Lounge - a bar with people sitting at the bar - Dive Bars Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

See all

Love this place for some games and drinks! I bring my friends here a lot for some darts and drinks.

"Reminds me of NYPD Blue." I don't mean the police station--I mean the bars they are always raiding to drag out criminals. Well okay, it's not really that bad, but it does have a certain edgy feel to it. The day that I visited, there were no police raids, and hardly anybody was dragged away. On busy weekends, they actually have five bouncers! One of them has to watch the back door. The day that I visited they were running a special on Old World Hefeweizen beer. Only $3 a bottle! Of course in the daytime there was no live music. I'm going to come back when "Local Remedy" is playing. I've heard a lot about that band--especially the singer, Brian Roark. I believe he's been playing at the Dirty Bird for 8 years now. I hear he's fantastic and I'm going to hear him perform tonight at the Sawdust Festival. There's a long and grand history to the Dirty Bird. I had a chance to talk to the latest owner, Chuck, who explained the family heritage of the bar. The bar has been running for over 70 years. So if you want to have an NYPD experience, come visit here. Or perhaps a Hill Street Blues experience. Special shout out to the very friendly bartender AJ. He was kind enough to give me a little history of the bar. read more

See all

Fun drive bar! Darts, video games, drinks, live music and friends.... What more can one ask for?! $5 cover, what a steal! It feels like a place the locals hang and I'm a local so I'll be back. read more

The Sandpiper Lounge - Darts - Dive Bars Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

See all

Absolutely fantastic. The craziest thing about this bar is I see people my age 25-32 most even younger AND THEN soooo many boomers. Huge 50/50 mix. But what's even BETTER is that everyone dances. The live music is dependably good and danceable with crowd favorites. The drinks are slightly pricey but in Laguna it feels fair enough. They also have darts and a fish tank. Big time local bar with nice down to earth people. Just a great representation of how the CLASSIC basic good music & cheap enough drinks will bring anyone and everyone who knows how to sniff out a good time (age irrelevant). read more

The kind bartender let our friend charge his dead cell phone so he wouldn't miss the date who was waiting to schedule an encounter.

Let me tell you like this, you will never find a better dive bar than The Sandpiper Lounge Aka the Dirty Bird. If you need a legit reason to come here, my boy came here once and then lost his virginity the same night. Drinks are cheap and dirty, music is great, and they've got darts and pool. What more do you need to know? Perfect bar. read more

The Sandpiper Lounge - Dive Bars Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

The ambiance and service were good for a "bars" bar. This was also my first time ever being in laguna beach so I really didn't know what to expect. Most bars the bartenders can be a little rude and only nice to the regulars but the bartenders at the Dirty Bird were professional and efficient. I ended up losing my purse that night and I called them several times to see if they had it and even though they couldn't find it for me they were polite and helpful with suggestions. Just an fyi I did find my purse...took a week haha. (One of my friends had it in their car). read more

This is by far the abets Dive Bar on SoCal. It's Aldo, family owned and operated for over 50 years. I've had so many good times here, I can't even remember! Best bartenders,cocktails, waitress', and fun. Great place for bad advise and warm beer! I MUST visit if you like FUN! If you like birds, abs you like em' dirty, then the Dirty Bird is the ONLY place. Covid hours 3-6 cocktails to go and special OAK to go menu! Support your local Dive Bar!!! read more

The Sandpiper Lounge - a t - shirt hanging on the wall - Dive Bars Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

See all

Super fun local bar. Nothing pretentious or overly fancy, which I love. Great service, great drinks and reasonably priced.

The local dive bar. Use to frequent but have since stopped coming as often as service is very inconsistent and overall quality of the place has declined. The people in front of us and behind us didn't have to pay the $5 cover but we were rudely told it was $5 and then when asked where to get cash were quickly ignored so the bouncer joke with a female employee. Very turned off by the staff. read more

Definitely more of a hole in the wall vibe, but absolutely lovely. Live music is great, darts in the back, overall such a great place. Bartenders are awesome and quick and attentive read more

Great drink prices. It's a great place when they have a live band because there is a large dance floor. Enjoyed our time there.

Already DRUNK & still couldn't find the courage to order a drink. Walked in, around, to the bathroom & right back out the front door 2 weeks ago! Needed to pee so bad, but wasn't about to do that in this nastinessThey received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the restaurant relief fund and have not done one single thing. This disgusting, yet iconic dive bar that we like to call the local hang out, needs SOMETHING! Please clean it up, at least a little bit so we don't feel like we are getting MORE than the Delta variant when we are frequenting this fun establishment. read more

See all

Always a good time here. The staff are so so nice (that's if you're not an a-hole) sometimes you end up leaving making a friend or two. I just wished they served hot dogs and chips because Jack in the Box doesn't sound good after a night of drinking and dancing read more

This goes down as THE MOST disgusting bar I've ever been to. The people in there are so sloppy drunk (for no reason, btw) that one of them threw down the entire crowd at the "dance bar" (with crappy music), making me hit my head to a steel table as I was trying to help my friend (who had heard stuff). I'm surprised I'm still standing. I have no idea how in this world someone can be so oblivious to real fun to find this place fun. I'd call it a toilet room read more

A secret gem in Laguna Beach... A place where everyone knows your name... You can't get better than 3 generations deep of a family owned business... The owner knew all the hotspots in town. Within 10 minutes I was able to get all the top recommendations in town. Rooftop Lounge, Cliffs, Oak, Okura, K'ya, Las Brisas, & so much more... Tucked in the heart of Laguna and beaming with local love all around. read more

This place is soooo cool! The best little bar with live music! I love coming here just to kick it and be low key. I always come here when I'm in town! read more

marcel was amazing tonight. went above and beyond, made me feel safe. love this place because of him!!

So three stars because it's ridiculously dirty. I went to a different bar just so I don't have to urinate in the urine smelling restroom. The same family has owned it since 1942.... the one who actually takes out the money to clean it up (please... keep it divey, we LOVE that!) will do it a great service. Chill vibe Stella was warm so check your beer beforehand. Live moly's if daily. This was only my second time here so I'll be back. ;) read more

80s band was killing it on Friday night ..$5 cover charge ...3 drinks only $24 bucks .. parking a bitch but it's TOTALLY WORTH IT!! .. Packed dance floor great drinks and wait staff is fast and efficient. Will be back definitely. Perfect to celebrate my besties bday 53 !!!! read more

The Sandpiper Lounge - Whiskey sour - Dive Bars Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

See all

I have been here a couple times, and overall the experience has been positive. The drinks are reasonable and it's always lively. It does get quite crowded most of the time, but that just shows how good and popular this place is. read more

Okay, so Laguna Beach ... Not much to do after 8 p.m. Not sure where the hoards of tourists disappear to after dark but they are gone which means that most everything is closed at 9 p.m. Thankfully, we found that this was not due to vampire activity (a la Lost Boys). We stumbled across the open entry to The Sandpiper and decided to go in. One or two stars should be deducted for the $5 cover. Completely unnecessary. I guess it's because there was a reggae band playing, which we (and half the bar, it seemed) could give two fucks about. I'd rather they weren't playing to be honest ... Not that they were bad ... But I saw a jukebox in the corner and much rather would have spent my $5 on that. I've never seen a dive bar with a cover charge. Beyond that, this looked like a college fraternity house complete with sketchy wood paneling and lots of alcoves with beat up video games, pool table and dart boards. It's very dark and dim with Christmas lights, exactly what a good dive bar should be. Things haven't changed much since the 1960s ... It almost seemed like a grungier version of Dan Tana's in West Hollywood. Red Pleather Booths, 60s style colored glass candles and red carpet which would probably glow so brightly under a black light it could be seen from space. The drinks are limited here. You won't find a good selection of beer ... And there are no beers on draft as far as we could tell. They did have a decent IPA in a bottle. Mostly well liquor and mid-shelf stuff. But the prices are great. Two beers and a shot came to $12. (Although we ordered the same thing the next round and were charged $13 ... Odd.) The bartenders are grizzled older fellas who look like Santa Claus if he joined The Sons of Anarchy. Very entertaining chaps. The clientele got younger as the night progressed until it looked like a college party around midnight which is when we left because it felt more like prom night in an episode of 'The OC' than a dive bar crowd. Initially it was a mix of middle aged locals and a few younger couples. When the prom-aged kids came in there was a lot of public making out and 'Yo brah!'s being screamed. We tapped out at that point. My suggestion, go early if you can. 8 p.m. ... It's a more laid back vibe. Soak in the wonderful dive-bar-ed-ness atmosphere ... It was named as a top US dive bar by Esquire magazine for good reason. If you can avoid going when a band is playing, do that. Unless you like reggae. I'd come back for sure but I've been to a lot of top dive bars. This wouldn't necessarily crack my top dive bar list due to the overall vibe but the decor alone (or lack of it) would make it at least a runner up. read more