I go to this local dive bar all the time to write (seriously!) I love it there, drinks are cheap and the food is awesome. What is everyone else's favorite hang out?
There's a place called Mary Jane's I go to on Wednnesdays - two cocktails for a fiver, which is pretty damned reasonable. Plus the decor is totally funky.
That said, sometimes I feel a need to go to a really grotty pub, like your dive bar I imagine, because the atmosphere is so much less pretentious...you know?