Shipwreck Lounge

I stopped in at night on New Year’s Day. An old classic dump of a place. Reasonably priced drinks, drunks and psychos. Found my old friend Anna bartending so I felt even more at home!

Love the place… excellent bartenders and very generous people… since a fire last year the place was cleaned up nicely… people are very friendly… good place to meet friends

The Shipwreck. Ohhhh the shipwreck. The Shipwreck is one of those bars that is so bad it’s kinda good. Between whatever illegal activity is going on next door or downstairs. To the cast of characters that would put the Wack Pack to shame, it is truly an interesting place.
But it also can he fun. It’s pretty small so on weekends it can get packed which makes it easy to meet new people, who usually are there for the ‘ambiance’ too.

The name of this bar should be Trainwreck. At 27, I was by far the youngest person in the bar, which is not a problem, but I definitely felt like an outsider. It was like the record stopped when I walked in the door.
It was a Sunday afternoon and the place was packed for karaōke (odd time for karaōke) of the latest hits from the 1950’s. The bartender reluctantly served me my drink with a snarl. I mean she had a seriously angry, pissed off to be there looking face. I knew right there this would be my only drink. And it was served in an ultra tiny clear plastic cup that was definitely 8 ounces or less. This is not a fun dive, this is a «why did we come in here» dive. I sucked down my drink pretty quickly and headed for the exit. To add to the frustration, they are cash only.
One star for having excellent views of Revere Beach and for having a cool name for a beach bar, but that is it.

Must ask for 2 bartenders Irish male K. O or Italian woman Anna both friendly and very efficient.

This place truly is a shipwreck, and I LOVE IT! The floor is uneven and carpeted, every surface is sticky, the free Hot Dog bar looks unappetizing at best, and every once in a while there is a whiff of raw sewage. The Shipwreck provides endless people-​watching, a lovely view of «beautiful» Revere Beach, and enough sad stories to make you walk out feeling that much better about your own life.

I didn’t belong here. For this reason alone, I’ll give it 3 stars. Let me explain.
My friend and I had some time to kill before our flight back home to Miami, and we decided to take the blue line out to the beach to check it out. Before heading back to our hotel to get ready to leave, my friend wanted one last beer in Boston. We stopped at Shipwreck, and I immediately felt out of place. There were 3 or 4 people inside. It felt like a complete dive that hadn’t been updated since the 70s. It smelled that old too. The strangest people were there, and they definitely glared until my friend gulped down his beer and we headed out the door.
So why 3 stars? Because for a middle aged to elderly local that smokes and drinks, this place is perfect… beyond perfect. It’s like home. Just because it’s not for me doesn’t mean I can’t see that this place is loved by its regulars, and I’m totally fine with keeping it that way.

I was coming back from dropping someone off at the airport the other day and decided to cruise Revere Beach Parkway. I had always heard about this place but had never been there so I stopped for a drink. The other reviews on Unilocal were pretty accurate… this place is really a dive. The first thing I noticed was the strong smell of cat piss coming from the tenement steps that are right next to the entrance, Add the punch drunk guy singing along to the jukebox and the bartender who gave me an icy stare as I entered and there you have it. I don’t think I will be back. I did stop at Bill Ash’s afterwards and found it to be MUCH nicer than the Shipwreck with a friendly bartender and a colorful cast of characters.

This is the most aptly named bar in the area! It is a wreck and that is the beauty of it! If you ever want to feel young, attractive and hip this is the place to go because you will be in comparison to the crowd. Everyone was friendly in a cautious kind of way. We were treated to a long and funny lecture by a regular about cigarette smoking and the «nazis» that have outlawed it. Lots of really trashy «celeb» photos and a really big lottery machine are all that is there for décor. A must do for the lover of dive bars!

Shipwreck may be the quintessential Revere dive bar. Located underneath a picturesque apartment slum on Revere beach Everything about this place screams «charm». From the jukebox that hasnt been updated since the late 70s, to the plastic soda cups for «beverages», and pseudo and outdated celebrity photographs on the wall.
Venturing further onto our tour we have the men’s bathroom. There may or may not be a piece of plywood separating the urinal and toilet. On truly lucky days, the toilet actually works. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the locking mechanism of the door for I dont believe this ever worked.
You won’t find any draft beers or actual glass containers here. Reason being, glass can be used as an effective stabbing weapon when broken. Simply stated, if you’re ordering a beer in this establishment then you’re doing it all wrong.
The house specialty is captain and coke or shall I say captain with a slight splash of coke though sometimes I find the cola component of this drink unnecessary. You may also substitute jack daniels. If you find that the color of your drink is not clear then you’ve come on the wrong night. By default, all shipwreck drinks should be highly flammable, clear liquid-​like substances that may be used in the place of jet fuel in the event the space shuttle happens to land in Revere and run out of fuel.
When the late night music entertainment is not being provided by Mr. Frank Sinatra, courtesy of the Shipwreck Jukebox it involves DJ Stevie Ray spinning from the infamous DJ Booth playing all your latest hits from the early 90s.
Navigating the dance floor is akin to navigating a heavily populated minefield where the mines have been replaced with very large women, with little clothing or social inhibitions. Depending on your preferences or blood alcohol content, some may call his heaven others choose less than stellar terms.
Overall, the Shipwreck Lounge is a fantastic watering hole with lots of charm. If you value exceptionally strong drinks, alternative fuel sources, liver poisoning and pictures of the «Rat Pack» you will love this place.

The Shipwreck does have the BEST name of all the trashy little bars on Severe Beach — it’s also the type of place that used to close the grates at closing time, yet we were still crammed inside drinking in violation of those pesky fire codes (never mind the ABC’s). I never stepped foot in this place till I was at the ripe old age of 29 and I grew up in Beachmont. It’s a dank, dim dungeon that’s been there since the hey day of Revere Beach, when there was actually a «Season.» The first time I went down there I was with a girl that I was trying to bang, but she brought her mother along (one of those MILFs that hangs out at Antonia’s). Tired of trying to hustle this broad in front of her mother and watching the fat girls dancing in front of the framed autographed pictures of the Rat Pack and Shirley MacLaine and the open-​shirted, gold-​chained pizza parlor gangsters and Hispanic Lotharios oogling them, I dipped into the bathroom. The bathroom has a toilet and a urinal side by side with no partition. The door cannot be locked (it’s been kicked in way too many times and the latch is broken) So I am trying to piss and hold the door closed when a dude comes bombing in, proceeds to drop his trousers and plops down on the toilet seat right next to where I am pissing. Could this really be happening? I mean, I’ve never done time, so foolish me. I said, «Lookit, pal, I’ll be out in a minute!» And he looks at me, all offended, and grunts, «Oh, I didn’t know you were like THAT.» And I’m like, cock in hand, «yeah, I am like that, beat it!» Having had such a memorable time I decided to return a second time. A buddy of mine, another native son that had somehow never been here, and I went down for laughs and my friend made the mistake of ordering a gin and tonic (the bartender gave us a look a la Moe Syzlak: «gin and tonic? they mix?.») Anyway, she was a scary looking old broad with sickly curly blonde hair, probably dated a gangster back in the 70s (or at least blew a few) and looked quite fetching in her saggy halter-​top. She reminded me a little of Glenn Close at the end of FATAL ATTRACTION: the scene where she is thrashing around the bathtub. The cigarette dangling from the thin film of spit on her lower lip had me sold (yeah, there’s no smoking, but who am I to enforce this law?) She poured the drink and slammed it down and my friend stupidly asked for a lime, so she took the drink back and literally stuck her whole hand in the drink and squeezed the lime, stirring it with her nicotine stained fingernails, and lovingly pushed it back (it was like Cousin Vicki stirring the Kool-​Aid w/​her whole arm in National Lampoons Vacation, I am NOT kidding!). My buddy examined the glass and I was like, «Let me guess, I suppose you want a clean glass, too, is that it?!» The last time I went down was last summer when I went with that girl I was trying to bang that brought her mother, remember her? Well, we didn’t stay because we bumped into her uncle’s ex girlfriend giving a beaner to her john on the interior staircase in the hallway that divides the Shipwreck from the «living» quarters. Can you believe that people actually pay to live in this place? I’d rather be in a shelter. Needless to say, we didn’t stay because her uncle’s ex recognized us. Oh, and as far as being a special agent for the federal government, no one in there would ever mistake me for one, but that’s exactly what I am… Ironic, eh?

For a little (very little) North Shore charm you should check out the Shipwreck lounge. Sure they thought I was a federal agent for some reason (not kidding, overheard a few people make comments), but that doesn’t make it a bad place. I like to hear Bobby Darin croon «Mack the Knife» as much as the next guy (although twice in one hour may be a tad excessive). All the beer is in bottles (no taps), they have karaōke on Sunday nights and on Monday mornings they do re-​enactments of the Reservoir Dogs «torture-​me-​all-​you-​want» scene in the basement (don’t ask why I was poking around down there… just doing my do diligence before passing Unilocal-​judgment)
The owner was a real jerk to me… but that doesn’t taint my opinion of this hole, his clientele or of him — I blame society… apparently no one told this old man that only real Hollywood types get to be jerks in real person, the star-f*ckers that make sure to get a picture with every famous person at an AC casino’s grand re-​opening don’t get to come along for the ride.
Lastly, as a few words of wisdom to all of you out there in Unilocalland… should you find yourself the owner of a bar someday, use some discretion when hanging pictures of yourself w/​«celebs» — Larry Bird is cool, Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown are markedly less so… Joey Buttafucco might count as a celebrity, but the guy that got eliminated in the quarterfinal round of American Idol is not… and don’t be an ass about it.
After all this, slandering. I must say this place is actually a little nicer inside than the other two options on the beach (Sammy’s and Bill Ash’s Lounge)

The Shipwreck is a small dive bar with a great view of Revere beach. The walls are filled with signed pictures of the owner and notable Italian American actors including the actors from the Sopranos. In fact the owner has more autographed pictures than a 14 year old girl that never missed an N Sync or backstreet concert. Creepy really. The ambiance is enhanced by patrons that have cultivated some leather like tans, wear sleeveless T shirts and large gold medallions that would make Mr. T jealous.
This is a great dive bar in Revere. Take the blue line to Revere beach and grab a cold beer at a bar that seems like someones attempt to build a yacht club/​shrine to Martin Scorsese.

Another great place I love to go too.
Great view of Revere Beach the First Beach in the United States.
Great Juke Box and weekends live entertainment.
Keno also and they also serve Champagne.
So go get Shipwrecked at the Shipwreck and then walk over to the Garlic & Herb Grill for a bite to eat and join the gang at Bill Ashes Lounge.
Guaranteed a good day out.
Enjoy :-}