One of the stops on the Light Rail Bar Crawl, I felt that the Gin Mill was the most "dive-y" with a lot of dented chrome and scarred wood a bathroom that needed a flamethrower and some seriously loud music. I sat at the bar with my beer and watched the young-uns dancing to the DJ's tunes on the "stage". This vantage point gave me a great opportunity to see the bartenders in operation. Fast, efficient and friendly. Picking up abandoned empties and serving out drinks quickly. Impressive.
Bouncer at the door checking ID's. Taxi stand outside ready to take the wobbly folks home, but I was good. It's a very short walk to the Light Rail station that gave me time to sober up (I only had four drinks over five hours) while riding back to my parked car.