A 'bar' is the counter where
drinks are mixed by a
bartender, mainly in
hotels,
taverns and
pubs. This term is applied as a
synecdoche to drinking establishments called
bars.
Bars may also be found in
restaurants,
private homes,
corporate offices,
cruise liners, and so on.
Bars typically store a variety of
liquors and other, nonalcoholic
beverage ingredients, and are organized to facilitate the
bartenders' efficiency. They may also have areas for the storage of
snack foods.
It is thought that the method of serving from a bar was invented by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the great
Victorian engineer, as a means of more quickly serving the sudden rush of customers caused by
passenger trains arriving at the terminus of the
Great Western Railway. Before then, the only method known was to wait at tables. If this is true, then the first bar would have been installed at the
Great Western Hotel on
Paddington Station,
London.
Counters for serving other types of food and drink are sometimes also called bars. Examples include
salad bars,
sushi bars, and
sundae bars.
See also
★
Soda gun
★
Bar (establishment)