When I first started throwing away time and money at bars, a little over 20 years ago, I used to always see little bowls of pretzels, nuts, or other snacks sitting around for anyone who wanted them. I guess peanuts were the most common bar munchies. Anyway, I think it was pretty routine to have something for the barflies to munch on. (There was a gag on *Cheers * where Sam calls in an order for “some more gum”, and the supplier accidentally sends him sorghum instead. So, he puts it out in the snack bowls, and the regulars love it.)
I haven’t seen a bowl of peanuts or pretzels sitting out in a bar in ages. I imagine they stopped because it was an expense that didn’t really pay off. I never heard anyone say, “Let’s go to that place, they have the best nuts!”
I miss them, though. As an inveterate fidgeter, I loved having that little bowl of peanuts to occupy my hands while I got blind fucking drunk. Alas. Relic of a more refined age.
How long has it been since you’ve seen free bar snacks?
Actually, now that you mention it, it’s a long time since I’ve seen bar snacks around here, too. In fact, the last time I remember having free bar snacks was at a bar in New Delhi, which had these wonderfuly spicy masala peanuts that I could have eaten by the bucketful. I mean, I’m sure there must be places that still have pretzels and the like around, but I haven’t seen any in awhile.
ETA: Wait, there is a bar that closed down a couple years ago near my house that did have chips and pretzels out for the customers. Sometimes even pizza and, once, Polish-style open faced sandwiches. But, other than that place, I can’t think of any I’ve had in the last ten years.
Here in the Yucatan, all of the cantinas have botanas (snacks). And they ain’t peanuts. Some incredible snacks. If you know where to go, you can get a great meal for the price of a beer.
I still see snacks on the bar sometimes, almost always at hotels. Then again, with hotel bar drink prices, they can afford it. Sometimes at airport bars (same, regarding drink prices) and always at the frequent flyer clubs in airports.
I don’t fly often enough with a single airline to have status, but you can buy your way into most of those clubs in the US on a day pass for fifty bucks and it’s usually worth it for a long layover. For $50 you get snacks, WiFi, drinks, showers and comfortable chairs with lots of AC outlets. You’re not going to get a proper meal there without paying more, but if you can subsist on beer and snacks for a few hours, it’s a much better deal than airport bars or restaurants.
Edit: The FF Clubs usually do much better than bar snacks, too. They rotate out things like meat/cheese/cracker platters, veggie platters, baked goods, etc. It’s really worthwhile on long layovers.
The place in Staten Island I worked at until last year would put out peanuts,popcorn, chips and/or pretzels during the day. They weren’t alone in this as several other nearby places did something similar. Generally only until the shift change around 7PM, but some week nights as well.
I, too, will testify to the decline in free munchies in my neck of the woods. Save for the bars in Mexican restaurants, they’re dependable for free chips and salsa.
I still see places put out chips (popcorn, pretzels etc.) but never peanuts or nuts of any kind. Undoubtedly because of the whole nut allergy nonsense…
It’s still common overseas. I think the last time for me personally was homemade chips in Lima, Peru. In China, it’s usually some kind of nut or sugared popcorn.
I’ve never gotten them at bars that weren’t at a chain hotel or airport. The bartender puts a bowl of snacks and a cocktail napkin in front of you the second you sit down, even if he’s in the middle of something else and has to come back to you to take your order.
I guess most places would rather sell food than give it away for free to people who didn’t ask for it, but isn’t the whole point to get salty snacks into you so you’ll order more drinks which carry a much higher profit margin than menu food?
Faaaar from the Yucatan, but long ago in our early 20s a friend and I would go to the bar area of a faux-Mexican chain restaurant called Chi-Chi’s on Friday nights and fill up on the free nacho bar for the price of a couple beers. Good cheap times.
Oddest, most unexpected free bar snack I’ve ever had was going to a bar in South Beach with my sister and her friends when I went to visit her in Florida. They put a bowl of slices of some kind of mystery meat on the table. I was leery at first, but being kind of intoxicated, curiosity got the better of me. Turned out to be delicious, marinated in some kind of Cuban recipe, I’m guessing.
Neither of those free bar food of the past anecdotes answer the OP’s direct question, but I felt like sharing.
As someone else said I imagine nuts went out of favor because of the rise of Nut allergies but even Pretzels seem rare. I don’t see many bars with bowls of food out all the time but I have seen several bars that have Happy Hours (usually right after work between 5 and 7 pm) where they serve free or nearly free food. Wings, mini burgers, bar pizzas etc.
The dedicated “bars” I go to (in the US) always have some type of munchies. My favorite even has mustard for the pretzels. But so many places these days are bar/grills or bar/restaurants that I can’t blame them for not offering freebies. A lot of places have alcohol/food sales ratio limits they have to maintain.
