Food52 Life

Too Many Cooks: Our Favorite Bar Snacks

March  8, 2013

You'll be hearing from the staff at FOOD52 every week in Too Many Cooks, our group column in which we pool our answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more.

Sometimes we like to sit down at home to a wholesome dinner or go out for a three-course meal on a special occasion. Other times, we want to sit somewhere dark, sip on a tasty beverage, and eat something that's probably not a salad. Ain't nothing wrong with that.

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So this week, in the spirit of life's simple, lower-brow pleasures, we asked:

What's your favorite bar snack? 

And what about you? Do you reach for the potato chips? That questionable bowl of nuts? Or do you go all out and get a burger? (Burgers totally count as snacks.) Tell us in the comments!

Beatrice: Beer, hot house-made pretzels with coarse ground mustard, and fried pickles!! 

Lauren: Chips and salsa, unless I am back in Quebec, then poutine!

Michael: Fried calamari, please. (...unless there are dumplings around. In that case I'll have dumplings.)

Guac

Christina: Tortilla chips and fresh guac -- I could eat it all night long. 

Jennifer: Salty nuts and olives!

Ryan: A hot beer cheese with some crusty bread! I'll skip the entree and just go with a second order. 

Stephanie: I'm going to have to play the Canada card too and go with poutine.

SPF

Marian: I'll go for a good beer and a plate of fries any day. Extra points for sweet potato fries.

BretteOysters! And hot soft pretzels!

Amanda Li: I second Christina's tortilla chips and guac!

Kenzi: Deviled eggs. So many deviled eggs.

Will: Fried pickles. All day. Or should I say all night? Also, chips not spears.

Maddy: I love a good basket of freshly made tortilla chips and medium-hot salsa.

chickpeas

Merrill: Fried chickpeas!

Karl: Waffle fries with catsup, or sweet potato fries with spicy mayo. Lots of salt!

Kristen: I have a soft spot for chili fries -- it's like poutine, but burlier. U.S.A.!

Looking to do more with your beer than simply drink it? We've got 10 ways to cook with your favorite brew -- just make sure to crack open a cold one while your stews simmer and your bread bakes.

Tell us: what are your favorite bar snacks?

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • Abuelas cerdito
    Abuelas cerdito
  • Lesliebling
    Lesliebling
  • SandraR
    SandraR
  • walkie74
    walkie74
  • hardlikearmour
    hardlikearmour
Marian Bull

Written by: Marian Bull

writer

13 Comments

Abuelas C. March 27, 2013
Thai fried cashews. Mild for the sippers. HOT (Chili,salt,and fresh basil) for the Quaffers!
 
Lesliebling March 10, 2013
What about bars with free popcorn? Or dishes of pickles? I like beer garden food too, of course... And breweries that make snacks from beer ingredients, like the dishes of plain malt on every table at Zum Bautzner Tor in Dresden or the bread made of beer mash (with homemade schmaltz) at Hops & Barley in Dresden. But at the end of the day, I'm really happy with fries. Ideally well done Belgian frites from Rudy's in New Haven, with mayo!
 
Lesliebling March 10, 2013
Oops, Hops & Barley is in Berlin, sorry!
 
SandraR March 10, 2013
Roasted wasabi peas!
 
walkie74 March 9, 2013
Truth is, I don't even know what good bar food would be--most of my bar experiences have been in restaurants, so it's almost cheating. But I guess I'd go with a proper pickled egg, or even a pickled pig's foot (now *there's* a flashback to childhood!)
 
hardlikearmour March 8, 2013
My favorite is kimchi karaage from biwa (an izakaya in Portland). It's kinda like a deep fried pickle, but funkier and more delicious IMO.
 
Lesliebling March 10, 2013
Mm, that sounds great! I left the US before fried pickles really took off, sadly, but I could try to make that next time I make kimchi!
 
hardlikearmour March 10, 2013
biwa uses their housemade daikon kimchi to do it. I definitely get cravings for their kimchi karaage!
 
Lesliebling March 11, 2013
Oh, that's helpful information. I was sort of having a hard time picturing the process of breaking wrinkly napa cabbage! I make daikon kimchi sometime too, that'd be way easier to fry. Thank you!
 
RebekahCecillia March 8, 2013
"Chorrillana" in Chile. Taking fries to a whole new level.
 
aargersi March 8, 2013
Texas Chili Parlor - chips, salsa, queso and a BIG bowl of pickled jalapenos, or oysters elsewhere when available
 
darksideofthespoon March 8, 2013
Go Poutine! I love mine with truffle oil on top. Mmmmm!
 
laurenlocally March 11, 2013
:-) Now THAT sounds delish. I am adding some next time.