Once upon a time, bars were for drinking and restaurants were for eating. Beer nuts, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks were the middle ground. Bar food was there for you when you needed it, but you didn’t go out of your way to get it.
As restaurants became more “chef-driven,’’ and chefs more ambitious, bar food evolved. Today, many bars are dining destinations in their own right. The food offered is increasingly serious — as much a distillation of the chef’s vision as the fare in the dining room.
“I love jalapeno poppers, but that’s not what we serve,’’ says Tony Maws, chef-owner of Craigie on Main in Cambridge. The bar food “is still within the philosophy of the restaurant. It’s still coming from me. I can’t take a sharp turn.’’
There are economic as well as culinary reasons for restaurants to pay more attention to bar menus. Customers are looking to spend less when going out. Owners are looking to drive high-profit alcohol sales. Bar dining satisfies both parties.
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Photo by Barry Chin, The Boston Globe