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As you read this, somewhere in the world it is Happy Hour. If Happy Hour is good for one thing, great deals on cool beverages, it should also be good for another: delicious bar food to go with those beverages.
If only the bar food was as reliable as the beverages. A gin and tonic will always be a gin and tonic and a Miller Lite in San Francisco is guaranteed to taste the same as one in Miami. But bar food, if it is offered, can run the spectrum of offerings from bite-sized gourmet to the standard bowl of unsalted peanuts.
If there is any consistency in watering hole menus, the list will almost definitely stray toward the side of salted and fried. Salted and fried is not necessarily a bad thing, as a good beer was almost born to cut through the grease of a plate of French fries. Add salt to the equation, and one beer at half price will most certainly turn into two or three just to wash it on down. But sadly, man cannot live on jalapeno poppers alone.
Stranded at a bar this week longing for something not battered and fried to complement my sunset cocktail, I got to thinking about how even at home one could construct a somewhat healthier menu to accompany a libations-heavy home Happy Hour. For indeed, there are other flavors out there that pair well with a good cocktail.
It is tough to say whether it is the fried part we like about most happy hour foods, or the salt that clings to it. A nice salty snack is bound to make you thirsty, a sensation that makes a cool drink taste that much better and makes its presence all the more necessary. But a salty food does not have to come attached to something battered and fried. I used to work at a winery where we served only one prepared item in the tasting room: a sourdough bread bowl baked with a wheel of brie cheese inside. But it wasn’t the bread or the cheese that brought the couples snacking on the patio back inside for another bottle of chilled white. It was the secret spice rub generously coating the cut layer of bread. The ingredients were a secret, but aside from the noticeable garlic, paprika, and parsley flakes, the main ingredient was a healthy dose of good old-fashioned salt.
Another great bar snack that combines salt and the alcohol-friendly ingredient vinegar is the often overlooked pickle. By pickle I am not necessarily referring to the cucumber variety. Nor does making a pickle necessarily require a labor-intensive canning process. Pickles can be made out of just about any fruit or vegetable. Pickled beets and radishes are as attractive to look at on the bar as they are fun to snack on. Spicy pickled baby vegetables are perfectly bite-sized for snacking between sips. And although most pickles improve with some time in the brine, a quick pickled carrot, for instance, can be made in about 30 minutes.
Aside from salt and vinegar, the third thing other than fat sure to make that beer taste better than it otherwise would is spiciness. A Corona never tastes as good as when it comes alongside a quesadilla doused in Tapatio Hot Sauce. Would one ever drink a Singha if it weren’t necessary to wash down the Thai chili sauce smothering a lettuce wrap?
If you are at a bar during Happy Hour (or have just decided that somewhere in the world it is Happy Hour so you might as well imbibe) there is food beyond fried that will take that cocktail to a new level. Any food at the bar is appropriate if it has any flavor from salty to spicy to tangy in order to increase thirst. Provided, of course, that a cocktail is not far behind ready to quench it.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/543-bar-food/
Cool Drinks and Better Bar Food
As you read this, somewhere in the world it is Happy Hour. If Happy Hour is good for one thing, great deals on cool beverages, it should also be good for another: delicious bar food to go with those beverages.
If only the bar food was as reliable as the beverages. A gin and tonic will always be a gin and tonic and a Miller Lite in San Francisco is guaranteed to taste the same as one in Miami. But bar food, if it is offered, can run the spectrum of offerings from bite-sized gourmet to the standard bowl of unsalted peanuts.
If there is any consistency in watering hole menus, the list will almost definitely stray toward the side of salted and fried. Salted and fried is not necessarily a bad thing, as a good beer was almost born to cut through the grease of a plate of French fries. Add salt to the equation, and one beer at half price will most certainly turn into two or three just to wash it on down. But sadly, man cannot live on jalapeno poppers alone.
Stranded at a bar this week longing for something not battered and fried to complement my sunset cocktail, I got to thinking about how even at home one could construct a somewhat healthier menu to accompany a libations-heavy home Happy Hour. For indeed, there are other flavors out there that pair well with a good cocktail.
It is tough to say whether it is the fried part we like about most happy hour foods, or the salt that clings to it. A nice salty snack is bound to make you thirsty, a sensation that makes a cool drink taste that much better and makes its presence all the more necessary. But a salty food does not have to come attached to something battered and fried. I used to work at a winery where we served only one prepared item in the tasting room: a sourdough bread bowl baked with a wheel of brie cheese inside. But it wasn’t the bread or the cheese that brought the couples snacking on the patio back inside for another bottle of chilled white. It was the secret spice rub generously coating the cut layer of bread. The ingredients were a secret, but aside from the noticeable garlic, paprika, and parsley flakes, the main ingredient was a healthy dose of good old-fashioned salt.
Another great bar snack that combines salt and the alcohol-friendly ingredient vinegar is the often overlooked pickle. By pickle I am not necessarily referring to the cucumber variety. Nor does making a pickle necessarily require a labor-intensive canning process. Pickles can be made out of just about any fruit or vegetable. Pickled beets and radishes are as attractive to look at on the bar as they are fun to snack on. Spicy pickled baby vegetables are perfectly bite-sized for snacking between sips. And although most pickles improve with some time in the brine, a quick pickled carrot, for instance, can be made in about 30 minutes.
Aside from salt and vinegar, the third thing other than fat sure to make that beer taste better than it otherwise would is spiciness. A Corona never tastes as good as when it comes alongside a quesadilla doused in Tapatio Hot Sauce. Would one ever drink a Singha if it weren’t necessary to wash down the Thai chili sauce smothering a lettuce wrap?
If you are at a bar during Happy Hour (or have just decided that somewhere in the world it is Happy Hour so you might as well imbibe) there is food beyond fried that will take that cocktail to a new level. Any food at the bar is appropriate if it has any flavor from salty to spicy to tangy in order to increase thirst. Provided, of course, that a cocktail is not far behind ready to quench it.
Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Made with mushrooms, sliced water chestnuts, ground turkey, fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, plum tomatoes, cilantro, butter lettuce, Thai chili sauce
Made with mushrooms, sliced water chestnuts, ground turkey, fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, plum tomatoes, cilantro, butter lettuce, Thai chili sauce
Serves/Makes: 6
- 2 shallots
- 1/2 bunch green onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 Serrano chili
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 ounces white button mushrooms
- 1 can (8 ounce size) sliced water chestnuts
- 1 pound ground turkey (or ground chicken, or turkey sausage removed from casing)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 plum tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 1 head butter lettuce
- 2 tablespoons Thai chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Heat a large wok on high. Peel and mince shallot. Finely slice the white of the green onions plus two inches of the green. Reserve the greens.
Peel and mince garlic. Remove seeds from chili and finely mince. Heat oil in pan. Add shallots, green onion, garlic and chili.
Meanwhile roughly chop mushrooms. Drain water chestnuts and roughly chop. Add mushrooms and water chestnuts to wok. Stir occasionally to make sure of even saute. After 3-4 minutes, add turkey and fish sauce.
Stir to break up turkey and brown. Slice tomatoes in half and squeeze seeds out to discard. Finely chop tomatoes. When turkey is mostly browned, add tomatoes, soy sauce and lime juice.
Cut remaining green onions on a severe diagonal, slicing thin. Rinse cilantro and roughly chop. Clean lettuce, dry, and arrange on a plate. Taste saute for seasoning. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro and green onions.
Make a sauce by whisking chili sauce, soy sauce, and vegetable oil.
Serve family style. To assemble put some of the turkey mixture in a lettuce leaf, top with some sauce, roll and eat.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/543-bar-food/