{"id":1936,"date":"2012-05-22T19:58:19","date_gmt":"2012-05-22T23:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tylercowensethnicdiningguide.com\/?p=1936"},"modified":"2012-05-22T20:01:56","modified_gmt":"2012-05-23T00:01:56","slug":"how-to-find-good-food-in-american-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tylercowensethnicdiningguide.com\/index.php\/how-to-find-good-food-in-american-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"How to find good food in American bars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jacob Grier has an excellent post on this topic<\/a> (which I do not cover), here is just one part of a longer discussion:<\/p>\n

Reading An Economist Gets Lunch<\/a><\/em> inspired me to think explicitly about how to find good food in American bars. Here are a few general suggestions based on my own experience:<\/p>\n

Avoid places with lots of vodka and light rum.<\/strong> These can be bought cheaply and are easy to dress up in crowd-pleasing ways with liqueurs, fruit, and herbs. If these are what the customers are demanding than the food may be equally designed for broad appeal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Million<\/a>

Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, Jackson, WY 9-2011, by Don Graham<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

In contrast, look for ingredients that signal a knowledgeable staff and consumers.<\/strong> Italian amari<\/a>, herbal liqueurs<\/a>, rhum agricole, quality mezcal<\/a>, batavia arrack<\/a>, and \u2013 lucky for me \u2013 genever<\/a> are good indicators. If I see a bar stocked with these I\u2019ll want to see the food menu.<\/p>\n

Go into the city.<\/strong> The density of consumers with expendable income, knowledge of food and drinks, and access to transportation that doesn\u2019t require them to drive is in urban areas.<\/p>\n

Laws matter.<\/strong> In some states regulations require that places selling spirits also serve food. Where these laws don\u2019t exist, many of the best cocktail destinations won\u2019t bother much or at all with food, so one might plan to eat and drink separately. (These laws are bad news if you just want to drink, since your drink prices may be covering the cost of an under-utilized cook and kitchen or bars may simply close earlier to save on labor. Virginia\u2019s law creates particularly perverse incentives<\/a>.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Originally posted on Marginal Revolution<\/em> – click to see comments and suggestions.<\/a><\/p>\n

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