A successful bar does much more than deliver assorted libations to an after-work crowd and offer a dining compromise for weekend walk-ins. It’s an introduction to the restaurant—a chance to show off to guests curious about the establishment but hesitant to make a reservation for the dining room, an opportunity to offer a glimpse of the breadth of the operation’s culinary repertoire in budget-friendly, tasting-size portions.

So how to make a bar-dining program click with guests? Serve up regional specialties and “premiumized” bar-food favorites, operators say, and let guests order from the full dinner menu if they so choose. Doing so will give diners the customizable experience they desire. As Chris Bauer, executive chef of Loft Bar at the Hilton Austin, says, “Once you give somebody a taste of the good stuff, they’re going to want it every time.”

Consistency, consistency: For as spirited and spirits-fueled as a restaurant’s bar area tends to be, it still must effect a tone consistent with that of the overall operation. “You always want it to have some relevance to the dining-room program,” says Bill King, vice president of culinary development at McCormick & Schmick’s.

“To us, the bar in many ways is where the restaurant starts,” King continues. “It has such a cultural and social element. We often view it as the starting point, the anchor, to the restaurant itself.” The Portland, Ore.-based seafood chain strives to appeal to diverse—and young—audiences with unit-specific special happenings ranging from wine-tasting nights to guest-bartender events featuring local firefighters.

With today’s young diners more interested in sampling high-end cuisine and authentic global flavors, creative bar-food menus and tasting events can help draw in the under-40 demographic that bars covet without creating an overly boisterous atmosphere that might turn off other bar or dining-room guests (of any age). “Demographic diversity is really key in building an energetic bar scene,” King says.

At contemporary Italian restaurant Perbacco in San Francisco, co-owner Umberto Gibin says that soft lighting, understated background music and a relaxed but not too-casual vibe make the bar a comfortable space for couples and small groups to spend their evening. “It is warm and convivial,” Gibin says. “It is an alternative to the dining room [for when] people don’t want to fuss around with the white tablecloths and the service coming to you.”

One key to creating an energetic but lower-key atmosphere: making sure seating is planned carefully. “The spacing of chairs is really important,” says Gibin; at Perbacco, 18 stools line a long bar, and a handful of high tables are positioned near the front windows. If a restaurant tries to cram in too many seats in the bar area, guests may remedy the situation as they see fit. “That’s when you find a chair in the middle of the room,” Gibin notes.

Great drinks and interesting food options are only part of the equation, of course. In such a lively, highly visible area as the bar, upbeat, efficient and knowledgeable service is especially crucial.

“You have to have the good people working behind the bar,” says Perbacco’s Gibin. Bar servers help set the conversation volume, formality of atmosphere and overall mood of the bar area, and they are the only members of the serving staff with whom some diners will interact during their visit to the restaurant. The ability to pour a perfect cocktail means little if the server is indifferent to some parties—more obvious to guests at the bar than in the dining room—or is clueless about the food menu.

Beth Heller, director of marketing at Chicago-based Harry Caray’s, made basic foodservice instruction a top priority when she took on training duties for the three-unit concept. “I’ve been to many bars where you ask, 'What’s in this? What’s in this?’ and the servers have no idea,” she says. “It was very important for me to make sure that the [Harry Caray’s] bar staff was at the same level as the dining-room staff ... Our bar doesn’t just serve liquor and it doesn’t just serve beer; it serves a ton of food.” To make sure the instruction has sunk in, Harry Caray’s tests servers on the full food menu. “They know every ingredient,” Heller says.

Perbacco’s Gibin says that in hiring bar staff, personality ultimately trumps experience. The interview process “is 'let’s chat and see if I want to spend some time with you,’” he adds. Top candidates are not only outgoing but also thoughtful and attentive, as successful bar attendants are able to finesse their dual roles as speedy drink servers and courteous members of the waitstaff.

Chris Bauer, executive chef at Loft Bar and Finn & Porter restaurant in the Hilton Austin in Austin, Texas, knows exactly how far he can go with the upscaling of items on his bar menu. “I’m not going to put the word 'coulis’ on my menu,” he says. “We keep it not dumbed down, but people basically know what they’re getting.”

Diners desire something beyond the greasy, nondescript mozzarella sticks that used to be a bar-menu mainstay, but selections must also be easily approachable and a good match for a beer or a glass of chardonnay.

“You’re finding out what your customers want, and what they want is bar food,” Harry Caray’s Heller says. “You can’t make it too fancy.” For Harry Caray’s and Loft Bar, revitalizing the bar menu is about using better-quality ingredients in familiar, comforting bar-food staples.

“If you’re going to do a burger, why not do it well?” Bauer says. A “properly cut, well-presented” burger can help establish brand identity, he notes—and ensure that out-of-towners aren’t served “the same burger they got at room service last night.”

The approach works for the equally egalitarian BLT. “A BLT is a BLT—it should have bacon, lettuce and tomato on it,” Bauer says. Loft Bar’s “top-shelf” version, however, places cooked-to-order applewood-smoked bacon and sliced heirloom tomatoes on an onion Kaiser roll.

Signature twists on favorite regional treats can help a bar menu stand out. Offering shareable or tasting-size portions of local specialties—pizza, crab cakes, barbecue—can boost interest in the menu and inspire guests to try more items, lifting check totals. At Loft Bar, the slider phenomenon finds expression in oyster po’ boy sliders, with fried Gulf oysters, mayonnaise, lettuce and fresh diced tomatoes. “[Guests] are like, 'Wow, this is something special; they put some thought into it,’” Bauer says.

Diners at Harry Caray’s have more menu options at the bar than they do in the dining room. A specialized bar menu features such steakhouse-appropriate bites as a trio of miniature filet sandwiches and a meatball sub, as well as a hamburger—an option not available in the dining room. Bar guests who would rather dig into a full entrée can order any item off the full menu. “Our goal was to find a way to have a nice balance between the Italian steakhouse offerings and a bar menu,” Heller says.

Perbacco, too, makes its dinner menu available to bar patrons. “My past experience with other establishments is that people don’t want to be limited to quote-unquote the bar menu,” Gibin says. “They want to have the same thing that everyone else is having.”

If “the last thing you want your bar food to be is boring,” as McCormick & Schmick’s King comments, then the second-to-last thing an operation’s bar food should be is expensive.

“The fundamental idea is value,” King says of McCormick & Schmick’s 22-year-old bar-food program. A menu that was based on a selection of handheld treats priced at $1.95 has evolved to feature a wide variety of items at the $3.95 and $4.95 price points as well.

A half-pound, ground-chuck cheeseburger—“the foundation element” of the bar menu—sells for only $1.95 at the bar, versus $8.95 in the dining room. “It was our way of bringing value into the bar,” King says.

Serving an array of items from burgers to fried shrimp, steamed clams and Korean-style barbecued short ribs at below typical dining-room prices offers its rewards. The menu-pricing strategy makes McCormick & Schmick’s a recognized, reliable bar-dining destination, says King.

Contact writer at christine.lafave@reedbusiness.com