A bar refers to retail business establishment involved with the serving of alcoholic beverages such as cocktails, liquor, wine, and beer. One can also find non-alcoholic beverages such as soft drinks and mineral water. Crisps, peanuts, and other forms of snack foods may also be found in these establishments. These facilities also go by several other names including tavern, saloon, club, or pub depending on the location. Bars in Newport RI are of clean and of high standards.

Throughout history, public drinking spaces have been referred to using different names. For instance, in colonial United States, meetings were majorly held in taverns. Taverns provided meeting places because most institutions were still weak. The turn of the nineteenth century saw members of the working class preferring spending leisure time in saloons. Today, all around the world, the name bar finds more use than most other names.

During several years of the 20th century, selling and drinking of alcohol was illegal in many countries for various reasons. Many countries upheld the prohibition in the better first half of the century. Among the countries in which this prohibition prevailed include the United States. Finland, Iceland, and Norway. Even with the restriction going on, these establishments operated illegally. They were referred to by names like blind tigers, speakeasies, and blind pigs.

The activities of bars are under the regulation of governments to restrict their activities. In the US, minors cannot enter bars. If the bar also sells food, minor may enter, but the law prohibits them from drinking alcohol. They can only eat food and non-alcoholic drinks. In other jurisdictions, bars are only allowed to be located in certain parts of the city or town.

The law may also place a restriction on the kind of alcoholic beverages sold. For instance, a facility may sell beer and wine because it has the license, but it may not sell liquor. Some jurisdictions place legal liability of patrons on bar owners serving them. That means that the bar owner takes responsibility that the patron may cause while intoxicated including DUI, death, and property damage.

The facilities in a bar are usually chosen and influenced by the management or owner. Some of the aspects that the owner or management may influence are decor, drink menu, name, lighting, and drinks. However, the clientele is totally out of hand and occurs naturally. Categorization of bars depends on the types of patrons who visit them frequently. Some major examples include college, biker, gay, cop, singles, sports, and neighborhood bars.

Another categorization of these establishments depends on the type of entertainment that people watch while in them. Major examples include blues, dance, karaoke, salsa, music, topless, sports, and drag bars. A sport bar is one in which there are large screens from which people watch games such as soccer, football, tennis, rugby, basketball, cricket, and volleyball among others.

People who go to bars do so for different reasons. Whereas some go to grab a beer, others are more interested in socializing and meeting new people. Others appear in groups to have fun and enjoy watching games together.