Don’t call it bar food
Bar food, once relegated to the category of deep-fried delights, has come a long way in recent years, with more and more bars and restaurants pivoting to offering food that’s sometimes lighter and brighter and often just plain fun.
While we love good old-fashioned greasy bar bites, we wanted to take a deeper look at the hows and whys behind several local bars’ innovative food menus. From European influences to local inspirations, these bars choose to offer food you might not normally consider, well, “bar food.” Here’s what they had to say.
babas on cannon, babas on meeting, Edward Crouse
For babas owner Edward Crouse, deciding what to serve at the all-day cafes, located on Cannon and Meeting streets, is easy: “We serve what we love to eat.” At babas, that looks like foods that are salty and crunchy and what Crouse calls “more-ish; after every bite we want things to be so craveable that folks say ‘just one more bite.’ ”
Bite-sized items are the name of the game at babas, with a menu that features dishes like soft boiled farm eggs, pickled shrimp and gigante beans. These bites may be small, but they’re mighty. According to Crouse, the limited menu (one that hasn’t changed in five years) is designed with perfection in mind. “We have to focus on making one or two bites perfect. Every bite is more flavorful,” he said.
The all-day cafes can be difficult to categorize, especially in an American landscape that loves to label. Much more than a coffee shop or even simply a cocktail bar — but not quite a full-scale restaurant, babas is modeled after the European cafes that Crouse and his wife and business partner Marie Stitt frequented while living and studying in Northern Italy.
“It’s so incredible as a patron to have a fun, inviting, delicious spot to come in at every time of day,” Crouse said. The food program, designed by Crouse and babas’ head pastry chef, Amanda Plunkett, is reminiscent of Italy’s aperitivo culture. Aperitivo means, quite literally, “to open,” and refers to early evening drinks and snacks. Babas even offers an aperitivo spread on Fridays and Saturdays; patrons can nosh on free bites with the purchase of a cocktail or glass of wine.
“We just lifted the business models from France and Spain,” Crouse said. “They get that we don’t want mozz sticks before dinner; we want things that are not that substantial.
“This might sound silly, but if we don’t hear from patrons that whatever they’re eating is the ‘best they’ve ever had!’ we keep working on it and pushing ourselves to make the very best version of the thing we could possibly fathom, until it is,” said Crouse.
Stems & Skins, Justin Croxall
For Stems & Skins co-owner Justin Croxall, an innovative food menu was born out of necessity. When he opened the Park Circle wine bar in 2016, there was no range hood or fryer, so he and his team had to figure out what kind of easy and delicious food they could serve in a pinch. Enter: tinned seafood.
Tinned seafood is currently in vogue — look no further than a May 2023 Bon Appetit article that claimed: “Few appetizers achieve the coveted balance of low-effort/luxurious with the ease of the best tinned fish on toast.”
Back when Stems & Skins first opened, though, tinned seafood wasn’t as ubiquitous, and folks were a little more hesitant to dip their toes into the canned fishy stuff. “I grew up watching my dad eat those gas station sardines and saltines,” laughed Croxall. “A lot of people had that idea [about tinned seafood].” He said that after watching an Anthony Bourdain episode where Bourdain eats tinned seafood in Portugal and pairs it with wine, a lightbulb went off.
“Stylistically, we lean towards [the style of] a European bar, so tinned seafood seemed like an obvious accompaniment,” he said.
With over 15 tinned seafood options, from tuna to mackerel to anchovies, Stems & Skins has a little something for every palate. Croxall says the folks at Stems will help guide customers to find a tinned fish that works for them. “There have been very few times where we got someone to try it, and they didn’t like it,” he said. “Ninety five percent of the time, people are [pleasantly] surprised.”
In addition to the tinned seafood, you can find more tapas-style small bites, like octopus skewers, whipped ricotta and grilled asparagus. Like any wine bar worth its salt, Stems offers a solid charcuterie selection, too.
We’d be remiss not to mention the actual wine served at Stems & Skins; the wine program was a James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Wine Program in 2019 and named one of “The 15 Most Important Natural Wine Bars in America” by Food & Wine in 2018.
In the same way that the spot offers more than just meats and cheeses, the bar serves up more than wine, offering classic cocktails, too.
Stems & Skins has cycled through several chefs since opening; Croxall said that the small kitchen isn’t always conducive to a long-term tenure for chefs used to busier environments.
While new chefs will rotate in new dishes, the core menu remains the same, with longtime customers coming in specifically for tinned seafood, Iberican ham and handmade pasta, Croxall’s personal favorite item.
“We’re definitely at a stage [in the bar food scene] where people are looking for more interesting things,” Croxall said.
The Royal American, John Kenney
Where babas and Stems & Skins mimic European bars and cafes, The Royal American is, well, all American. The 1950s era industrial-style building located on Morrison Drive serves as both a bar and popular music venue. Beloved by locals, Royal serves up a fairly extensive menu, with both the “usual” bar fare of fries and wings, but with a fun addition of weekly “staff meals” and red plate specials, too.
“We have always wanted to focus on simple, classic American fare. We pick regional favorites from around the country and try to execute them as authentically as possible,” said Royal American co-owner John Kenney, who added that he wants customers to connect to the nostalgia around the bar’s classic dishes.
Kenney said Royal’s chef Kirsten Lawton is the mastermind behind the weekly specials. “She amazes me every day with her talent, creativity and flavor combinations. While we try to keep things simple and classic, she is always just a bit ahead of me and keeps the surprises coming.”
In addition to the classics — think double patty cheeseburgers and a grilled chili dog — you can nosh on hearty goods like disco fries, served with black pepper brown gravy and cheese sauce, and lighter fare like the herb grilled chicken salad, featuring grilled chicken served over mixed local greens.
“We get lots of feedback from our guests, and yes, we have definitely run with their suggestions before,” Kenney said. “Over the years, our Instagram page has become quite popular in terms of our weekly specials.” Recent specials include a Lowcountry boil, loaded baked potato salad, chicken pot pie and fried loaded sweet potato gnocchi.
In the warmer months, Lawton creates dishes like fresh bowls of whipped feta and watermelon, gazpacho and tempura-fried green onion straws. Look no further than Royal’s Instagram comments for a loyal bunch of happy eaters praising the weekly specials with phrases like “Please publish a book of recipes, so many bangers” and “That is seriously like a life giving plate. … Y’all are very inspiring to me.”
Kenny added, “We want our guests to feel like they are family. We take immense pride in our menu and put love and care into every dish we prepare. Our chefs source as many local products as possible, and we are committed to delivering a substantial value on each plate.”
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