15 Popular Regional Bar Snacks From Around the World, Mapped

The tradition of snacking on something salty, cheesy, or nutty while imbibing at a local bar can be traced back centuries. And still today, drinkers just can’t resist having a bowl of peanuts or potato chips to accompany a crisp pint of beer after a work day or a dish of olives with an afternoon spritz. But beyond these classic small bites, each corner of the world has developed a certain set of bar snacks that go along with its particular drinking culture. For some countries this means bites of cheese-filled fritters between sips of a local brew, while others lean lighter with easygoing seafood dishes to complement bright, crisp wines.

These distinct snacks can be seen at watering holes across the globe, and in some places, like New York City, you can experience a world of bar snacks in one afternoon: from the spice bag at Bar Snack in the East Village to the pork scratchings at the West Village’s own British pub, Dean’s. While New Yorkers are lucky to have easy access to just about any world cuisine at establishments around the city, these bar snacks have interesting origin stories of their own.

No matter what you snack on when knocking back a cold one, it’s important — if not enriching — to understand the cultural ties of those dishes. From the spice-laced peanuts of Mexico and China to deep-fried balls of meat from Western Europe, here are the most popular bar snacks around the world.

Europe

Italy

Stuzzichini

You can almost always expect small ramekins of salty and appetite-whetting snacks to arrive alongside each round of Aperol Spritzes, Negronis, Garibaldis, and the like on cocktail-hour tables across Italy. The northwest city of Turin was the birthplace of the tradition of the Italian aperitivo hour, where the 18th-century advent of vermouth sparked a ritual of pre-dinner, low-ABV drinks and small bites. Stuzzichini are the small, usually savory snacks served during aperitivo hour. The customary mix of small dishes might include taralli — ring-shaped, baked crackers that either come plain or flavored with herbs — olives, peanuts, or even potato chips.

United Kingdom

Scotch Eggs

Coming from the U.K. — where pub culture involves hefty beers and hearty snacks to match — is the Scotch egg. The dish is a hard- or soft-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs, and fried. While its name suggests it originated in Scotland, most food historians believe English cooks first invented the Scotch egg in the 18th century. (One retail store in London claims to have been among the first to make the dish in 1738). Some accounts also theorize that Scotch eggs emerged as a result of the transfer of cultures between the U.K. and India via the East India Company. Those claims say Scotch eggs were a British take on Nargisi Kofta, a traditional Indian dish of a similar format, with a cooked egg encased in spiced ground meat.

Pork Scratchings

Pork scratchings are slices of pig skin that are dehydrated and fried until they puff into an airy, crackingly crisp texture. Already rich in meaty and umami flavors, pork scratchings are often seasoned with just a dash of salt. What differentiates scratchings from “rinds” or “cracklings” is that they usually come from the skin on the pig’s hind legs. Similar to Scotch eggs, the rich, deep-fried flavor of pork scratchings serves to complement the heavy profile of pub-style brews. They first came about among impoverished communities in 1800s England, where people used every last bit of the livestock for a cheap, filling snack. Today, pork snatchings are often sold in retail stores packaged in bags or served fresh at pubs.

Germany

Pretzels

No, German pretzels aren’t just an Instagrammable fad for tourists to pose with while in their lederhosen at Munich’s biergartens. The snack dates back to the Middle Ages, and some historians think an Italian monk was the first to tie a simple dough into a knot as a symbol of the Christian Holy Trinity. In the 1100s, the tradition then spread to what is now Germany, when the famous shape of the knotted bread became the go-to signage for bakeries. Today, the salted snack is served at bars around the world. In Germany, pretzels are most often soft and can be an accompaniment to beers served in mugs or steins.

Spain

Gildas

Gildas come from Spain’s Basque Country — the stretch of land between northeast Spain and southwest France, where the cuisine is centered around seafood and small bites. The handheld snack is presented on a small skewer, with bites alternating between green olives, pickled hot peppers, and anchovies cured in oil. While now ubiquitous around Spain and at Basque-inspired restaurants around the world, Gildas didn’t come about until the 20th century: San Sebastián’s Bar Casa Vallés first introduced the dish in 1946 after a regular customer skewered the three ingredients together and consumed the ensemble as one. Some snackers like to take each element individually, whereas others eat them in the same bite. No matter how you go at it, gildas bring strong, piquant flavors of brine, vinegar, and spice and commonly accompany a glass of Txakoli or vermouth — two popular choices at Spanish bars.

Croquetas

Croquetas are now most common at Spanish tapas bars and restaurants, but the French were the first to shape leftover meat scraps — and eventually béchamel — into a ball to then bread and fry them. But it wasn’t until the Spanish adopted the dish in the 1800s that it became as popular around the world as it is today. On tapas menus, croquetas take many different forms. Most traditional are the croquetas de jamón, but bargoers can also find examples with chicken, cod, or cheese.. Croquetas are particularly popular in Catalonia, where light, sessionable beers like Estrella Damm or bottles of bubbly Cava are common for washing down the heavy snack.

Ireland

Spice Bag

Consumed as both late-night street food and a pub snack alongside a Guinness, spice bags are one of Ireland’s latest claims to fame. While the name doesn’t reveal much about what’s inside, it refers to a mixture of crispy fried chicken, french fries, peppers, and onions all haphazardly thrown into a bag, doused in dry spices, and shaken together. At its core, spice bags are a blend of Irish pub food and Chinese flavors: Most accounts say Sunflower Chinese, a takeout spot in Dublin, invented the now-popular snack in 2006. Some may say spice bags are best when eaten after a few pints to satiate your appetite, but the balance of a spicy kick with the toasted, chocolatey notes of Guinness is some great craic.

The Netherlands

Bitterballen

Similar to croquetas, bitterballen are deep fried orbs with a crisp, craggly breadcrumb exterior that gives way to a creamy, meaty filling. Traditional recipes combine a roux with chunks of cooked meat — usually beef — and its juices to create an incredibly rich, velvety mouthfeel. While their exact origin is unknown, bitterballen are believed to have emerged during the 1600s. Now common at traditional bars in Amsterdam and across the Netherlands, the snack is usually dipped in a bright, spicy mustard to cut through the unctuous flavors. Bitterballan also accompany crisp Dutch lagers like Amstel or Heineken.

North America

United States

Chicken Wings

Whether at a dive, sports, or a regular neighborhood bar in the U.S., you can bet chicken wings will be on the menu. The spicy, bright orange Buffalo sauce may be the most common to dress chicken wings, but with the Buffalo wing’s ubiquity came the expansion of options, with lemon-pepper, barbecue, and garlic-parmesan sauces now popular on menus. On the side usually comes a ramekin of ranch or bleu cheese dressing and spears of celery and carrots to cut through the spicy, salty, and fatty elements. Chicken wings became so beloved within the American consumer consciousness that national and international chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Wing Stop have become a go-to. Chicken wings are often relegated to more laid-back establishments like dives or sports bars and often consumed with light beers — though, they arguably go with anything.

Nachos

Nachos originated in Mexico, not far from the Texas border. And while the dish — a heaping pile of tortilla chips most commonly covered in toppings like queso, beans, meat, and jalapeños — is still popular in its home country, the U.S. has taken it in as its own. Relatively easy to execute and share among a table of people, nachos are the ultimate communal dish to enjoy alongside a few Margaritas.

Mexico

Cacahuates Botaneros

Originating from the southern Mexico region of Oaxaca, “cacahuates botaneros” roughly translates to “bar snack peanuts.” You can find the snack at the center of a table of cervezas, micheladas, Margaritas, or Palomas. The dish traditionally mixes peanuts with a number of seasonings, such as garlic, chilis, oil, salt, and lime juice, before toasting the ensemble over a stove. A halved lime usually comes beside a bowl of the nuts to brighten everything up.

Asia

Korea

Corn Cheese

Corn cheese, known locally as kon-chijeu, is a Korean dip that’s exactly as it sounds: a warm mix of corn and melted cheese. A combination of the corn, mozzarella, mayonnaise, and other ingredients is baked in a skillet and, immediately after removing from the oven, topped with slices of scallions or chives and served sizzling hot. It first gained popularity around the late 20th century, but it is now a common food to snack on while drinking in South Korea. Corn cheese is one of the many dishes in the “anju” category — a suite of modern Korean drinking snacks that also includes fried chicken, shredded squid, and blood sausage.

China

Drunken Peanuts

Coming from the Szechuan region in China — an area beloved for a cuisine that often features a numbing peppercorn spice — drunken peanuts (also known as jiǔguǐ huāshēng) got their name from being a popular snack at bars, where they are usually consumed with beer. The peanuts are either fried or roasted before getting the mala seasoning treatment, which is a blend of red chili peppers and Szechuan peppercorns. There’s little account of drunken peanuts’ origins other than their long ties to Szechuan cuisine, but in recent years, the snack has commercialized, with a number of companies packaging the peanuts to be sold in retail stores.

Japan

Chicken Karaage

A popular dish at Japanese izakaya bars, chicken Karaage is a crispy, crunchy snack of fried chicken to enjoy with an ice cold Asahi or crisp Toki highball. It’s made by frying up small pieces of thigh meat marinated in a ginger, soy sauce, and garlic dressing. The dish actually has origins in China, where deep frying bite-sized foods was first common and then brought to Japan. It especially spread around Japan after World War II, when food became sparse and frying pieces of chicken became a cheap alternative for a satiating meal.

South America

Brazil

Coxinha

Coxinhas are fried, cone-shaped bites filled with chicken with spices, onions, garlic, and cheese. There are a number of theories about the origins of the dish — some involve Brazilian royalty, and others say it was a natural extension of French croquettes. The word “coxhina” translates to “little thigh” in Portuguese, which some say is a nod to the fried dish’s teardrop-like appearance that is made to resemble the drumstick of a chicken. Both a street food and a bar snack, coxinhas are served with light, easy-drinking beers.

*Image retrieved from WS Studio via unsplash.com

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