snack bar
[f. snack n.2 + bar n.1 28.]
1. A bar or counter at which snacks are served to customers; (part of) a restaurant containing such a bar.
| 1930 Punch 16 Apr. 433 A vegetarian snack-bar. 1937 Archit. Rev. Nov. p. lxii (caption) A restaurant and snack bar in Regent Street, London. 1943 Sun (Baltimore) 14 Oct. 5/1 A ‘snack bar’, offering sandwiches and soft drinks, is maintained at the Gold street center. 1958 S. Hyland Who goes Hang? xliii, 210 Arthur's highly polished snack-bar. 1965 D. Henderson Heart of Newfoundland 54 Marty's run a chain of snack bars in different parts of the city. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters vii. 284 Barkett pulled the truck into a gas station snack bar for a coffee break. |
2. attrib. Also fig.
| 1940 ‘G. Orwell’ Inside Whale 138 It is a flowing, swelling prose..with rhythms in it, something quite different from the flat cautious statements and snackbar dialects that are now in fashion. 1957 Observer 1 Sept. 11/7 Amongst the things most desired are seats bookable by telephone, good coffee and snack-bar service. 1982 J. Scott Uprush of Mayhem vi. 59 The lunch-time rush for snackbar sandwiches. |