I Found The Perfect Restaurant Bar Seat
No more uncomfortable seats 2026!
I can’t send this newsletter without acknowledging the absolute buffoonery and unhinged violence that is going on in Minnesota (and other parts of this country) at the hands of ICE, which is receiving BILLIONS in funding from tax payer dollars. The situation may feel helpless, especially from afar, but there is a vote to defund ICE in congress this coming week. It’s imperative that you call your representatives and let them know that you don’t support funding ICE. I use the 5 Calls app (it’s free!) to do this! The app lets you know who you representative are, how to get in touch with them, and even provides a script if you need it. Also if you want to tell me to keep politics out of this newsletter, you might as well swallow that thought. There are few things as inherently political as food.
Some housekeeping!
An apology! I’d like to apologize for the infrequency of newsletters as of late. This will be changing immediately, but I will be experimenting with frequency and formats, but expect at least one newsletter a week. Would love to know in the comments or if you want to shoot me a DM what you’d like to see me write more frequently about.
Candles! I recently wrote about how tapered candles are fully back in restaurants for Eater. It inspired me to buy some for my own house and if you’re looking for a quick/easy/cheap way to add some romance and whimsy to you life, I highly recommend investing in some tapered candles.
Consulting! If you are a hotel/restaurant/or cpg brand looking for some help with ideation, marketing, your newsletter and/or storytelling, I have an opening to take on one or two more clients! I am also available for editing gigs, or consulting on cookbook projects (including whether or not you should do one!) Shoot me an email ks@khushbushah.com if you’re interested.
Cookbook! If you have kindly purchased my cookbook, I would really appreciate a review on Amazon. These reviews really help encourage other people to buy the book!
Meet the perfect restaurant bar:
The bar can either be the best seats or the absolutely worst seats at a restaurant — unfortunately it is usually the latter. As much as I love the action at the bar — watching bartenders maneuver the space and shaking up drinks, the random conversation with your fellow bar-seaters — but they to also tend to be the most uncomfortable seats in the house.
The stools are often too high. Legs are left to dangle. There are often no backs. The material of the stool cushion is often easy to slip off of. Unless there are purse hooks, there’s no where to put your bag. And don’t get me started if you want to eat at the bar with more than one friend and actually be able to talk and see them. Especially in restaurants where people waiting for tables are also allowed to linger at the bar area standing in between bar seats.
Over the years, through my travels, i’ve encountered bars that solve for some of these issues but the other weekend, I stumbled upon what has been my best restaurant bar seating experience of all time. I was with two friends and we were able to have a a full dinner, with real conversation, without me feeling the need to constantly squirm in my seat to be comfortable.
Hermon’s, the new comfort American spot from the Last Word Hospitality team, is not a perfect restaurant by any means, but it might have a perfect restaurant bar. The seats are wide and plush, with a proper, supportive back. The stools are easy to slide onto, there are generous foot rests on both the stools AND the bar (one or the other is bare minimum, but the ideal is both). The seats are shaped so it’s easy to hang a purse off the side without worrying about it falling off. The bar itself is wide enough to easily accommodate full size dinner plates and share plates and all kinds of glassware. Every seat has a great view of the bartenders but also the tiny kitchen as it pumps out burgers and a very good two-sheet vongole lasagna.
There’s no one lingering next to you waiting for a drink as they wait for their table. Each seat is assigned. There’s ample space between seats. I didn’t hear one word of conversation the person to my right was having, and there was no risk of me elbowing my fellow neighbor.
The bar staff is incredible attentive. There’s no chasing down someone with hand motions or vigorous eye contact with the hopes of getting a glass of water refilled. It’s a bar designed for comfort, and for lingering. It doesn’t feel like a secondary prize to one of the restaurant’s booths. In fact, i’d rather sit at the bar than the booths. It keeps you in the center of the action while still offering enough privacy to catch up with friends.
It’s like whoever designed the restaurant actually sat in the seats and didn’t chose them solely for aesthetic purposes. Seating really matters in a restaurant, especially when the check average per person is north of $20. Currently, all of the bar seating (18 seats!) is reserved for walk-ins on a first come, first served basis. My only real gripe with Hermon’s is that I wish the food was better (I didn’t think it was possible to feel so let down by garlic bread!) but given that they are still so new, I am hoping it is something that will be figured out with time — because I will absolutely be back for the bar.
Speaking of great bar seating in LA, I also swung through Bar Benjamin the other night, which also has incredible bar seating. Stools with backs and arm rests, foot rests on the seat and the bar, and again, I think this is key, no lingering people at the bar. No standing room. Each seat has a guest. It’s an easy bar to want to hang out at. I just wish they served fries.
I just don’t understand what is stopping all restaurants with bar seating to have an actually comfortable bar?
Do you have a favorite bar seat? Would love to know where in the comments below.
My favorite bar seating is at 13 Coins in SeaTac, 18000 International Boulevard, directly across the road from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The seats are each high backed and arched so you can sit in complete privacy, just watching the gifted chefs work the flames in the open kitchen. Alternatively, a couple can turn their chairs toward each other and have a relatively private booth between two arch-covered barstools. Very cool.
Love the Bar Benjamin setup. Also a big fan of Saffy’s bar seating!