Meaning & use
snack bar
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A small shop or counter where you can buy light food and drinks, often to eat quickly.
Grammar: Countable: a snack bar, two snack bars. Often used with at or in: we met at a snack bar.
Patterns
- at a snack bar
- a snack bar serves something
- open a snack bar
There is a snack bar next to the swimming pool where you can get sandwiches and juice.
We stopped at a snack bar by the beach and shared a plate of fries.
The snack bar inside the station stays open until midnight.
nouncountable
A small, usually rectangular block of food eaten as a quick light meal, such as a cereal or fruit bar.
Grammar: Countable and often used in compounds: a cereal snack bar, a chocolate snack bar.
Patterns
- a cereal snack bar
- eat a snack bar
- a box of snack bars
She keeps a snack bar in her bag for the train ride home.
I bought a box of oat snack bars for the hike.
These fruit snack bars are handy when you are too busy for lunch.
Word forms
| plural | snack bars |
|---|
Common combinations
- at a snack bar
- We grabbed lunch at a snack bar near the museum.
- snack bar menu
- The snack bar menu is short: soup, toast, and coffee.
- open a snack bar
- They plan to open a snack bar in the new sports center.
- a cereal snack bar
- He ate a cereal snack bar on the way to work.
- snack bar staff
- The snack bar staff were friendly and quick.
Synonyms and how they differ
- café
- A café is usually a proper sit-down place serving coffee and meals, while a snack bar is smaller and more casual.
- canteen
- A canteen is an eating place inside a school or workplace, often with set meals, unlike a snack bar which mainly sells light items.
- kiosk
- A kiosk is a small stand that may sell newspapers or tickets as well as snacks, so it is not always about food.
Word family
Commonly confused: snack bar or bar? snack bar or snack bar / snackbar?
snack bar vs bar
A bar is mainly a place serving alcoholic drinks; a snack bar sells light food and soft drinks instead.
snack bar vs snack bar / snackbar
The standard spelling is two words, snack bar; the joined form snackbar appears in some brand names but is not the usual spelling.
Practice
Which sentence uses "snack bar" correctly?
Choose one answer.
A snack bar is a small place selling light food and drinks, so option 1 fits. Option 0 is wrong because a snack bar does not mainly serve alcohol; option 2 confuses the place with a job; option 3 uses it as a verb, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “snack bar”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.