Bar Snacks

Popcorn with Sesame-Glazed Pistachios

Mixing popcorn with glazed pistachios creates a sweet-salty snack that's fantastic with cocktails.

Fried Pickles with Spicy Mayonnaise

• More Appetizer Recipes and Tips

German Soft Pretzel Sticks

"I've always been a fan of any food high in salt and starch," Grant Achatz says, "and soft pretzels right out of the oven are awesome." You can eat these slightly sweet, chewy, dark pretzel sticks plain or with mustard; Achatz goes for ranch dressing.

Spicy Apricot Wings

An apricot-based sauce brushed on chicken wings before grilling gives them plenty of flavor; extra sauce is good for dipping.

• Chicken Wing Recipes

Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings

Most of us think of Buffalo wings as bar food, but with their accompaniment of celery sticks and creamy blue-cheese dressing, they make a fine casual meal. These wings are hot, but if you like them incendiary, pass extra Tabasco sauce at the table.

• More Chicken Recipes and Tips

Gouda, Pancetta and Onion Fondue with Pretzels

Leyden, a Dutch cheese flecked with cumin seeds, inspired Laura Werlin to create this cumin-spiced Gouda fondue. Serve it with soft, warm pretzels or pickled vegetables for dipping.

Fried Peanuts with Asian Flavors

To make these addictive peanuts extra-tangy, Chris Yeo soaks them in lime juice before frying them and tossing them with tart shredded lime leaves. He served them at the Atlanta party because Georgia is the peanut capital of the country.

• Terrific Cocktail Party Recipes

Natchitoches Meat Pies with Spicy Buttermilk Dip

Natchitoches, Louisiana, is renowned for its meat pies. Kelly English serves his mini version with a dipping sauce that combines two quintessential Southern ingredients: buttermilk and hot sauce.

• More Fantastic Savory Pies

Lobster Sliders

These little sliders are lush, miniature takes on classic New England lobster rolls.

• More Amazing Seafood Recipes

Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs with Avocado

Crif Dogs, a late-night hot dog spot, is locally famous for its franks. This one, which goes by the name The Chihuahua, is wrapped in bacon and topped with sour cream and avocado.

• More Terrific Hot Dogs

Black Pepper Jerky

This classic jerky gets a double dose of peppery flavor from both cracked peppercorns in the marinade and coarsely ground peppercorns on top.

• More Make-Ahead Snacks

Bayless's Queso Fundido al Tequila

This simple, 20-minute dip of melted cheese flavored with tomatoes, chiles, onion and a hit of tequila is just the thing to satisfy a sudden craving for something warm, salty and gooey.

• More Gooey Cheese Recipes

Mexican Pizza

Deconstructed nachos were the inspiration behind this fun pizza. Made with chili-spiced black-bean puree, tomatoes, olives, shredded lettuce and low-fat Jack cheese on a whole-wheat crust, the pie also gets a little low-fat sour cream (that nacho staple) on top.

• More Mexican Recipes

Soy-Glazed Chicken Yakitori

Walking into a yakitori bar in Tokyo, chef Dean Fearing was startled by the thick grill smoke filling the room, then delighted by the delicious flavor of the skewered meats. "These chicken skewers are as close to the food from that grill as I can remember," he says.

• Easy, Ethnic Party Recipes

Peppery Chicken Wings

Toss chicken wings in a hot pepper sauce and sprinkle with some additional black pepper for a quick and easy chicken wing recipe.

• Chicken Wing Recipes