Are bookstore bars the next hot hospitality trend?

It’s not enough for a bar to just be a bar anymore. In a post-COVID age where consumers have less purchasing power and are spending more time at home, new drinking establishments are pulling out all the stops to lure people to the bar top. 

The 2025–26 edition of the American Nightlife Association’s industry overview found that experiential and themed venues are the fastest-growing new format in the U.S., with nightflies now visiting these types of venues at the same rate they do nightclubs. Similarly, a report from payment systems company Peppr tracked the rise of hybrid bars (e.g., a cocktail bar that doubles as a cafe during the day), finding that these establishments generate 23–30% of their average profit margins through daytime operations and enjoy a 65% reduction in traditional slow periods compared to normal bars. 

This shift is happening in Canada, too. “Canadians are becoming much more selective about where they spend their money, especially as affordability remains a challenge,“ Chris Elliott, chief economist at Restaurants Canada, told The Peak. “That's where concepts like speakeasies and listening bars have an advantage… In today's environment, consumers are often willing to spend a little more if they feel the experience is truly worth it.”

One such concept that is gaining traction mixes literature and libations: the bookstore bar. A trio of bars in the trendsetting cities of New York and London — Liz’s Book Bar and Anaïs in the former, and BookBar in the latter — have made headlines over the past few years by popularizing this nascent trend. These establishments capitalized on the resurgence of independent bookstores, marrying their cozy-cum-intellectual atmospheres with upscale fixtures and craft cocktails to attract young cosmopolitans. Similar spots quickly sprang up across the globe.