Think of the best bar you have ever been to. Really think. Now count how many seats it had.
If your answer is 'fewer than twenty', you are not alone. Almost every great bar in the world — the kind you will remember years later — is tiny. Tokyo's Golden Gai bars seat six people. London's best cocktail bars seat twelve. New York's best speakeasies seat fifteen. This is not a coincidence.
Small bars are great because they force intimacy. The bartender becomes an actual person. Other customers become temporary friends. The room has an acoustic where conversation actually works. Staff know when to leave you alone.
Big bars can never do this. They are designed around throughput. Every great big bar we have ever been to was essentially a great small bar that outgrew its building and never quite kept the soul.
Our rule of thumb: when a local recommends a bar, ask how many people it seats. If the answer is 'about twelve', go tonight. If the answer is 'it is big, they always have room', file it away for another time.