Bars categorized by the kind of entertainment they offer:
- Blues bars, specializing in the live blues style of music
- Comedy bars, specializing in stand-up comedy entertainment
- Dance bars, which have a dance floor where patrons dance to recorded music. But if a dance bar has a large dance floor and hires well-known professional DJs, it is considered to be a nightclub or discothèque.
- Karaoke bars, with nightly karaoke as entertainment
- Music bars, specializing in live music (i.e. concerts)
- Drag bars, which have live shows, where men dress as women and generally lip-sync to recordings of female vocal artists
- Salsa bars, where patrons dance to Latin salsa music
- Sports bars, where sports fans watch games on large-screen televisions
- Topless bars, where topless female employees dance or serve drinks
- Dance bar