If You See This Metal Bar at a Restaurant, This Is What It’s For

If you look closely at the photo, you can see that the foot rail stops right where the service bar rail is placed. The area on the other side (sans foot rail) is where servers and bartenders can stand in their own space to hand off drinks or appetizers, or move in and out of the bar. Nifty, right?

And if you’re wondering whether or not the piece is purely decorative, we thought so at first glance. But no, these service bar rails serve a useful purpose.

Find the secrets that restaurant chefs won’t tell you.

Why Is It Made Out of Brass?
You could chalk the use of brass up to tradition and aesthetic, but a few Redditors speculated that using this metal was intentional. Users pointed to the metal’s natural ability to disinfect; the chemical makeup of brass actually has antimicrobial properties, says

Of course, a brass service bar rail looks pretty good, too!