Mexico City, Mexico — they call it botana

Cantinas run on the botana system: you order a drink and food arrives that you did not order. First round is peanuts. By the third the kitchen is sending caldo de camarón, tostadas, something stewed, and the plates improve the longer you sit. Pulquerías work the same way, cheaper and louder. Nobody sits down to a meal here. You drink, things land, you keep drinking, and the street outside handles the 2 a.m. course.