New .bar and .rest domain names launched for bars and restaurants

Bars and clubs are to have their own internet domain name (.bar, and restaurants .rest) as part of the recent roll-out of domain names, otherwise known as Top-Level Domains (TLDs).

Any alcohol-related or restaurant businesses will be able to register for the new names, including pubs, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, food outlets, manufacturers and consumers. New adoptees are said to include Harry's Bar and Joël Robuchon, as well as Wynn Resorts in the US and the two-Michelin-starred restaurant Geranium in Denmark.

The domain was officially launched yesterday at London's Sanderson Hotel, with partners Punto and Beluga vodka.

Website addresses are available to register here, and existing website addresses can be transferred via the site. There is also a list of FAQs for businesses looking to register.

Ben Crawford, chief executive of the global domain name registry, CentralNic, and the sign-up website www.domains.bar, said: "It is a long-awaited pleasure to launch the .bar domain name in London… in the company of many leading lights of the adult beverage profession as well as renowned bar flies from the domain name industry."

The .bar and .rest addresses are the latest in a series of roll-outs on the web, by, which in recent years have included the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)'s addition of .web and .blog.

The most recent additions were rolled out in April, and included the .london name for websites based in the capital city. Earlier this year, the Greenwich-based Meantime Brewing Company was reported by the BBC as saying that the new .london domain would help its brand.

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