Yes, I do believe rzn is refering to tapas places! While they originated in Spain (tapas being small plates of food meant to be consumed with sherry or other wine), there are now tapas bars serving all sorts of ethnic/fusion food. Wine bars that serve food also tend to serve small plates of stuff that is more appetizer than main. And let's not forget dim sum restaurants, which serve small plates of Chinese dumplings and other delicacies; there are non-Chinese versions of that, too. Some years ago when the trend was supposed to be "grazing" -- eating smaller portions, if in greater numbers
-- some regular restaurants offered the same dishes in several different size portions. I'm not sure how much that's still done, though.
The basic plate at a tapas restaurant is pretty small, just a few bites. Next up in size is the pintxho, then the racion is pretty much a full portion (forgive me if the spelling is off; I'm doing this off the top of my head). Here in NYC we have lots of places that serve "small plates" of varied cuisines.
And it's spelled hors d'oeuvre.
