Tapas means small plates and tapas restaurants are really famous in Spain. They are generally served with wine. The main idea is going a restaurant with a group of people and share with them and taste a lot of food. In addition, most of the food include nice olive olive and suitable for spreading on breads. Therefore a good bread is a complementary of tapas dishes.
There are similar type of restaurants also popular in mediterranean region and small plate are called different names. In Turkey and Greece, it is called meze and generally are served with Raki or Uozo respectively.
Recently, I have been in a tapas restaurant in the US which they do not bring basket of bread and the worst thing they also have not considered to offer bread even with a price. It was a bad experience for me and my friends.
Have you ever been in a tapas restaurant in the US?