No one said the replicator can perfectly create the most delightful and exquisite flavors and aromas associated with the real thing. Also the bar is like a real bar in a way, you're not paying for just the food/drink but also the atmosphere.

Also also it's a Bajoran station, so maybe Quark has to pay an energy bill even for using the drinks replicator.

Also also also Quark makes the point that he had programmed the drinks replicator to be even better than a regular one, so you're also paying for that.

You can buy alcohol cheap from a store in real life, along with all the ingredients to make drinks, yet people still go to bars where cocktails cost more than a meal. They're not going just because of superior bartending skills, they're going as part of the experience of drinking with other people. Because on DS9, your other option is basically to drink in your quarters, which is no fun.

There are more options for food on DS9, but people still go to Quark's for the atmosphere. It's lively and fun, which is probably hard to come by otherwise on a remote space station. I doubt people are coming to Quark's in droves for the food though, it's more just something you get if you're already there.

There has been several episodes that talk about how poor the quality the food and drink are. Plus Starfleet replicators cannot make alcohol.

It's a plot point in the early seasons that the replicators on the station are not as good as the ones you might find on a federation starship.

Pretty sure Quark uses replicators for the food. Just has actual drinks in stock.

I suspect that the primary money makers are the drinks, gambling and holosuite time.

@aredditimmigrant @VindictiveJudge later in lower decks it's revealed that quark has "done some work" to his replicators that make them produce results you can't get in your quarters/mess hall

The computer can’t create everything, that’s why gold is near worthless and latinum is eternal.

Paying for food or drink would be for recipes not programmed into your own replicator, or when you’re not at home with your own. Star fleet seems paternal about healthy stuff like synthehol.

I think I remember them mentioning that the replicators can't make very complex items, like a layered alcoholic drink. That and honestly a lot of people would probably still go just for the social aspect.

Latinum is chosen as the default currency, exactly because it is not replicable. In ST:Outpost there's an episode where they find an alien tech that is able to replicate latinum, but only for a couple days before it dissolves. That is than used by ferengi pirates for obvious malicious reasons. ST:outpost is a fan production though, so not canon, but I do believe this is how it is. It is briefly mentioned in the apendices on latinum's memory alpha page

Bajor isn't part of the Federation, so they don't have immediate access to all Federation tech. Also, even when they join, I'm not convinced that the Federation just hands new members everything. The Prime Directive is all about not interfering in a society's natural growth, and although achieving warp travel is the major barrier to initiating First Contact, I wouldn't be surprised if there were additional steps along the way once a planet has joined the Federation.

You kinda have to ignore replicators for most of this to make sense. They should've just let replicators be either microwave ovens or 3D printers instead of being apparently able to replicate anything.

That's my point though. They don't really address how McCoy got the glasses he gave to Kirk in Star Trek II. Did he buy them? Did he just ask someone for them? Did he barter for them for services?

Same thing with alcohol, some people pull out alcohol they obtained through some back alley, black market deal. But what was traded for this black market alcohol?

Gold can be replicated, so it is worthless. I don't know why gold is used to suspend Latium, but it is.

That sounds right to me as well now that you mention it.