What Speakers to use in a bar/restaurant environment

Go with active speakers with a computer for a source.
QSC K8's and Ksub.
http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/k_series/

Heard a bose commercial system the other day while I was at a church.
Pretty awsome.
The local red lobster here has posh speakers with passive subs flown from the ceilings, and I have to admit, it sounds pretty good.
I have been to many bars & clubs in my lifetime (believe me!), and most sound like crap.
There is a small bar here in town that has a total Onkyo system with a seperate transformer (step up, or down, I don't know.
They use about 6 pairs of onkyo speakers (don't know the model #), with 8" woofers, a mid and tweet.
Pretty good sound really.
I don't care for the Klipsch for the price.
I like them in home, but a resturant I frequent uses the outdoor type klipsch 2 way (6 1/2"), and a home amp (yamaha), and it sounds horrible.
The local Hastings record store here uses pro equipment (2-samson amps, samson preamp, and JVC 5 disc player), and it sounds pretty good also.
They are running about 10-12 pair of 8" in ceilling coax speakers, and it actually sounds pretty good with good mid, highs and decent bass.
Best public system I ever heard was at the Tiki room at Disney land in Aniheim, Ca.
I asked (had to ask 3 different employees) what kind of speakers they used (obviously subs), and the guy said they were BagEnds.
It sounded freaking awsome.
Very Pricey though.
You could definately get away with consumer electronics, if you were to go with powered speakers.
May save you some money also.
Behringer, alisis, and many others offer reasonable priced powered speakers and subs.

Forget the amps and buy a set of newer (series II) powered Mackies maybe. They're the smoothest (much sweeter than the JBLs) and most musical for the money (QSCs are also great but cost a lot more) and the 10" 2 ways weigh 20 lbs or something with readily available mounting gear. They're able to play VERY loud or just stay in the background, and if you have entertainment blowing through them, or an out of control employee party (the best kind) you can SHREAD a small room with these. I have a pair of the unpowered C200s and they are amazingly well voiced for monitor purposes, and built like a tank. You can run a balanced line to 'em for miles with no loss, and almost hose 'em off when they get dusty. I know somebody who covered a pair with black cloth to hide 'em when hanging in a bar ceiling. Very wide and smooth dispersion in the horns so everybody can hear you annnounce LAST CALL.

Genelec sound great, very clean with huge soundstage. Professional studio stuff though that can get expensive. Mackie also make some nice gear.

Over the years I've seen a lot of bars with Bose 901s hung from the ceiling. They go loud and are pretty durable, and you can get an older system fairly cheap nowadays.