A refreshment bar includes one embodiment of a cooling or heating apparatus for food and/or beverage containers. The apparatus maintains a food or beverage container placed on one of the plates at a desired cold or hot temperature relative to the bar surface temperature and ambient temperature. The apparatus includes thermally conductive plates, for example stainless steel disks, positioned in recesses such that the upper surfaces of the plates are coplanar with the top surface of the bar, thereby providing a level surface. A thermal exchanger system is used to cool or heat the plates. The system includes a reservoir containing a thermal element and a thermal transfer fluid. The reservoir is located adjacent the lower surface of the bar top. The plates are thermally coupled to the thermal transfer fluid and thermal element, thereby cooling or heating the plates.