Avant-garde barman's places behind bars (5)
I believe the answer is:
cages
'avant-garde barman's places behind bars' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'places behind bars' is the wordplay.
'places' becomes 's' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'behind' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'bars' becomes 'cage' (I've seen this before).
's' after 'cage' is 'CAGES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cages that I've seen before include "Enclosures for animals" , "Wild animal enclosures" , "Locks up" , "Enclosures made or wire or metal bars" , "prisons" .)