Last and final attempt- Beach House Bar & Grill- Kirkland **

So as you have probably noticed by now, I have gotten busy this summer and somewhat dropped my "happy" ball. I know there are no good excuses for not providing my riveting bar reviews. None of the less rest assured I have attended quite a few happy hours but mostly repeats. I will sum up my last and final "hur-rah" for the Eastside.

1. Beach House Bar & Grill- ** (2 stars)
I tried to get a bunch of work buddies together to try out yet another awful eastside establishment.
First off, only 2 good things about this place.
1. The view; who does not love a 180 degree view of Lake WA, and ability to sit on deck over the water.
2. Sweet Potato fries- altough I am finding these more and more often since this visit, there for a while I was begining to think that these were only figments of my imagination.

So the atmotsphere was to be expected, new modern chairs, tables and granite bar. Prices were also expected, $6 glasses of wine and $5 appies. I have found much better across the water.

All in all, this last & final trip to the Eastside only solidified my opinion, that Eastsiders are too busy to have one good happy hour. I'll hike my butt across water for a good pint, glass, and appie plate!

The Signature- ****

We had the opportunity to stroll through Lower Queen Anne Friday night. It was a great place to be. Nice weather, tons of people out and bars fairly busy. Parking was,as suspected, a bit of a pain, but we found a nice spot on Roy.

We stopped into The signature on 1st Ave N (right by Mar Queen Hotel). I was a bit skeptical at first given it looked just like an ordinary pho house and had a big blue vinyl awing out front. Tons of posters on the wall, and it seemed sterotypically like a pho house. I thought to myself, this will be so lame, but none of the less we decided to try it out.

I was pleasantly surprised. It was rather busy but had seating options at the bar or tables. Decor was modern, artsy, and actaully perfect. We sat at a small table towards the back. Nice atmosphere, plenty of people chatting and loud music. OK, very loud music. I quickly found out the con regarding this venue. I had to almost scream to my partner across the table. It was so loud I felt like I should put my hands over my ears, like a little kid, but as the drinks flowed my worries soon went away. I tend to think this was more of a mix up then the actual standard. This is a good place for a ton of friends, but certainly not first date material.

Regarding the most important part: the drinks, this place was awesome. Prices for import beer was $2.75 and wine was $4 a large pour. I was happy to know that even though the music was loud the prices were great. They had several beers from across the SE Asia area. My fav: Beerlao, from Laos. Wine was okay, only 3 options but that is all I needed.

They even had good food options: rolls, salads, soup, dumplings, etc... We ordered 2 skewers, one beef and the other shrimp. Both came out good, nicely grilled veggies and enough to keep us going through the night. I do have to admit though if I had the choice I would get the shrimp again; the beef was standard cheap cuts and needless to say a majority of fatty ends. Shrimp good, beef bad, (well do-able). If you need more options, they have a plethora of rolls, salads, and pho.

All in all, I do like The Signature and will be coming back soon. The drinks good, the food was good, and the venue was large enough for variety of people.

Way to go Signature, you get 4 stars from me.

Alki Tavern & Celtic Swell- **

After having a few weeks off and a mini vacation, I picked up the happy hour regimen while the in-laws were in town this past week. It was a beautiful day so we decided to check out Alki.

First stop-Alki Tavern, the $2 beer and $1 taco's pulled me in. This spot exerts the extreme dive bar attitude; nice bar tender and dark wooden bar. It is not unusual to find a line up of Harley's on the street and backs covered with black leather playing pool. This shop has mastered the formula of unwashed floors, battered bar stools and the various photos of drunk patrons. The drinks were standard, beer on draft and a cooler filled with bottles. However the $2 options were only PBR and Bud Light, if you want a micro, it's full price; and the $1 tacos were fish tacos which come from a kitchen straight from the movie "Waiting". Needless to say we did not partake in the food options.

All in all it's an okay dive bar; you can people watch and take in the views of downtown Seattle, but the drinks and food specials were not enough to have me crawling back for more. Sorry Tavern, it's a 1 star for the day.


Our next stop was Celtic Swell.
Typical Irish pub with Smithwicks, Guinness and Nachos ?? Our group was anxious to see some real Irish food, but all we got were cheese sticks, pepper poppers and nachos(really screams Irish doesn't it). I do have to admit that the potato leek soup was rather good, I'll stick just beer here. Again, no extremely awesome specials as our beers were only $1-.50 off. I don't think this is enough to drag me across the WS bridge again.

Sorry Alki, I didn't find it that interesting. You get 2 stars. (1 for effort the other for the views.)

Birthday Bash- Brasserie Margaux

A little over a week ago I had the pleasure of spending my birthday with awesome friends. It was quite a trip, we had several stops that night of which I will try to keep my reviews here, short and to the point. (yeah right..)

First stop- Brasserie Margaux- Great First Date Place
It was fancy. White table clothes, tenders with full length black aprons, and not very busy. We were the only group in there at the start at 4 PM. As we drank we discovered quite a few good things about this fancy place.
1- Great appies. Tapas style. I suggest, Duck Confit nachos, crunchy calamari, and the hot wings. Yes, hot wings. I am from Ohio, almost king of wings, and I have yet to find a good one, except this place. Humph, strange.. To sum up Brasserie Margaux, it's def a great first date place. Good prices, HH till 7 and you can practically eat dinner here. Right across the street from the movies or anything else.

I had my doubts but BM pulled off a solid 4.5 stars.

Second Stop- Shorty's- Great 2nd/3rd Date place
Yes thats right, fru-fru to circus clowns mixed with a touch of acid. Once you get over the fact that you are trippin, and you can play pinball all night, its starts to get a bit homey. Drinks are PBR tall boys, and eats are a big fat hot dog. Prices are cheap, pinball is a bit overpriced at $.75 a game, (go to Zoo Tavern in Eastlake for $.25). As I was not super into playing pin ball, but they did have old school "original" Mario Bros and pac-man. Not a good first date place, but good 2nd date place.. (I'm developing a theme here). I give Shorty's a solid 3 stars (i was not in the mood for a hot dog, so it made me off from the get go).

Third Stop-Noc Noc- Don't Go...
Yes folks, it's all down here from here. We went to the Noc Noc. Famous for it's burlesque shows and Gothic style. Two words describe this place: Service SUCKS. We waited around in an open booth and no drinks. We had to beg for waters at this point. So after about 15 minutes we left. And I have been there before for the actual show, nothing to write home about, but a cheap thing to do for a Friday night. Sorry Noc Noc, you get 1.5 stars.

Last stop- Pikes Place Brewery- Great Late night HH
Catch the late night happy hour, starts at 9. Prices were awesome, and as always the beer was good. We arrived for late night happy hour to notice empty tables, plenty of bar seating, it was a welcomed sight after the Noc Noc. We chugged down a few beers, and baskets of fries, and decided to call it a night. I always have liked the Pikes Place Brewery, service has always been good, and I do like their micro brews. The only bad side of PPB is the restroom has a lock code, get the code from the cuties at the bar first.

All in all my favorite was: Brasserie Margaux, but be prepared for a fancy shin-dig.
Shorty's is okay, if you like video games and pin ball.

Contour ****

I had the opportunity to visit Contour club on St. Patrick's Day. This was good for numerous reasons:
1. It was happy hour 3-8 (Perfect!!)
2. It was St. Patrick's Day (so many many people out and about)
3. They had open seating (which we hogged all night long)

This will be a biased posting because we didn't actually see the club/bar in it's real world environment. St. Patrick's Day brings out far more people then just a reg Wednesday night ever would. So..

The bar was cool to look at, if you don't mind the large silver space ship looking thing in the back, housing the DJ tables. The vibe was a mix between naked female body art, a space ship club and a chill Mediterranean scene. I think the owners couldn't decide which way to go so they decided they liked these 3 the best??

They have plenty of seating (for a regular night) which consisted of 2 large circle booths, standard tables, and a large "L" shaped bar. Plenty of dance space, if your into that type of thing.

The beer selection was almost nonexistent (only 4 kinds on tap of which are all light beers). They have plenty of fru-fru drinks. On St. Patrick's Day they offered $3 Green Beers which were basically shitty Pilsner, but I didn't mind, it was green and did the job.

The food was awesome! They sport a long Mediterranean menu which included: hummus, lamb skewers, Falafel Sliders, baked Brie, calamari, oyster stew, sea scallops, etc...All of which were very reasonably priced. Not to mention that happy hour lasts till 8.

Overall I give this place 4 stars ****: for it's food options and fru-fru drinks. Go here if you want a light tapas style dinner and some drinks with the girls.

www.clubcontour.com
M-Thurs 3-8
Friday 3-9 (Holy S batman, you can stay there for 6 hrs for super cheap)
S & S 2-8

The Hideout ****

What a place! It's dark, full of art on the wall, and has good beers on tap. What could be better.. The food, or should I say lack thereof.
This place was pretty neat though if your not hungry: all the artwork on the walls really helps you tap into your inner self; discusssing what you like, what you don't, what creeps you out and what you just had to have. Don't be looking for good food though, as thier food menu consists of 3 things: hummas plate, cheese plate and a bowl of nuts. So go after your dinner or grab a few brews before your dinner plans.
The location is great, just inside First Hill on Boren. I found it somewhat hard to find, as the windows are blacked out and there is one small sign with super curvy writing. Driving down the street it was hard to locate. None of the less, this place has adequate seating, a large bar and a huge couch along the wall. Chairs are strun about with small tables. Drinker beware: get there early or late or else seating for a large party might be hard to come by. I arrived at 4 and by 430 seating was hard to find. Not saying impossible but not optimal. I really felt like I was in a hideout. Perhaps hiding out from the craziness of Friday's.

All in all, I give this 4 thumbs up because of the atmoshpere, the art, and because it's just plan simple. No complicated menu, or hard to understand hours.

The Hideout: www.hideoutseattle.com
Happy Hour 4-7 M-F

Serious Pie ***

It was Serious..seriously delish!!! I visited the acclaimed Tom Douglas Restaurant, Serious Pie on Friday afternoon. A short one; it's only 3-5. I got there at 4 and they already had a waiting list for tables. This is a sign of one of 2 things: 1. It's amazing pizza and everyone in town wants it. or 2. They cant afford a larger venue to hold the demand so they are trying to create a certain image of it being a part of some elite club, perhaps just because it's TD place...I tend to believe the latter but the pizza was still good.

I was very impressed by their topping combinations. The pizza was a flat bread style with little to no red sauce. We had the clam & pancetta, egg & arugula, and the fennel sausage & peppers. All were tasty but my fav was the Penn Cove Clam pizza. Perhaps it was the taste or perhaps it's just that I am in love with Clams. My second choice was the sausage pizza because it had the red sauce. My partner took a liking to the egg arugula pizza, which was also very good. The pizzas for happy hour were personal size ( a little larger then both of your palms) but I thought they were plenty for one person. Between the 2 of us we ordered 4; when we could have done with 2 or 3, but we wanted to try the different flavors. The drinks were limited to wine and beer, of which you only had 2 options of each. Big surprise , I took to the red wine which was pretty standard. At $5 a glass, I was hoping it was a bit better. I enjoyed the convo looking at the large pizza oven, it seemed like they were operating like a well oiled machine. I do have to mention here that our service was sub-par for a place like this, but they were busy, I get it.


All in all great happy hour. You can really get your dinner complete and get a few drinks in a one stop shop. The dress was business Friday attire, I'd say a lot of jackets and nice jeans. I don't think I saw a T-shirt in the entire place. Come straight after your 3 o'clock meeting and you wont regret it.

**Helpful tip #1 -Get there early- @ latest 4:15 or you won't get a table in time to devour the deals.

** Helpful tip#2- they will only seat you if your party is in full at the time. So gather up the hens outside and order a table when everyone is present. It goes much quicker that way.

I would give Serious Pie a 3 star badge today. It didn't blow me away, but I would go back.

Heed my advice & go see for yourself.

Serious Pie Happy Hour M-F 3-5 PM
(on Virgina between 3rd and 4th)

www.tomdouglas.com

Cellar's and Copper Cart ***

So you've noticed I'm for a "C" theme this week :). Just kidding.

I had the pleasure of getting a girls night together with a few friends: some old, some new. Since I missed last week (whu whu) @ Rouge (see that disappointing post), I decided to make up some missed time and go all out on SATURDAY!! Yes, my first happy hour on Saturday.

This was awesome for two reasons:
1. It's freakin Saturday, I didn't even think those existed.
2. Who doesn't love a good day drunk; when HH starts at Noon and ends at 9!!!

Okay getting to down business:

Our first stop was Cellar's in Belltown. This was a good happy hour. The drinks were cheap and ranged in good prices from your standard Cosmo to bottle's of wine ($15) to draft beer. I always like when when I can get a little of everything. The food was good, a slight rise over "okay". We had the clams/mussels which were pretty standard ($10) and the brushetta. I liked the brushetta over the clams. It was very full of garlic so consider eating this one on a solo night. The atmosphere was standard Belltown; wood, low lighting, and sitting area, although I was quite surprised that even on a Saturday afternoon (4ish) the place was almost vacant. It was quiet & chill, not too good if you'd like to meet new people. After a bottle of wine, we moved on. We had intended to next door to Umi but it was crazy busy, so then we settled on Lava Lounge. On our way to Lava...

We went past Copper Cart's "A-board" outside which realed us in. It was like some massive force field and we could not fight it.
Once we entered we were greeted with yet another empty bar (What is this people, do you not go out on Saturday?? You're killin me here). Regardless, the company I was with was far more entertaining then expected so let the good times roll, even if it is only the five of us. The drinks here were good: Can I please scream on a mountain $5 Microbrew pitchers!! Hello, that's almost a steal. I shared a pitcher of Alaskan with my friend Kelly, and the other girls got mixed drinks. Apparently they worked their magic as our corner got much louder and the convo got much more racey. We ordered the hummus plate ($5) which was good. Creamy, garlic hummus and nice pie shaped pita. The food did us good. However; they have large flat screens; so if you are going with you man, beware, he's probably not going to be listening to you.

Small Side Story- As we sat for a bit the waitress informed us that there would be a male model show that night. We looked over the flyer which was horrible. (Advice-Don't host an event and totally kill it with bad marketing!!) They should have contacted their audience first.

All in all, I would go back to Copper Cart first- prices for pitchers were just too tempting. And big couches to lounge, TV's to appease the men.
If your in it for the cheap food, I would suggest Cellar's first. They had a bit more interesting options and wine.

I would give Cellar's 4 silver stars.
Copper Cart gets 3.5 stars for blaring the basketball game. (Any other day it could be 4 stars).

Cheers.

This week March 5th we are visiting Serious Pie. I'm excited!

Cellar's- www.cellarsbelltown.com 4-7 Daily
Copper Cart- www.coppercartcafe.com 5-9 Saturday, Daily HH but times change.

Missed Week

You are probably wondering why I missed a week. I decided to hit up a friends B-day party at Rouge Brewery in Issaquah, thinking they would have happy hour and my quota would be met. Not so much, they didnt have "happy hour" by which I was pissed, and therefore now have to make up time.

To speak on behalf of Rouge:
I thought the drinks were good, expensive though, but hey I am at a brewery after all.

My favorite beer was the HoneyBrown Nut. Yummy!! Tasted like hazelnut coffee to me, and has since made a delicious dessert beer after a long day.

The food was okay. They did have a variety of options, the standard "bar" food, and the standard buger. I had the french dip, and it was nothing too special. Other had the bleu balls (which afer a few pints turned into a hilarious joke) were awesome. Not just because of the fabulous name, but becasue what could be better, bleu cheese crumbles mixed with Kobe beef in the form of meatballs.

All in all, the atmostphere was good, althoguh it does get busy on the weekends. The food was okay, and the beer is great. They give lots of options and they have tiny shuffleboard.

Since this was not an offical happy hour, I am not posting stars. But if I had a gun to my head, I would say this is a 3.75.

Lake Suck in Kirkland *

In my never ending quest to find a "good" happy hour on the Eastside we decided to try Lake Street Bar & Grill in Kirkland. While the location is fabulous the happy hour, not so much.
We got there at 5, which for most happy hour locals is the best time, right off work, and still early enough you can catch friends for dinner. This spot @ 5 was DEAD, and I mean dead. No one was in this entire place, except for the leopard tights sporting bar tender. I was first in so much shock, I asked them if they were even open! To their defense they were just starting to set up for their live music that night, but still..
Hanging true to my resolution, rather than just walking out, we grabbed a table by the window and ordered drinks. The drinks were cheap and just ok. I had a $5 long island and he had a $4 margarita. We also ordered food; the quesadilla and a toasted turkey grinder. Both of which I am sad to say came in less then par. Although they did have crinkle cut fries which reminded me of being a little kid.
All in all, this place just confirmed my original hypothesis that good Eastside happy hours are hard to come by. This place would be good enough if hell was freezing over, but I'd rather go back to Rock Bottom in Bellevue.

Sorry Lake Street- you get a measly 1 star.

Next week- Friday at Rouge Brewery in Issaquah.
Here's to giving the Eastside their last chance at redemption.

Twist ****

First off Twist was amazing, and for a few different reasons.

Let's start off with the drinks, essential for every Happy hour, right? The drinks were cheap, my wine was $2.75 a glass, and rum/cokes were strong. They had everything, from the micro brews, to the fru-fru drinks, to standard margarita. So, 1 gold star so far.

Secondly, the food...let me tell you, the food was awesome. We had the quesadilla, jalapeno wontons (2 orders mind you) and the hummus. Everything we had was good, the wontons were glorified poppers, but none of the less, it was good. I originally came for the crab mac and cheese, but got side-tracked. The food selection accommodated most everyone I know. I don't think you could go wrong. Tack up another gold star..

Then comes the eye candy. Boys be prepared to take on full on cleavage, tight leather pants, and heavy eye makeup. While I am straight as an arrow, I don't mind looking at a hot girl every now and then. This night, there were plenty to be had. For the girls; it was okay. I have seen much hotter boy toys walking down the street, but at least they weren't ugly. The boy selection could have been better, but the hot girls, definitely won over the boy's hearts. Yet another gold star.

When I first started my endeavor I thought happy hour was all about getting dolled up, putting on your good earrings, and going to a trendy, low lite, couch invested lounge with loud music and hot people. While I have come to enjoy happy hour's of all flavors, this is definitely the bar to go to if you want, low lights, a cool water wall, hot girls, cheap drinks, and good food.

However...(yes, I can't be positive all the time)..The seating for the bar area was quite limited. We had a large party, like 6-8 or so, and we found this difficult to find a seat for everyone. The happy hour is for "bar" patrons only, so you have to sit in the bar area. To Twist's defense they do have three large horseshoe couches which finally accommodated my group nicely. Typically you have to go to the bar to get drinks. This no waitress thing kind of stinks but it gets your booty off the couch. Around 6 or so my hot husband snagged a "girl" for the night so we were set; I'm not jealous, rather more envious that I couldnt do this myself 2 hours ago.

All in all, the drinks, the food, the eye candy were enough to make this happy hour very enjoyable.

I give this spot 4 gold stars...Way to go Twist.

Sunday to Thursday 4-12
Friday and Saturday 4-8
www.twistbelltown.com.

The Spot off Main ***

Bellevue was the next stop on my Happy Hour adventure. Trying hard to find a good rebuttal for the disastrous Twisted Cork, I found The Spot off Main. A first glance a good dive bar right here in Bellevue. The happy hour prices were great, $2 Rolling Rock or (my favorite) $3.50 Wells. Nothing says a good place like a strong double G&T. I noticed also that they had a small but satisfying happy hour menu. I was glad to see it wasn't the ordinary fries, poppers, or sliders. We ordered the Antipasto plate which had generic cheese cubes and pepperoni slices. Nothing to write home about. They did have a hummus & pita plate which looked appetizing, but I had men to please. We also ordered the pizza which to a sad dismay reminded us of Chucky Cheese Pizza. Reminiscing about all our favorite Chucky Cheese B-day parties, we forced down the crappy pizza.

Needless to say the drinks were good, the food was bad. Good Service, if you go to the bar, and good prices.

I give this 3 out of 5.

Bellevue is quickly loosing their audience.

Back to Bellevue-Rock Bottom *****

I took the oppty to attend a work organized happy hour at the Rock Bottom Brewery in Lincoln Square to help say farewell to a valued co-worker.

Not bad...The beer prices were good, the food was great, and the bathrooms were not totally disgusting.

I'm so glad to see they had a porter on tap. (Less calories). The atmosphere was okay, I wouldnt say stunning or even modern or trendy. The bar is filled with old heavy wood, and posters of there beer flavors. Not too interesting.

The food was great. Since we had so many people, I got the chance to look at all the offerings. I personally had the pepperoni pizza, the hot wings and the pretzels. The latter really make my husband happy as we have been trying to find a good soft pretzel since we crossed the Mississippi. The hot wings were great, and the pizza seemed amazing, not very saucey.

Overall I will def be back to Rock Bottom for happy hour..
http://www.rockbottom.com/bellevue

Take 2- List & Ohana ****

Okay, so with my last post I regret to say that I blew it. Now I am on a personal mission to redeem myself; that this resolution thing will be worth my time and money.
My next stop was to Seattle. Seattle, everyone loves it, it has everything you could imagine. I trolled the local blog site, GoTime Seattle and found something that sounded positive. Had all my factors: modern, trendy, and cheap wine. I gathered a few friends and off we went.

First stop- List (on 2nd Ave, between Bell & Blanchard) in Belltown. I met a girlfriend who informed me that they did not open until 4 o'clock. It was 3:30.. Strike 1.

With wine on our mine we headed across the street to Ohana, a sushi joint. I was pleasently surprised. The wine was $4 a glass and not that bad. $2 sushi rolls, and a nice quiet booth. Our other friend joined us a little bit later. I have to say that the cheap wine and sushi rolls were defenatly making Ohana my top choice.

Feeling a little "happy" I returned focus to my orginal plan, going to List.

List was way cool. It had a backlite bar in blood red, and white everything else. List so far gets points for looking modern and trendy. Now on to the wine. $14 bottles, now that is awesome. Who can find a red wine for $14 a bottle?

We have a glass of wine and I feel like I want some super cute food. So I order the clams (which I have oddly been craving like crazy). They were good and satisfied my need.

The men wanted some real food. It was 5:30 so we headed back to Ohana to catch the last of the super good deals.

In summation, List was a great "girl" hangout, Ohana was a great place to eat dinner. Bot had great wine and good food.

List- www.listbelltown.com 4-6:30 **** (4 out of 5)
Ohana- www.ohanabelltown.com 5-7PM **** (4 out of 5)

Twisted Cork in Bellevue *

My first shot at happy hour was in my local town of Bellevue WA, place called Twisted Cork. I wanted a fancy happy hour, because isn't that what's its all about? Feeling rich, while drinking cheap wine and eating super cute gourmet food? "Twisted Cork" first caught my eye as the same owner owns mulitple resturants in Bellevue. (Too bad they are all in the same block). I looked at the website site and it caught my eye, all the factors I am looking for: modern, trendy, wine on sale (half off bottles they claimed), and cute food. I found a few friends and strolled inside.
Wow, this place was super fancy. White table cloth, rich colored spot lighting, glass, metal, a bit of an industrial feel. We picked a table and began looking over the menu, the wine menu. Half off Bottle's of wine, and they were still $20?? With my hopes dropping like a 10 ton anvil, I took the cheapest glass they had. My intial thought of a happy hour was for poor people like me to get a chance to go to some swanky bar and feel good about myself. My first shot at a good happy hour was diminishing quickly. A friend at our table ordered a burger, and apparently lousy service to go with it. This place was not my favorite by any strech. I am sticking to my guns and following out with my resolution, this one was just a bad judgement call.

I give this 1 out of 5 stars.

In hopes of better hours to come, cheers.

New Year's Resolution 2010

Starting out 2010 with a bang & a killer hangover I decided, reluctantly, to set a New Year's resolution. I pondered the thought and took the time to seriously evaluate my life through 2009. As I tried to balance work, love and getting married, I always felt that something was missing. Then finally w/ the 60 watt shining brightly above my head, I figured it out. I was missing a social life. I'm proud to announce my 2010 Resolution.

My mission: To attend one happy hour per week. Preferably to a different place each week.