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.