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Feed25 Great Happy Hours
It’s cocktail season, and we’re celebrating with a guide to cheap(er) imbibing.
Posted Monday, November 14, 2011, 05:17AM
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Foodie Spots to Savor
Banker's Hill Bar and Restaurant
The spot: Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant
The hood: Bankers Hill
The deal: Mon.-Fri. 4:30-6:30p.m. $1 off cocktails, $5 beers and wine, discounted apps
Why we love it: Because grown-ups need a neighborhood bar, too. And they’ve got serious discounts on serious slow food. Heirloom tomato and smoked mozzarella salad, deviled farmers market eggs, and pulled pork sliders are all just $3.
The spot: BICE
The hood: Gaslamp
The deal: $5 food and drink specials daily from 5-7 p.m., and Thurs.-Sat. 9 p.m.-midnight.
Why we love it: Nothing on the menu is off-limits. While you may be scarfing tacos or chicken tenders elsewhere, at BICE you’re eating lobster pizza and beef carpaccio on a salt rock for just five bucks.
The spot: Whistle Stop
The hood: South Park
The deal: $1 off cocktails and drafts with purchase from MIHO Gastrotruck, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Fridays
Why we love it: Because there’s no cheaper way to impress your food-obsessed date than with MIHO’s drippy, best-in-town burger (made with grass-fed beef on a local brioche bun) washed down with a Stone IPA or Airdale Horizon hefeweizen.
The spot: R-Gang Eatery
The hood: Hillcrest
The deal: $3/$4/$5 drink deals and $4 tots, Tuesdays 3 p.m.-close
Why we love it: Leave your diet at home! We dig Tot Tuesday, when chef Rich Sweeney’s gourmet tater tots—in combos like cheddar-and-chive with chipotle ranch or blue-cheese-and-bacon with garlic-Buffalo dipping sauce—are just $4 all night long.
Sips and Bites
West Steak and Seafood in Carlsbad just launched their combo special: $14.95 for a drink and two mini appetizers. Example: Ginger Rosemary Lemon Drop served with a grilled peach and gorgonzola wrapped in prosciutto, plus poached pear, avocado, and lobster with riesling sauce.
The spot: Extraordinary Desserts Little Italy
The hood: Little Italy
The deal: Gourmet cheese bar $12/person, Wednesdays 5-8 p.m. (plus discounts on beer, wine, and apps, daily 4-7 p.m.)
Why we love it: Because the serve-yourself spread of domestic and imported fancy cheeses, condiments, and spreads at E.D.’s hip Little Italy location is as good-looking as it is delish. And because no one will judge us for going back for seconds. And thirds. And fourths.
The spot: Whisknladle
The hood: La Jolla
The deal: $3.50 tapas, $20 sangria pitchers, 25 percent off all bottles of wine daily 5-7 p.m.
Why we love it: Because it makes us feel very Euro-chic to nibble on marcona almonds, patatas bravas, and marinated olives like a true Spaniard while congregating around Whisknladle’s lively bar. (Note: tapas menu changes daily.)
Craft Beer 101
You walk into one of San Diego’s many bars and restaurants featuring wide arrays of local craft beer. Hoppy, malty, golden, jet black, fruity, roasty, chocolatey—the flavor profiles seem endless. What’s a beer novice to do? Check out our interactive guide.
MIHO Gastrotruck burger
The spot: Cucina Urbana
The hood: Bankers Hill
The deal: Rotating daily food specials 5-6 p.m. (plus $5 well drinks and sangria, and $3 beers at the bar, daily 5-7 p.m.)
Why we love it: Because it’s different every day: half-price meatballs and meatball pizza on Mondays, $14 burger-and-beer combos on Wednesdays, $5 infused drinks plus Twitter freebies on Saturdays. Plus it gets you in the door before the place gets too crazy-packed.
How to order a drink
Name brand or type of liquor + type of cocktail + garnish or ice situation
Ex.: Grey Goose martini stirred with a twist of lemon*
*With a little help from Matt at Starlite
The spot: Flavor
The hood: Del Mar
The deal: $5 well drinks and house wines, $3 select beers, $6 specialty cocktails, 2:30-6:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat., all day Sunday
Why we love it: You mean besides the view? We dig the grown-up twists on childhood classics, like the spiked root beer float ($6) and fancy polenta “tots,” made with three kinds of gourmet cheese ($4).
The spot: The Office
The hood: North Park
The deal: 2-for-1 happy hour, daily 4-7 p.m.
Why we love it: Food-truck Fridays. In addition to the regular daily happy hour, The Office invites The Gooch food truck to cater its Friday nights; a drink token from the bar gets you a buck off your order.
Crafty Cocktails and Brews
The spot: Craft & Commerce
The hood: Little Italy
The deal: Buy-one-get-one-free local brews and $30 punch bowls, Mon.-Fri. 4-7 p.m.
Why we love it: The retro-chic punch bowls—filled with enough spiked champagne cocktails to get two to five people thoroughly soused, then ladled into charming vintage glasses—let us channel our inner Betty Draper.
