A Few Happy Hour Updates

In these tough economic times, happy hour specials are more important than ever!

The 4th Street Grille has happy hour from 11:00am to 7:00pm, Monday through Friday and from 5:00pm to 7:00pm on Saturdays. There are a bunch of appetizers for $5.95: potstickers, calamari, seared ahi, grilled artichokes, shrimp quesadilla, pulled pork quesadilla, garlic fries and boneless buffalo wings. Macaroni & cheese, ribs and sliders are $7.95. As for the drinks, there's quite a variety to choose from:

• $3 draft beer
• $5 house wine
• $4 well drinks
• $5 cal drinks
• $4 kamikaze shots
• $5 Tuaca shots

Earlier this month when I was singing the praises of small plates, I mentioned Lucca has added a happy hour. Here's the scoop. It runs from 2:00 to 6:00 EVERY DAY. There are a variety of small plates in the $3 to $5 range, including zucchini chips, bruschetta, grilled artichokes, fries and flatbread. The alcohol specials include:

• $3 house wine
• $3.15 draft beers
• $3.30 Grid Gulch Sour Squishy
• $3.45 Mojito
• $4 Cosmo
• $4.15 Cherry Surprise
• $4.30 Blue Goose
• $4.45 Martinis

I Love Small Plates

For some reason it makes me really happy when restaurants offer small plates. I love the change to try a couple of things and share with friends. Maybe it's my Mediterranean blood.

There's always been Tapa the World - the very definition of small plates. It's nice to see that they're catching on at other restaurants.

Earlier this week, Carmen and I stopped into Lucca for a glass of wine. We were both pleased to see that they have Happy Hour every day (yes, that means weekends!) and a small plate menu at the bar. There were lots of yummy sounding options -- beef carpaccio, flatbread with hummus, bruschetta, etc. We opted to split the spicy Greek style shrimp with feta and fresh basil. It was served with grilled olive bread. There was just enough spice to make it exciting, but not hot, and the fresh basil made my tastebuds very happy! The best thing was, it was just the right amount of food -- not too big, not too small. Carmen promises to blog more about the happy hour specials in a future post.

Last week, I went to see Sweeney Todd at the Music Circus. I'd had a rather large, late lunch so when we sat down at Michelangelo for dinner I was worried I'd be too full for one of their delicious dinners. Imagine my glee when the waitress set down their new small plate menu! There were several dishes that sounded great. I had the fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli with sage butter. Carmen had tiger prawns with capers and something else (note to self: take notes). My ravioli were light pillows that oozed freshness. The spinach wasn't wilted and the pasta wasn't the least bit heavy. Paired with a baked goat cheese salad and a glass of wine, this was the perfect light meal for a summer night.

This morning, I was flipping through Sactown's latest issue and came across an ad for Mason's. They're introducing a new small plate menu, which will be served daily from 5:00 to 9:00. Menu items include brushetta, vegetable frito misto, swordfish brochettes, spicy fish tcos, BBQ ribs, crab wontons and mini mac & cheese. I'm definitely going to check this out... especially during their half-price introductory week from August 18 to 24.