Got the Monday blues? Been a long week? Been a long day? Heck, been a long hour? We all need happy hour sometimes (if not all the time), so here is Taste Terminal’s Happy Hour Round Up from Hollywood to Santa Monica!
The happy hours will cover the following criteria:
1. For when you…
This refers to what you’re looking for and what you need in a happy hour.
2. One up for grub
What you can expect to eat on the tantalizing happy hour menu.
3. I’ll drink to that!
Drinks featured on the happy hour menu.
4. In the mood
The feel, the crowd, the mood.
5. Cha-Ching!
Best deal on the menu.
6. Bang for your buck
The percentage of savings at the venue will be reflected in one of the following categories:
- Great deal! You’re robbing them blind!
- What a savings! and I still have money in my pocket!
- Good deal, worth the money.
- There’s definitely a discount, but I’m not sure if its enough.
- Minimal discount from the regular menu.
Taberna Mexicana
Located in Beverly Hills, the elevated Mexican cuisine at Taberna Mexicana can be sampled in their bar menu as well as specialty cocktails, beers, and wines for a measly $4/item on Mondays from 3 PM until the football game is over, Tuesday – Saturday from 3 PM – 7 PM, and all day Sunday. 369 North Bedford Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210.
1. For when you…
Are looking for a chill restaurant happy hour.
2. One up for grub
At Taberna Mexicana, the cuisine is elevated Mexican but still comfortable and approachable. The eats on the bar menu consist of eight $4 items including spiced up Guacamole with pumpkin seeds and queso fresco served with plantains and blue corn chips, empanades de camarones y jaiba – shrimp and crab empanadas with pickled slaw, and the Chorizo Burger – a spicy pork patty, wrapped in their housemade Chicarron de Queso Y Carnitas (manchego cheese crackling and shredded pork), mushrooms, housemade pickles, and chipotle aioli. Also available are the, sopes, fajita sliders, tostada ceviche, tacos de carnitas and the fajita taco.
3. I’ll drink to that!
Drinks available on the happy hour menu includes cocktails, beers, and wines all for $4. Specialty cocktails are Latin themed such as the Margarita De Taberna – similar to a cadillac margarita, the Smokey Paloma – Partida Reposado tequila, grapefruit and lime juice, with a Mezcal rinse, and the Cilantro Caipirinha – Cachaca, lime juice, turbinado sugar, and cilantro.
4. In the mood
Relaxed, fun, and stress free but definitely a restaurant and not a bar.
5. Cha-Ching!
Chorizo Burger/slider, decently sized and a great value.
Lexington Social House
In the heart of Hollywood, the Lexington Social House brings Social Hour both at their indoor and patio bar Tuesday thru Friday from 6 PM – 8 PM and ALL NIGHT SUNDAY offering $7 specialty cocktails and $7 bar menu items. As bar manager, Kyle Ackley tells us, Social Hour is “to allow people to enjoy a comfortable bar lounge experience, good comfort food, fun bar bites, and social.” 1718 Vine St., Hollywood, CA 90027.
1. For when you…
Need a casual meeting place, looking for a hip happy hour before a night out, or for celebrity spotting.
2. One up for grub
The Bar Bite menu at the Lexington Social House includes six comfort food items all at $7 (except the Parmesan Fries for $6). The menu items include white cheddar, Gruyère, and parmesan bread crumb mac & cheese, Mette’s moist and lightly breaded fried chicken tenders served with a creme fraiche ranch dressing, chipotle glazed pork belly with aged gouda and fried egg on a biscuit, crispy calamari served with a zesty lemon tabasco aioli, parmesan french fries, short rib panini served with pickles, port salut, and IPA mustard on a toasted french baguette.
3. I’ll drink to that!
All of the specialty cocktails go for half off during Social Hour: popular Sweet Lips – a mix of watermelon, st. germain elderflower, lemon juice, orange bitters, and Martini & Rossi prosecco, the Palmera – a mix of Zirbenz stone pine liquor, pineapple juice, lemon juice, Velvet Falernum, and angostura bitters, and spanish harlem – a mix of tanteo cocoa infused tequila, maraschino liquor, agave nectar, chocolate-chili bitters, and a candied cherry.
4. In the mood
Classy, fun, lounge setting.
5. Cha-Ching!
Chipotle Pork Belly Biscuits – two biscuits and 50% off regular Bar Bites menu price! Get on it!
Michael’s Santa Monica
Right off Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade, Michael’s Santa Monica offers Californian fare that follows the concept of “taking french technique and applying it to the concept of sustainability and farm to table dining,” as general manager Andrew Turner tells us. Michael’s happy hour menu is offered Monday thru Friday from 5 PM to close. All of the happy hour menu items are $6 each with the exception of the oysters for $3 each. The happy hour drink menu ranges from $4 – $8. 1147 3rd St., Santa Monica, CA 90403.
1. For when you…
Are looking for a classy spot with happy hour prices.
2. One up for grub
Although the restaurant does not boast a signature dish, it does boast of its signature style. Through the happy hour menu, Michael’s provides “a snapshot, a window into the kind of food that we do” that is also affordable, says Andrew.
Items you can find on the Michael’s Happy Hour menu range from a refreshing Radish Salad from Weiser Farms with Cucumber, Crispy Shallots, and Yogurt Vinaigrette to the Jidori “Chicken and Waffle” Wings – crispy chicken wings slathered in bourbon aged maple syrup and balanced with chili salt, to Andrew’s favorite, the Truffle-Thyme Frites – a bar bite standard done with a slight twist: shoe string potatoes.
3. I’ll drink to that!
The mixology program at Michael’s is headed by master mixologist Jason Robey, providing a menu in the style of farm to bar drinking. This rare find, an artisanal bar at a restaurant, uses only housemade syrups and components and fresh ingredients from their very own rooftop garden or from the farmers market.
The happy hour menu includes specialty cocktails such as The 15th State – Makers’ Mark Bourbon, Black Pepper-Ginger Simple, Lime ($7), the housemade Mulled, Spiced, Black Cider ($7). Other specialty drinks off the happy hour menu worth noting are the Borracha Remolacha – Revolucion Reposado Tequilla, Del Maguey Mezcal “Vida”, Lime, Agave Nectar, Beet Juice, Orange Bitters and the Wilbur’s Nemesis – Maker’s Mark Bacon Reduction, Leopold Bros’, Apple Whiskey, Bulleit Rye, Dolin Rouge, Angostura Bitters, and garnished with torched Applewood-Smoked Bacon. Beers and wines also available.
4. In the mood
Kick back, lounge-y, and classy.
5. Cha-Ching!
Jidori “Chicken and Waffle” Wing – Decently large portion at 40% off!
Photography provided by Natalie Woyshner