Sunday, March 6, 2011

Hunting For Happy Hour Bars

It's one of the great creations of bar and restaurant owners, a chance for professional patrons, to act like college students again by watching their wallets instead of their waistlines.

I am referring, of course, to Happy Hours. Yes, those lovable little nibbles that bars and restaurants give us for brief moments, usually 5-7 M-F. Half-priced appetizers and drink specials bring in post-work crowds with the idea, of course, to have people stay after Happy Hour expires so they buy food and drink at regular prices.

Some, of course, are better than others. I had taken it upon myself to research not just a few but ALL the Happy Hours in the Hermosa Beach/Manhattan Beach/El Segundo area of Los Angeles to post and article on PubClub.com. The challenge was immense, far greater than I had originally envisioned, because so many places in these South Bay Beach Cities now have a Happy Hour.

I not only wanted to review the place and the deals, but also to hit them when they were happening. A unique aspect of PubClub.com – and one of its strengths, if you ask me – is that it focuses as much on the atmosphere of a place and the crowd in it, as it does the actual establishment. After all, how much fun is it to be sitting practically alone somewhere when throngs are having the time of their lives just a few doors down the street? Very little, I tell you!

So not only did I have to hit the Happy Hour spots and check out the menu and drink items, I had to hit them at their Happy Hour peak.

I started in what I call the "Rosecrans corridor," a four or five block area of Rosecrans Ave., in what is technically El Segundo but locals still count as Manhattan Beach. For a while, the town's top Happy Hour was located here and the spot was McCormick & Schmick's. You pay normal price for drinks but could get many menu items for less than $5. It was once packed with locals on Fridays but now has only a few of the long-time regulars.

Also on this evening's agenda was Cozymel's, the Daily Grill (since closed), a bar at the Belmar Hotel that turned out to be nice but practically empty and the new "hot spot" of this area, Salt Creek Grill. I did all but Salt Creek in one night. Since that time a couple of new players have emerged and most recently I tried out the $6 burger at Fleming's Steakhouse. It's big and hearty, and Fleming's Happy Hour is in effect seven days a week, and even on holidays. Here's PubClub.com's review of Fleming's Happy Hour.

And so it went for several weeks, from Sharkeez Hermosa Beach to Sharkeez Manhattan Beach (#1 in the list for the combination of the crowd and the 2-for-1 drinks), all over the Hermosa Beach Pier and surrounding area, downtown Manhattan Beach and even back again to places. Two spots have since closed (Beaches, which had the longest Happy Hour running until 9, is the other) new places have emerged.

For instance, the day before checking out Fleming's, I was at Union Cattle in Hermosa Beach. I certainly enjoyed drinking 22 ounces of beer for $8 as much as the view of the Pacific. Here is that review.

PubClub.com will be doing individual reviews as well as keeping the main article up to date. And you can guess what that means – a lot of time spent researching the Happy Hours in the South Bay!




This blog is written by Kevin Wilkerson, publisher of PubClub.com

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