Best New Happy Hours

Best new Dallas happy hours for cheap eats and drinks

Everyone loves happy hours, and what's not to love? You get food and drink at a discounted rate, as long as you're willing to consume them at a set time. That time is usually in the late afternoon, before dinner, when the establishment in question is not already besieged by customers.

It's a stretch on your part, to have to start your snacks and cocktails a little earlier. Sometimes these are the sacrifices you must make.

Dallas has many classic happy hours, from Bolsa to Chuy's to Parliament. Who doesn't have a happy hour? But this list is all about the newest ones, the happy hours that are just announced.

Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Hard Hat Days offer a subtle wink to the ongoing construction on Houston Street. (The city is installing a bicycle lane.) Hard Rock has created two specialty cocktails inspired by the construction at a discounted price. The Hammer Time Martini features vodka, triple sec and lemon juice; the Wrecking Ball Sour features Midori melon liqueur and house-made sweet and sour mix. Both are served Monday through Friday in August, 11 am to close, for $5.50.

The Mitchell
Swanky bar in downtown Dallas offers handy spot for the office crowd and downtown dwellers to stop in. The latest gambit is irresistible: oysters on the half shell for $1 each, every day from 5-7 pm. Another round of oysters for my friends! Accompanying drink specials are on the money. You can get a gin and tonic or other specialty cocktails for $5, and a glass of house wine or champagne for $6.

Paul Martin's American Grill
Newly opened restaurant at Turtle Creek Village is introducing itself to the locals with a daily happy hour that runs from 3-8 pm with specialty bites that are available only during happy hour. There's some incentive. Dishes include maple cider chicken skewers for $5 and St. Louis style pork ribs with pesto slaw for $9. A few $13 entrees — burger, pork sandwich, or fish and chips — come with house fries and choice of craft beer . Cocktails include a $5 raspberry martini and a $9 lemon-ginger punch.

Quarter Bar
Quarter Bar often makes "best happy hour" lists, and part of the way it stays on top of its game is to rotate in new specials. The current one is a Friday promotion featuring '80s music and movies from 11 am-2 am. Drink specials run from 11 am-7 pm and include $2 domestic beers and well drinks and $4 glasses of Tinto Negro Malbec and Sincerely Chardonnay.

Trinity Groves
Trinity Groves has no shortage of happy hour offerings. Some of the newest are at Resto Bistro, where draft beer specials are $3. These are not just any beers: Currently, it's Dechutes Mirror Pond from Oregon, and the rotating tap is Staycation, a saison from Karbach Brewery. Select cocktails are $5 and $6, including the spicy shishito margarita and Resto mule. At Sushi Bayashi, you can beat the heat with an ice-cold sake happy hour featuring sakes for $6 Monday through Friday from 5-7 pm.

Villa-O
Thursday night's Girls and Guys Night Out features food and drink specials from 4 pm to close: Bellinis, sfuzzis and other specialty cocktails for $7, as well as $4 well drinks, $4 beer, $6 premium beer and $7 wine. Appetizers such as mussels, calamari, bruschetta and portobello mushroom fries are 50 percent off.

unspecified

Omakase News

Downtown Dallas restaurant Sauvage expands with new dining twist

Sauvage

A downtown Dallas restaurant famous for its multi-course tasting experience is letting its hair down: Sauvage, the high-end mom-and-pop restaurant near the Statler Dallas hotel, has a new dining option that gives a smaller, more casual taste.

The restaurant opened in September with a set menu featuring 16 to 18 courses — wild game, seafood, vegetables, and dessert — all cooked via grill and smoker.

While 16 courses might sound like a lot, the courses are mostly small bites. However, owners Casey and Amy LaRue received feedback from diners wanting a smaller option.

"We were getting a ton of messages from guests who want to stop by just to try one dish, a bite, or a specific pairing without committing to the full tasting — so we built something for exactly that," Casey says.

They've introduced a new three-course "Cocktails & Bites hour" featuring three dishes, each paired with its own cocktail, served from 5–6 pm on weekdays.

Last week’s menu consisted of:

dry-aged red snapper crudo with La Chinola Way, a cocktail featuring passionfruit, mezcal, lime, and ginger
foie gras & truffle on house-baked croissant with Pendennis Club, a gin sour with apricot liqueur bitters
jerk-spiced shrimp with Clarified Paper Plane, a bourbon cocktail with Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice

The new offering continues their pattern of pairing courses with cocktails rather than wine — an approach they've embraced since opening. "Limiting pairings to wine can get boring — it so often ends up being one expensive red after another," Casey says.

You can make a reservation on Tock, or just walk in and grab a seat.

Caviar
They've also added a new version of their classic menu: no caviar.

"Some love having caviar integrated into the menu, but others prefer to skip it, whether for taste or dietary reasons, but still want the full value of the experience," Casey says. "With such a small counter, this put us in a strange position: do we give everyone caviar whether they want it or not, or do we remove it entirely and lose a core part of our menu?"

Thus, a new menu without caviar, priced at $195, with an optional caviar course available for those who want it for $245.

downtown