Happy Hour

I love going to happy hour. I wish everything had a happy hour. Imagine if you could get a cheaper pair of shoes just by going at a certain time. I guess you would call that a sale. But at happy hour, they aren't going to run out of your size of drink (it's really one size fits all, isn't it?), whereas with shoes, they never have the middle sizes left - it's always size 5 or size 11. (Just call me Goldilocks, but I can rarely find a pair of shoes that is "just right" at any time.)

I've been on a happy hour kick lately. I'm not a rich girl, so it pays for me to do some research and find some swanky places that I wouldn't normally be able to afford. I have some websites that I refer to regularly for the Seattle area. Here are some of my favorites:

1. http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0208/food-happyhour.shtml
2. http://www.seattletravel.com/seattle-happyhour-ballard.htm
3. http://www.nwsource.com/music/guides/happyhour_021104.html

Basically, you can just go to Google and type in "Seattle happy hours" and this will bring up a ton of websites. I have found that the descriptions from the Seattle Weekly are pretty accurate and give a good idea of what to expect. The Seattle Weekly has a big list of places that have good happy hours and they are divided by neighborhood. They also write up a new happy hour place each week, so check back on Thursdays when the paper comes out.

After reading a few reviews, you may have trouble remembering if The Luau has the dollar beers or if the Tin Hat has the cheap nachos. So a great way to stay organized is to create a happy hour folder. I'm not talking about right clicking and going to "new" and selecting "folder" on your computer. So siree, Bob. I'm talking about an old-school PeeChee folder. I print out the reviews that I like and add them to my folder. This way, when my boyfriend or my friends say, "Hey, where should we go for drinks this weekend?", I just bust out my folder and we choose a location. Then "Bob's your uncle", as the British say.

So, the next time you're feeling cash poor, but you have a hankering for a hunk of cheese (or some beer and nachos), then check the happy hour listings for your city. With a little organization, you can probably get some tasty bar food in your belly and get a good buzz on for less than 20 big ones (including tip!).

Cheers!