Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Portland Happy Hour: Muu-Muu's

Kelly and I had a rough weekend (she was writing her senior capstone and I was studying for the GRE) so we decided to reward ourselves with happy hour at Wild Abandon. Unfortunately, Wild Abandon is not open on Tuesdays and so we were forced to choose somewhere else at the last minute. We decided on Muu-Muu's on 21st Ave because we stopped there on Kelly's bday back in June and they had delicious spiked strawberry lemonades so we figured the food would probably be good too.

By the time we got there (Leslie came too), we all realized that any sort of alcoholic beverage would make us more sleepy than were already were so the happy hour food menu was no longer an option, though there were some tasty looking choices like spinach and artichoke dip and some different salads for $3 or $4. Apparently Muu-Muus is pretty famous for their unique burgers which they stuff in a baguette with some french fries on top and so at $6.50 a pop off the regular menu, we all decided to put the muu-muu burger to the test.

Well, this is definitely not the type of burger that you can delude yourself into thinking is kind of healthy because it has lettuce and tomatoes on it and it's important to have meat in your diet, right? Yeah, those things are pretty skanky but in the best, most delicious way possible. Plus, if you're a multitasker you're gonna love this because you get to eat your fries and your burger at the same time. Basically, the Muu-Muu Burger is a great choice if you're in the mood for good n' greasy diner food, but their menu was pretty diverse. The inside is quite appealing as well, in a swanky kind of way. Not too shabby...

Monday, September 22, 2008

Grand Central Bowling and Portland Happy Hour: Moloko Plus

Thursday was Katie's 22nd birthday and since we are college students and often have a little thing called homework to do we (our roommates-Dena and Leslie-and ourselves) celebrated Friday with happy hour and bowling. For happy hour we went back to the "Nothing Bar" (Moloko Plus...) but this time we didn't just order infused citrus vodka, we actually looked at their drink menu and ordered cocktails. Dena, Leslie and Katie all got cucumber drinks ($8 for Dena's and $9 for Leslie and Katie's) and I got something with blueberry infused vodka ($8). All very unique, and good. We also ordered off their happy hour food menu, which includes $5 paninis. Of course we ordered the paninis, three salami and one turkey, which were really good and, for only $5, it was a lot of food! Although the prices weren't bad and the food and beverages were quite satisfying, service was really slow! That was only our first time at happy hour there though, so maybe just coincidence.


After happy hour, we went home to prepare for bowling. Katie wanted to wear lacy, frilly socks (kind of like what 5 year old girls wear), but it turns out they don't make those for adults so before we could go out we had sew lace on socks, a skill I apparently don't have (thanks Leslie!!). After putting on our party dresses, drinking an impromptu crystal light and vodka beverage, and hiding our lace socks in our purses for later, we were off to Grand Central Bowling (on Belmont).




We got there around 8:45 pm knowing we'd have to wait a little over an hour for lanes, so we checked in and ordered some party bowl drinks (8 shots, served in a huge bowl, $20). We chose the Long Beach, which involved vodka....good. We met up with some other friends upstairs where there is seating and pool tables. After the birthday girl successfully downed a few shots and a couple drinks (which resulted in an impromptu marriage ceremony...don't ask), our buzzer buzzed and we were bowling! There can be 6 people on a lane but a couple people in our party decided to team up. Given the chance to enter our names in the system, we ended up with Carol (Katie), Alphajoe, That Thang (Leslie and I), Zolton (Dena)...and a few others. I'm not gonna lie, our socks were a big hit, at least we thought they were pretty great and I proceeded to show them to everyone I saw.


Bowling was so fun with all the good drinks, good music, fun big screen TVs at the end of the lanes showing music videos, and the all important nice DJ. Katie and I made friends with him and at one point I may have been heard (regretably) singing Pussycat Dolls into the microphone. Definitely not the most cost-efficient bowling place but then again, you know a place is pretty special when you need a minimum of four people to promise they're sharing a drink before you can even order it....



Monday, September 8, 2008

Portland Happy Hour: Sagittarius - CLOSED

- CLOSED -
Bought out by La Bonita, a mexican restaurant with it's first location on NE Alberta. 

Last year I developed a fascination with this little restaurant called Sagittarius that is located right across the street from our regular sushi place Mio. I must have looked it up on citysearch a dozen times and drove past it a few dozen more before I was finally able to experience the wonder that is Sagittarius. I had high hopes thanks to the rave reviews that seemed to pop up on every search regarding the rosemary mac, and Leslie's 21st bday dinner seemed the perfect occasion to put the mac to the test. Let me tell you, that is about the best $8 dollars I have ever spent. The cheese is velvety and delicious with just the right touch of rosemary and the way it seeps into those mini shell pastas will change your life.

Leslie's bday was over 6 months ago and I still can't get enough of that rosemary mac. On occasion, I'll try to branch out (Kelly is much better at this), but no matter how tasty my sandwich is, there's always part of me that wishes I had just gone with my usual. Really it's that good.

Today Kelly and I introduced our new roommate to Sagitarrius's all-day Monday happy hour and while it may not be the best deal in town, there are some decent discounts. I, of course, went with the happy hour mini mac for $5 which is basically the rosemary mac entre
e minus the salad and bread. Kelly tried the regularly-priced Doomtown chicken sandwich for $8 and Marissa went with the fish and chips for $11. All very tasty. We also practiced some self control (for once?) and didn't order any drinks despite the $3 wells and $1 off specialty cocktails. Gotta save up for Mint you know...