Seattle Happy Hours: El Chupacabra and BluWater Bistro

Jenna and Michael moved back to Seattle in late July and I finally was able to visit last weekend! Their apartment is so cute and within walking distance of great restaurants and bars.

After Jen finished up work on Friday we walked to El Chupacabra in need of some margaritas. Though teaching 6th graders is rewarding and selling ads can be exciting, by Friday evening we had earned ourselves a happy hour!

What: El Chupacabra
Where: 6711 Greenwood Ave N., Seattle
When: HH 4 - 6pm, 10 -12am

After a 10 minute walk from their apartment we arrived by just before happy hour ended and snatched a table on their patio, hoping to enjoy one of the last dry NW weekends. Our waiter was friendly, as was the rest of the rest of the staff who all rocked unique attire. The restaurant was self described as a "punk rock cantina" and I would say that the vibe did sort of reflect that.

Off the happy hour menu we selected the Carnitas Tacos and the Black Bean Taquitos. I can't remember the prices, but both were under $4 I think. The drinks at El Chupacabra aren't discounted during happy hour, but the regular prices are decent so it wasn't a deal breaker. For $6 each we went with a house margarita and a tequila and grapefruit juice (which does have a formal name). I think our first choice would be to just go for the classic house margarita.

My top happy hour pick would have to be the black bean taquitos. It was a nice alternative to classic chicken and the outside was crisp without cracking all over like some can when they're too crunchy. A couple friends joined us later and the taco salad looked pretty great as well! Definitely a relaxed atmosphere, friendly staff and free wifi, which could be handy if we had work to do!

What: BluWater Bisto
Where: 7900 East Greenlake Drive N., Seattle
When: HH 4 - 6pm, 10pm - close

Saturday morning we started our day with lattes, truffles from Chocolati and a walk around Greenlake. I'm so glad I visited before the weather turned rainy, because this was perhaps the best start to a day I have had in a while. My salted milk chocolate caramel was delicious!

After an afternoon of lounging and catching up we walked back towards Greenlake for a great happy hour at BluWater Bistro. We, of course, started with the $4 house chardonnay which was cheaper by the glass than buying the bottle.

There were so many great sounding dishes, but we finally narrowed it down to the Ahi Poke ($8) with cubed ahi, cucumber and taro chips, the Seviche ($7) and the Flat Bread Plate ($7). The seviche was a generous serving of halibut, scallops, and bay shrimp with a cilantro-citrus marinade, house made chips, and guacamole. I'm so glad we ordered it!

I was surprised by how amazing the flat bread plate was. I would strongly recommend ordering this! The bread is crispy, drizzled with a balsalmic reduction and surrounded by four topping options. Though the cambozola cheese and marinated peppers were awesome, I was really digging the olive tapenade and roasted elephant garlic. 

Jen has also had the Jerk Chicken Satay ($7) and Crab Wontons ($8) which she said are pretty great as well! Seems like you can go wrong here! We'll be back during another visit I'm sure.

Portland (Mini) Restaurant: 24th and Meatballs

I try to be a fairly forgiving person because, ya know, I was raised Catholic and all that ish but sometimes people do stuff that is really hard to forgive.

For example, one time Kelly (yes, Kelly of this very blog) went to the new meatball place in town WITHOUT ME.

Yeah, you read that right. She tried 24th and Meatballs without me and, probably most hurtful of all, she doesn't even feel bad about it.

In fact, I think she only agreed to go back with me because she was so tired of me bitching about her obviously major indiscretion. That or the meatballs were delicious and she wanted more.

Whatever. Let's talk meatballs.

What: 24th and Meatballs
Where:"The Ocean", 2341 NE Glisan 
Honeys Heart: Meatballs (obvs)
 
24th and Meatballs is one of several micro-restaurants located on the corner of NE 24th and Glisan. Their focus is, you guessed it, meatballs.

There are four kinds of meatballs to choose from: Classic Italian, Pork Piccante, Chicken Parmesan, and Vegan and four sauces: Tomato Basil, Creamy Cheesy, Spicy Pork, and Hazelnut Arugula Pesto.

The first time Kelly went, aka the time she stomped on my heart, she tried an array of sliders and suggested I follow suit.

Sliders go for $2.50 each and you can order any combo of meatball and sauce. I went with italian & tomato basil, pork piccante & spicy pork, and chicken parm & pesto.

I loved them all. Would have appreciated them all being served on the same plate... but that seems like a minor detail compared to delicious flavors of these meatballs. Kelly tried the creamy cheese on one of her sliders and wished they had been more generous with the sauce, so perhaps stick to the 3 other sauces when going the sliders route.

Doug and I had eaten at Luce a few nights before and as it had not satiated his pasta hankering (Luce = small portions), he opted for House Made Rigatoni + Meatballs ($8).

I might have complained that the pasta was not adequately drained resulting in watered-down sauce (evident at the bottom of the bowl in the photo above), but Doug was quite happy with his dish. 

Adam went big and decided on a Hero ($8.50). That's three meatballs, sauce, and cheese on a primo roll baked in the oven. 

Look at that cheesy, meaty goodness. Adam, you are a smart man. 

I should also mention that Kel and I had some pretty tasty house wine ($5 per glass) and Adam and Doug both ordered the Kool Aid of The Day, a steal at $1.

And, because Adam's hero took extra super long to get out, we also got to try the Famous Waffle Balls ($4) on the house.

The waffle balls usually only come with one sauce but we got to try all three: chocolate, dulce de leche and seasonal berry. The berry was definitely the group favorite but double-dipping in different sauces was fun too. 

The four of us agreed that the delicious meatballs and playful atmosphere (they certainly are proud of that slogan) made 24th and Meatballs one of our new favorite spots. We'll definitely be back!

Portland Happy Hour: Jo Bar

This blog post is looooong overdue. Well, lets be honest, any blog post from me is long overdue. If Katie hadn't moved back to Portland and maintained our blogging excellence Happy Hour Honeys would be the embarrassment of the Portland food blogging scene. All I can say is thank goodness.

I'll be better and my blogging self improvement plan will start by sharing a happy hour I meant to blog about in June. Dana, Katie, Jen and I headed to Jo Bar to celebrate Jenna's year in Portland and her new adventure moving back to Seattle with her then soon-to-be, and now, husband!

What: Jo Bar
Where: 701 NW 23rd Ave
When: HH 3 - 6pm

An appropriate send off always begins with cocktails. The cocktail menu isn't online and it's been a while, but they were all good and all at hh prices. I would recommend their Moscow Mule. That was definitely a group favorite!

Though this cocktail was prettier... I think a delicious combination of spicy and sweet. Look for mango and a pepper vodka perhaps?

Following a round, or two, of cocktails we picked some items off the happy hour menu.

Fondue ($6) served with apples, bread and green beans. I definitely liked the veggie dipper addition. I think this rotates based on what they have in the kitchen since the menu said it would be asparagus. 

Katie and I were both there so obviously the Mac & Cheese ($4) was ordered. This wasn't just pasta and cheese, but also bacon, chicken and bread crumbs. I was definitely failing at a pre-wedding diet.

The Mushroom Pizza ($7) was probably my least favorite thing if I'm remembering correctly, but that could also just be because it was the most expensive item and I am feeling poor. Hard to say. 

 

Jen kept us healthy by throwing in a Cobb Salad ($5) will all the fixings. It was a good compliment to our otherwise carb loaded and cheesy selections.

Final addition was Sweet Potato Chips since they were only $2. I wouldn't say they are a must, they're more of a why not? I would order them again.

I really enjoyed the happy hour and the pricing was reasonable, especially compared to Jo Bar and Papa Haydn's dinner menus. Adam and I actually stopped into Jo Bar for a late late lunch one day and I would definitely not go back for the regular menu, since the hh is a great deal. When I go back, if I go back, I'll be hitting up hh for sure!

5 in 5: Pix/Bar Vivant, Luce, Horse Brass, Casa Naranja, Clarklewis

Hey guys, remember when I lived in Boston for a while and was like "wah I miss dance so much." Then remember when I moved back to Portland and I got back into dance in like a pretty major way and now I don't have time for anything else? Including blogging?

But it's okay because I have a solution. It's a new blog thing called 5 in 5 (so good at naming!). The idea is that I'll post about 5 restaurants/bars/happy hours in one post and describe each of them in only 5 words (or less!). Maybe. We'll see what happens.

Wait guys, I also decided to tell you why I was at each of these places because you're really interested in my personal life (obvs.) K, bye! 

Pix Patisserie & Bar Vivant
Occasion: Super pumped that Pix was adding a tapas bar to its new location.
The Five: Give it a few months.

Luce
Occasion: Bon Appetit told me to.
The Five: Bon Appetit is for rich skinnies.

Horse Brass
Occasion: Doug has been drooling over their draft list for a while now.
The Five: 'Ello, governor!

Casa Naranja
Occasion: Erica and Anna came to visit!!
The Five: Not good for hangovers (swings!).

ClarkLewis
Occasion: Birthday!
The Five: Order the tagliatelle. Seriously.