Monday, October 15, 2012

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.