Bellevue on a Budget

The Pearl

2009-06-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

The plan was to meet up with my mom for drinks at 4:30pm but she did not get there until 5:00 so I sat sipping on my water for a half hour waiting. I had wanted to do happy hour at the Pearl for a long time because it had come so highly recommended to me by my friends. The place is gorgeous, very well decorated and the environment is very much in the style of downtown Bellevue mentality. When my mom finally got there, I was ready to eat. We ordered a Merlot, a Mac and jacks, goat cheese crostini, tempura and pan-seared tiger prawns all of which were amazing. I highly recommend this place for their amazing food! Essentially happy hour is half off the entire bar menu.

Happy Hour: Half off food and drink

Times: Mon-Fri 4-6

Parking: Park below the Westin in Lincoln Square garage and make sure to get your ticket validated
Price: Under $10 for a drink and appetizer

Black Angus

2009-06-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day, too bad I did not get to enjoy any of it thanks to finals, but oh well I still made time for happy hour with friends. It was time for a little break from the cave formally known as my apartment. Today we were planning to try to find a place in the crossroads area and Austin was sent to scope things out and see what happy hours he could find. Unfortunately, the only one he could find was at Black Angus, but who knows, it could be good.
After fighting rush hour traffic, I finally met up with the boys in the “bad” part of Bellevue (if there is such a place). The restaurant is very dark with windows only covering one side of the building and the bar was extremely small with only the actual bar and a few two-person tables. We squeezed three people around the little table and looked at the menu. Good selection, half off appetizers and drinks, not too shabby. We ordered the quesadillas, spicy bbq chips and three Guinness’s. The food was pure unhealthiness, like bar food should be, but we loved it. The server was very friendly and kept refilling my friend’s beers, which ended with Austin finishing three, Mitch two and me one. Overall, I would recommend the happy hour here.

Happy Hour: Discounted food and drinks
Times: Mon-Fri 4-6
Parking: Plenty of parking
Price: Under $10 for a drink and appetizer
Perk: Free Bread

Las Margaritas

2009-06-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

Las Margaritas in downtown Bellevue offers discounted food and drinks to customers seeking a festive atmosphere. Growing up locally my friends and I have spent countless hours enjoying the fish bowl margaritas, free chips and salsa and tasty taco bell provided for happy hours. The staff is always very friendly and the restaurant is always clean. I recommend this place to anyone looking for tacos and margaritas for cheap!

Happy Hour: Discounted Food and drinks with free chips and salsa

Times: Mon-Fri 3-6pm

Parking: Private parking lot

Staff: Friendly

Overall Impression: Fun festive environment

Price: Cheap, under $10 for a drink and appetizer or taco bar

The Parlor

2009-06-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

The parlor in Lincoln Square is an upscale pool hall, which turns into a club on weekends. This bar is a great option paired with a movie at the cinema across the main floor. The food is incredibly cheap and the drink specials adequate. The atmosphere is very posh and has a dress code, which does not allow hats or sneakers, been worn inside the bar. However, on weekdays they are not strict. The food is always yummy and there is not much on the menu I have not tried though my favorite is the parlor pizza! This place is a great deal and when you pair it with a movie, it makes for an awesome night!

Happy Hour: Discounted food and drinks
Times: 3-6 Tues-Sat & Tues-Thurs 10pm-12am & ALL day happy hours on Sunday and Mondays
Parking: Parking is found in the Lincoln square parking garage
Price: Good, slightly over $10 for a cocktail and an appetizer

Yama

2009-06-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

I absolutely adore this place! Yama is located on the top floor of the Galleria in downtown Bellevue and the bartender is always really friendly and pours some stiff drinks which leave you wondering if it’s safe for you to drive home or not. The food is very good though the prices and selection have changed many times since they opened a couple years ago. Currently their menu is very limited and their cocktail specials are essentially nonexistent but I still recommend this place. After talking to the bartender, he informed me that they would be revising the happy hour menu once again to include more cocktails with better prices.

Happy Hour: Appetizers and limited drink specials
Time: Mon-Sat 5-6:30pm & Fri-Sat 10pm-12am
Parking: Validated garage parking found in the galleria garage
Price: Okay, just over $10 for an appetizer and a very stiff drink

Seastar Restaurant

2009-06-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

The Seastar Restaurant has some of the best seafood in my opinion in Bellevue and their happy hour offers great options for appetizers. I would most definitely recommend the sushi! The restaurant is beautiful but the bar is a little odd. At first, we were not even sure we were going into the bar through the right door because the whole set up is so confusing. Then once you are inside there is no bar atmosphere it is dry and empty. The prices were okay but nothing special. In the end, I would recommend the restaurant but not the happy hour.

Happy Hour: Discounted food, wine and beer
Times: Mon-Fri 3:30-5:30
Parking: Parking must be validated but there is a garage located under the Seastar Restaurant
Price: Okay, $12 for an appetizer and wine

The Melting Pot

2009-06-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

I honestly would never go back to this happy hour again. First of all they don’t tell you that you have to sit at the bar to receive happy hour pricing, which by the way only contains four seats and I have only on rare occasions actually seen any of these seats open. Secondly, the server was rude, though the bartender was friendly; the horrible server ruined the whole environment. The place is very nice and the food is good but there are only happy hour prices on the fondue pots and they are not impressive discounts. I am sure the regular restaurant is much nicer but the happy hour is a sham and should be avoided at all costs.

Happy Hour: Fondue
Time: Mon-Sun 4:30-6:30 & Mon-Sun 9-11pm
Parking: Garage or street parking
Price: Expensive $20 or more for an appetizer and a cocktail

McCormick and Schmicks

2009-05-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

I love Seattle when the sun is out! On this beautiful day, my friends and I decided that McChormick and Schmits happy hour sounded the most appealing. Something about those amazing three-dollar burgers was just too wonderful to pass up. Phone calls were made and texts were sent. The resulting happy hour crew was Ryan, Brand

on, Alison and I. Ryan picked me up and we met Brandon (who was late like always) and Alison at the restaurant.

Unfortunately for us, the bar itself was full, not a chair in sight for us to squeeze our behinds into. Disappointed we all exchanged annoyed glances but the Host stepped in and asked us if we were there for happy hour. To our delight there was more seating out in the atrium. The Atrium is semi-outdoor seating found in the common area of the Lincoln Square building.

We reviewed the menu and were a little saddened to see that there were no drink specials for their happy hour. With this in mind, we all ordered waters and sodas then chose our food. In all, two burgers, hummus, Beef and Chicken sauté and calamari were chosen. All of these items got rave reviews from all of us. The burgers were big and came with fries, the calamari was indeed actually squid and not cuddle fish and the sauté was richly flavored with something a little spicy. All and all our meal was delightful! A great combination of people and wonderful food, I could not ask for more.

Happy Hour: Discounted Food
Times: 3-6pm or nine to close
Parking: Parking garage below the building and validation provided by restaurant

Staff: Normal
Overall Impression: Great burgers but not the place for a drink
Price: Good, $7 for two appetizers

Applebee's

2009-05-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

Applebee’s is an oldie but a goodie. I have enjoyed Applebee’s happy hours on multiple occasions, with half off appetizers and discounted drinks it is always a nice happy hour and it’s found in nearly every neighborhood. Today my mom and I swung by for some cheap food in honor of her birthday. Our original plans were to go to the Keg but she made a last minute change and dragged me across the parking lot in the pouring down rain to the Applebee’s in Factoria.
I have been here a thousand times over the years and it has a nice environment with friendly staff. Although today the server made me laugh, she actually carded me when I was with my mother! I think that was an official first for me, even when I was barely twenty-one they no one ever carded me when I was in the presence of family but I guess I must have been looking particularly young today sporting a thick white headband with a zip up hoodie. Oh well, I guess I will appreciate it in a few years right? Well that is what people always tell me at least.
Well there is a variety of choices for happy hour, all consisting of greasy fatty concoctions ranging from potato skins to mozzarella sticks, but I went with the mini burgers and my mother ordered the chicken quesadilla. When both of them were delivered to our table neither looked very appetizing. I attempted to take a photo but there just was no help in making the food look any more enticing. Nonetheless, they were both tasty. Greasy, but tasty. The total order came to $15 for two appetizers, one glass of wine and a desert shooter. Pretty cheap, I LIKE IT!

Happy Hour: Half price appetizers and discounted drinks
Times: 3-6pm or 9 to close
Parking: Lots
Staff: Normal
Overall Impression: A good place to grab a drink on the way home from work
Price: Cheap ($15

The Tap House

2009-04-28T15:54:00.001-07:00

Having all of my usual happy hour crew bail on my twenty minutes before the agreed upon time, I went into the restaurant already slightly annoyed but at least I had my man faithfully by my side ready for action. With him in tow, we parked in the surprisingly crowded parking garage, grabbed my ticket to be validated and rode the lift to the first floor of the galleria in downtown Bellevue. Now let me tell you first, this was not my first happy hour at the tap house but it was my first time seeing the place so empty. Previously when I had spent my happiest hour in this establishment it was so crowded that it was utterly impossible to find a table but today it contained only a skeleton group of patrons and far too many waiters for the lack of people.

We grabbed a booth along the outer wall in hopes to feel a little of the beautiful sunshine even if it had to be from the inside of a building. The happy hour menu looked decent so we ordered sushi and battered shrimp and since there were no drinks with happy hour prices, we decided to try the World Beer Sampler for 9.50. Just to start out, they gave me four pieces of tiny sushi rolls, yes, it was only $2.95 but their normal $8 version gives you eight so it is not a very high savings especially when I know that their happy hour sushi used to be the same size as their normal one. Ridiculous! Other than that, the shrimp and beer was very good but nothing to write home about. All and all, it was a descent happy hour at a descent price.

Happy Hour: Discounted Food only

Outdoor Seating: Yes

Parking: Validated for 4 hours in garage

Staff: Relatively friendly

Overall impression: Sushi sucked but the beer and shrimp was yummy

Price: A little under twenty dollars for a beer sampler and two appetizers

Chantanees

2009-04-26T13:12:00.001-07:00

Chantanees has been my friends and is favorite restaurant for years and recently moved and renovated. We had been waiting nearly a year to taste our favorite Phad Thai once again and were excited to hear that they would be offering a happy hour to our favorite hot spot. Therefore, the gang, which consisted of my boyfriend, my roommate and three other close friends ventured out to try this new and improved Chantanees.

After being informed by my roommate that the restaurant did not validate I found parking about two blocks from the downtown Bellevue location only to find out when I went inside that they did in fact validate but only after 5pm. How annoying. Anyway, on with my story, the interior of the restaurant was very elaborate with elegant Thai statues and other Asian artifacts. We had been used to our hole in the wall location with staff that had been there as long as the restaurant had been open. The strange thing was the staff was completely new and completely white in ethnicity. Strange, but we went over and had a seat in the bar nonetheless.

In the bar, the waiter greeted us; he was very polite and gave us great service the entire time we were there. Now to look at the happy hour menu, hmmm interesting, pretty much the happy hour menu consisted of $3 off all appetizers, classic cocktails, wine, beer and absinth. Not too great of a deal but we all thought that the absinth sounded interesting so we ordered that to start and we all shared this elaborate drink which tasted of black licorice. For my price comparison, I ordered one drink and one appetizer instead of the normal two because it was a lot more expensive than other local happy hours. This multiplied by two equaled about $30. All of us were just baffled by how expensive it was. Yikes. The appetizer we ordered was the Sausage with crispy pork and it was not good, very dry but my friends, though I hate black licorice, enjoyed the absinth.

We also ordered the phad Thai, which we got in both a family size and regular size, and you, know what was so funny about that, they came out on different size plates but contained nearly identical amounts of food even though the family size was five dollars more than the regular was. Another item we ordered was peanut sauce, which used to cost $1 before they moved and now cost $5! Outrageous. Overall, I would NOT recommend this happy hour to anyone, it was far too expensive and all and all disappointing for loyal customers such as us.

Happy Hour: $3 off appetizers, classic cocktails, beer, wine and absinth

Outdoor seating: To be opening this summer

Parking: Validated only after 5pm

Price: EXPENSIVE

Staff: Friendly

Total Cost of two appetizers and two drinks: $30

Palomino's

2009-04-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Another Monday and another happy hour for my friends and I. This time we chose to go to Palomino’s in downtown Bellevue. This will be our second attempt at this allegedly amazing happy hour. Our first attempt ended before it ever actually started because some Brit, otherwise known as my boyfriend, forgot to bring his ID. Silly British guys. Anyway this attempt was made on a particularly warm and beautiful day in Bellevue. The birds were chirping, my roommate was singing along to “baby got back” and that annoying woodpecker was back, like he usually is in the Spring, hacking away at the side of my townhome!
Anyway I got a little side tracked there, so we went to Palomino’s, which unfortunately for us didn’t have outdoor seating for the bar but I guess no place is perfect, so we had to stare at the sunshine from within an over air-conditioned bar with some truly awful orange drapes which managed to ruin all my food photos.
So today’s’ order, going along with the theme of two drinks and two appetizers was a $5 pepperoni pizza, hot red king crab and artichoke dip, cranberry Mojito and pomegranate margarita, all coming to the grand total of $22.55. Okay so this place wasn’t the cheapest happy hour in the world with drinks being $4 but it was very yummy. The pizza was a 16 incher with thin crust which was a little greasier than I prefer but was a steal at $5. The drinks were actually the best part, so maybe they were worth the $4 apiece. They were both moderately strong and were mixed just right! The final part of our meal was the hot red king crab artichoke dip which was just ok. All and all the meal was good but a tad bit expensive unless you are going strictly for the cheap pizza.

Rock Bottom Brewery

2009-04-19T19:33:00.001-07:00

Seventy five degrees and gorgeous! Washington is truly amazing when it stops raining for five minutes and people come out of their holes to feel the sun hit their naked shoulders. With my flip flops floppin away on my feet we all headed to enjoy the patio at the Rock Bottom Brewery. Now I needed to make the mental note of ah, yeah the one thing I always forget, parking validation. Okay, I shoved my ticket into the black abyss otherwise known as my purse and we grabbed a seat at the metal tables on the patio at exactly 5:40 just in time to get happy hour prices on food then get our $2 beers at 6pm. Oh yeah we have it worked out. Mmmm we ordered Asiago Dip with Beer bread and Titan toothpicks then 2 pints of liquid sun. The Asiago Dip with the beer bread was absolutely delicious! The beer bread contained precisely enough cheddar cheese and green onions to give it a delectable flavor then the Asiago dip gave it that extra bit of splendor. The titan toothpicks which were actually two huge crispy burritos containing chicken, onions and peppers all rolled up with a side of chips and dips! My rule of thumb... everything tastes better fried and burritos are no exception. The grand total (drum roll) .... $15.37! This was a great deal! 2 appetizers and 2 beers for fifteen dollars! I'd recommend this happy hour to all of you to try, especially if you like good beer for cheap, but I'd also recommend going on a Tuesday because they offer $2 beers from 4pm-9pm so you are able to order beer and appetizers at the same time! I know, what a concept right?

Ricardo's

2009-04-13T19:21:00.000-07:00

Ricardo’s is a lively Mexican restaurant found near Factoria mall in the south end of Bellevue which offers specials from 3-6:30pm in the bar. The happy hour menu is skeletal in nature and I found myself wondering what exactly was authentic in this poorly lit establishment. Essentially the menu was as follows.

Beverages

Mexican beer $3.75

American beer $3.00

Well drinks $3.25

Regular Margaritas $4.50

Wine $3.00

Appetizers $4.99 per item

Calamari

Potato Nachos

Buffalo Wings

Bean Nachos

Three of us shared 2 margaritas, potato nachos and Buffalo wings along with the bottomless chips and salsa. Though this wasn’t the healthiest dinner it did leave us very full and satisfied.

The food was good and the margarita’s were AMAZING but it was agreed upon that the menu was much too highly priced for happy hour. Our total was $20.88 before tip.

So if you want a strong yet yummy margarita for about $2.00 less then you’ll usually pay and some FREE chips and salsa then Ricardo’s is the place to go but for everything else, find somewhere better.