Hunting for happy hours
Photo courtesy Good Eats Houston.
I love Willy’s Pub and Valhalla as much as the next guy. The cheap craft beer and convenient location of both bars make it hard to justify schlepping off campus and ponying up $10 a drink at any “more fashionable” off-campus bar. Still, missing out on the enormous array of cocktail bars, ice houses and dives that make up Houston’s bar scene would be a real shame, and for those willing to hunt, a number of excellent bars nearby offer happy hours cheap enough to stay within your beer money budget.
Benjy’s in the Village is the closest and most highly recommended happy hour in our area. Before discovering the swanky second-floor lounge, I had held Benjy’s to be the quintessential restaurant to visit with parents or a time someone else could pick up the bill. However, Benjy’s happy hour, served from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, offers $3 beers, $5 wines and $6 cocktails, plus a number of discounts on house specials. The Brussels sprouts with peanuts and bonito flakes is highly recommended at $6 a bowl, and the $8 burger and beer combo over-delivers with a fluffy, sweet bun and impressively juicy patty.
On the pricier side of the spectrum, Lucille’s happy hour is still worth trying for its food specials and the wide range of botanicals used in their cocktails. Complex layered herbal house cocktails like “The Garden” are $3 off, leaving most around $6 or $7. The famous chili biscuits, while tiny, are also served in fours for $4 and additional discounts are offered on specials like fried catfish and oxtail gremolata. Happy hour runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
My personal favorite of the bunch, Hay Merchant simultaneously manages great deals, a relaxed atmosphere (You can just as easily catch a game or chat over a plate of nachos) and creative, delicious food. Happy hour runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and simply entails a subset of 23 beers from the massive beer list priced down to $3 a pour. Knowledgeable servers and helpful descriptions on the menu ensure you’ll find a beer suited to your taste. While the only food deal is a typical beer-burger-shot combo, dishes like the PB&J wings, crispy pigs ears and the Cease & Desist burger are already well priced at $14 and under. It’s not walking distance, but a quick ride on the 56 bus will get you a block away.
GRAND PRIZE
For a low effort trip, Grand Prize is a quick walk up Montrose from campus and has accurately been described as “divey yet dank.” Operating out of a converted, dimly lit house by Bell park, Grand Prize is among Houston’s best known hipster dive bars. Happy hour is fairly limited with $2 PBR specials, $3 wells and $5 frozen cocktails, but it lasts from 4 until 8 p.m., and the $5 cheeseburgers put more expensive burger outlets (I’m looking at you, Bernie’s and Hopdoddy) to shame. With straightforward, tasty drinks, and even better bar food, Grand Prize is well worth a trip while in the museum district. You may even end up sticking around and hitting the upstairs dance floor.
Alternatively, why not try Dak & Bop while you’re in the Museum District? As far as happy hour goes, Dak and Bop is certainly the most limited, but it still deserves honorable mention for how well it accompanies the restaurant’s Korean fried chicken. The Korean double fried chicken is quite possibly the best in Houston; however the process means a consistent half-hour wait from order to table. Adding the restaurant’s popularity and no-reservations policy to the mix can mean truly grueling waits. Fear not though, the $2.50 wells offered during happy hour turn the wait into a win-win as showing up between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. means both a shorter wait and tasty drinks while you drool over your incoming fried chicken.
More from The Rice Thresher
Rice accepts 13% of record-setting ED applications
Rice accepted 13.2% of Early Decision applicants in its first round of admissions for the class of 2029, said Yvonne Romero da Silva, vice president for enrollment. With 2,970 total applicants, this year saw yet another record-high; a 3% increase from last year’s previous high of 2,886. An additional 100 students gained admission through the Questbridge National College Match program, an uptick from last year’s 77.
Students reject divestment proposals
The student body voted to pass S.REF 01, which asks the Rice Management Company to disclose all of its holdings investments, but rejected the remaining divestment proposals. While every ballot measure gained a majority of votes in favor, the remaining three did not achieve the two-thirds majority required to pass.
Student organizations form coalition to support SA referenda
Four Student Association referenda open for the general student body vote today at noon. The referenda call for disclosure of Rice Management Company holdings and divestment from entities that profit off the Israel-Hamas war. The referenda also ask that Rice release a statement condemning genocide and materially support anti-colonial scholarship. Voting will close Dec. 11 at noon and the results will be published the next day. For the referenda to pass, a two-thirds majority with a 20% student body turnout is needed.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.