Best Cocktails: 5 Best Happy Hours in Seatte

Where the cocktails are as spectacular as the food  (Note: Menu items may vary with seasonal availability.)


1. Moshi Moshi
Happy hour: daily, 4:30–6 p.m. (late-night happy hour: Mon.–Thu. 10–11:30 p.m., Fri.–Sat. 11 p.m.–1 a.m.)

There’s something delightful about imbibing cocktails under the sprawling, LED-lit cherry tree at Ballard’s Moshi Moshi, a sushi restaurant with one of the most creative and well-balanced cocktail lists in town. On a recent visit, bar manager Erik Carlson shook up one of the best cocktails I’ve had this year: an off-the-menu creation called the Fishhouse Sour (Buffalo Trace bourbon, absinthe, fresh lime juice, demerara syrup, angostura bitters, egg white and shiso leaf). The happy-hour menu boasts sushi-house favorites like fried and chilled king salmon with chile vinaigrette, potato croquettes, and Painted Hills beef skewers with sansho pepper. Cocktails ($7.50–$9) are not discounted during happy hour, but the bar menu offers deals on a drink of the day ($6), and wine, sake, beer and nibbles.


2. Spur
Happy hour: Sun.–Thu., 5–7 p.m.

The Spur boys, chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough, began their happy-hour specials a year ago, and those specials remain one of the best deals in town. When we checked last, Spur’s cocktails were all marked down to $6, a considerable bargain for these excellent, well-crafted drinks. (I’m both proud and slightly ashamed to say that I’ve drunk my way through most of their list, with nary a clunker in the bunch. One of my favorites: the Dover cocktail, which features gin, Macvin Blanc, lavender, grenadine and Chartreuse.) In addition to the regularly priced bar menu, Spur offers daily specials, ranging from $3 to $5, such as braised octopus tartine; a “chicken fried egg” with bacon, maple and gravy; and small plates of pasta that feature the freshest, seasonal produce. Favorite cocktail/food pairing: The cognac-based Long Ride at Sunset and Spur’s beef carpaccio with fried béarnaise sauce and tarragon oil are a welcome spin on the traditional “high roller’s” cognac and steak dinner.


3. Poppy
Happy hour: Tue.–Thu. and Sun., 5–7 p.m. (and late night, 9–11 p.m.; 9–10 p.m. Sun.)

Poppy’s happy hour is one of the best values in town, with three rotating cocktails for $5 each, and a $5 seasonal thali (a miniature version of the restaurant’s signature service of many small plates at once) that, on a recent visit, included spiced crispies and cashews, cauliflower purée, a tiny pancetta and onion tart on flaky rye pastry and two fried mussels (the seasonal menu is always changing). Chef Jerry Traunfeld (formerly of the Herbfarm) keeps the bar area packed with hungry patrons with tasty offerings like Poppy’s signature eggplant fries (lightly crisped and salted, then anointed with buckwheat honey), and salt cod fritters with paprika aioli. My order at the bar? The Six-Twenty-Two, a rye-based cocktail with Amaro Nonino and rhubarb bitters. Finish the evening with one of award-winning pastry chef Dana Cree’s warm date cakes, drowned in muscovado butterscotch and topped with buttered pecans and banana ice cream.


4. Frank’s Oyster House & Champagne Parlor
Happy hour: Tue.–Sat. 5–6 p.m. (and late night 10–11 p.m. in the Parlor)

Frank’s Oyster House in Ravenna is a charmingly low-key restaurant opened by husband-and-wife team Felix and Sarah Penn, who also run the much-loved small-plates restaurant Pair, also in Ravenna. With Frank’s, they’ve stuck to their signature formula of great food for the neighborhood. The light-as-air Beecher’s cheese biscuits with Kurobuta pork and Calvados apple butter are a luxe version of a dish I’d bet would make more than a few Southern grandmas hang up their rolling pins. The fried Quinault razor clams with housemade tartar sauce and the miniature Maine lobster rolls are both great bets. Cocktails (normally $9) are $1 off during happy hour, while small plates are $2 off. (A sweet tip: The front window of the restaurant boasts its own private couch and table—the comfiest and snuggliest seats in the room.)
Favorite cocktail/food pairing: (Wo)man up to the bar and order the Tufted Cowboy, a sparkling cocktail with a rough-and-tumble edge from a nip o’ whiskey. Enjoy it with some of Frank’s well-seasoned, hand-chopped steak tartare, accented with capers, onion and mustard.
 

5. Oliver’s Twist
Happy hour: Mon.–Sat. 5–7 p.m. (and Sun. 5 p.m.–midnight)

Greenwood’s Oliver’s Twist is a dimly lit, hip neighborhood bar that features a lengthy cocktail list and tasty small plates including one with locally made Mt. Townsend Seastack cheese, served with bacon and tangy-sweet orange marmalade, and duck-fat-roasted fingerling potatoes with aioli. Classics that have remained on the Oliver’s Twist menu for years include the always cravable garlic truffle popcorn, and the tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwich. Cocktails ($8) are discounted by $2 during happy hour, and small plates are $1 off. The drinks here are notably stiff, so order up to offset the buzz!


Visit seattlemag.com for the ultimate bar directory and to see our complete list of the very Best Cocktails of 2009