In Search of a New Friday Night Happy Hour Hangout

Since our Friday night after work hangout shut down we have been in search of a new spot.  We want it to have a lively early crowd, good priced drinks, friendly bartender, nice crowd, music and if they have good food even better.  Since our old place was a Mexican restaurant we started there.  As we try new places I'll update this post until we find the perfect local hangout.

Friday (Sept 13):

• Norms:  Gave Norms a second try and have decided this is a place I would stop back by for a drink it is not our Friday night regular stop.  The place was full when we arrived but we were able to grab the last two spots at the bar in the corner.  Tried two new apps the buffalo shrimp and the onion rings.  The buffalo shrimp was OK but was drowning in the sweet hot sauce which made the small bit of salad underneath the shrimp in edible.  The onion rings were very good and I would order these again.  I'm still looking for more food to love.

Friday (Sept. 6):

• Elephant bar:  The lighting in Elephant bar was better than I was expecting.  Not the bright, lit up chain restaurant/bar.  We tried the artichoke dip (YUK), don't know what kind of cheese if it even really was a cheese.  Had a banana taste to me.  WTH.  The Korean beef tacos were pretty good, the sauce served with was disgusting but the salad served along side was very good.  I even liked the green bell peppers in it and usually I would say no green bells.  The new so called thinly sliced rib eye sliders with caramelized onions and Swiss cheese was more like chipped beef scraps on a sweet Hawaiian roll (too sweet) with one or two possible slivers of onions and no cheese were a bust for me but hubby thought they were OK.  My measured shot drinks were not worth the $6 but the margarita was quite tasty for $3 but with the tacos it was only an additional buck which was SO  worth it.  There were winners and losers but overall this place lost my vote.

Friday (Aug 30):

• The Fieldhouse Sports Bar:  Although the happy hour food was good especially the cheese sauce for the pretzel and the chicken tacos it is not our kind of drinking establishment.  Beer prices not bad by my drink too pricy at $8.  It is the hot new spot in town so it gets quite busy the later it gets.  It is kid friendly, more like a chain restaurant (Chilies, Apple Bee, etc) which isn't my thing either.  I want a bar with good music I can hear, no kids in the bar and great food.

Friday (Aug 23):

• Mexico Lindo:  Drink prices were ok ($3.95 beer & $5.95 vodka soda) however I hate when they measure out the vodka.  It just doesn't make me feel good.  There wasn't anything exciting about he bartender or the patrons.  There were people in there but it was a car show weekend so they didn't feel like regulars.  Worst of all no music.  This was our second visit and it didn't feel any better this time with our new mission at stake.
• Casa Orozco:  Combining the price of the two drinks wasn't bad but when ordered separately what I thought was a nice drink turned out to be a double at $8.  When I say "tall" I mean tall not "double".  If I say "double" would they give me a tall, NO.  Now for a double that isn't A bad price ($2 up charge so a regular is $6 - which I don't mind) but then it makes me wonder if my single drink would taste like soda.  But with beer prices at $3, the overall tab was good at $12.  Bartender seemed nice, small bar with a couple of people and one even spoke up so it seemed like regulars go there, problem was there is only so many renditions of the Mexican hat dance I can listen too.  I want better music in my bar, top 40, pop, rock n roll.
• Gallaghers:  We go here every now and then but it is not the place.  Two drinks $11
• Golden Sand Harbor:  Got food to go, a bit pricy since we ate it all so it turned out to be $20 a piece.  Too much for Chinese food.

Friday (Aug 9):

• Outpost:  We use to go here more often but the bartenders kept leaving and they didn't always have my booze so we stopped.  We are going to give it another try and I hope that I can get my booze stocked.  There are regulars here, music is always playing and sports are on the TV, the last couple of times it has been the same guy but they still don't have my flavored Blueberry Stolie.  Torn.
• Firehouse No. 37:  Last stop on before home for one last drink and another try of Firehouse 37.  We have been here a few times and we hoped it would be our spot since it is so close to home but it just doesn't stick and this visit held true to why we don't often go.  It was after 7, packed full of people which included children in the bar area which I don't like, but worst of all was the bar service and how it looks like all wait staff are running around like chickens with their heads cut off.  It is just not relaxing.  My vodka/soda was $7.95 which is too close to $8 so not a place I would drink, a beer was $6 which isn't bad but not special but the Roasted Jalapeno Poppers were to die for.  LOVED THEM!  We will try it again in a few more months to see if it changes for the better.

Friday:

• Danville:  Stopped by a regular joint Elliots then revisited a spot for a second time Norms.  Norms bar was full, but it is a small bar so you must go early to get a seat.  Didn't have any good food this visit (spinach cheese dip and wings).  I like my hot wings to be the traditional buffalo wings and these were more like fried chicken wings.  We will try again but it wasn't IT.