Phoenix Food Blog

Hit print on this one, people. Or at least cut and paste. Here's your guide to good happy hour deals across the Valley, with food and drink from around the world, at all levels of sophistication. Happy Monday.

1.Rosie McCaffrey's
906 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix
602-241-1916
Good Irish pubs are famous for their free-flowing spirits. Even better Irish pubs are famous for selling them on the cheap. Rosie McCaffrey's, thankfully, is the latter. Seven days a week, from 4 to 7 p.m., the bar slashes $1 off the price of each glass of wine, well drink, and draft; domestic beer is $2.50. Appetizer specials rotate daily, but sliders, at least, are always $4.99.

2.Richardson's Cuisine of New Mexico
1582 E. Bethany Home Rd., Phoenix
602-265-5886
Happy hour starts early on the northwest corner of 16th St. and Bethany Home. At Richardson's Cuisine of New Mexico, known for margaritas and spicy just-north-of-the-border fare, you can start drinking weekdays at 3 p.m...and keep going until 6. Well drinks are $4.50, it's just $2.50 for domestic beer and a selected wine (one red, one white) goes for $5. Any food specials? Occasionally they say.

3.San Tan Flat Saloon & Grill
6185 W. Hunt Hwy., Queen Creek
480-882-2995
This Queen Creek spot is famous for three things that go great with happy hour: lawsuits, dancing and the Wild West. San Tan is the proud winner of a court battle with Pinal County that allows them to let patrons dance to the live country western music they host, and the fun doesn't stop there. For four solid hours (2 to 6 p.m.) everyday, anything at all behind the bar costs at least a dollar less.

It's tough to miss the buzz: A trip to The Wrigley Mansion can be soft on your wallet. But the oft-reported negotiable lunch ('pay what you think is fair') isn't the only deal on the menu.

During lunch, selected bottles of wine are half-price. And Tuesday through Saturday, the lunch special is offered from 11 to 3, which means you can make a soft transition from lunch to happy hour. Since the lunch is offered in both the dinning room and Geordie's lounge, we figure you should be able to stay for happy hour without leaving your seat.

Nice strategy, eh? But that's not all.

From 4 to 7, Friday and Saturday, the lounge offers $10 martinis and $5 beer. Select glasses of wine are also priced at $5.

The Wrigley Mansion is located at 2501 E. Telawa Trail in Phoenix

Cadillac Ranch offers a host of amenities, in its efforts to give you a "true taste of Texas." You can ride the mechanical bull, find privacy in a high-walled booth, or enjoy the restaurant's well-stocked bar.

We find that's all best done at happy hour. From 4 to 7 every day, Cadillac Ranch offers a range of appetizers between $3.50 and $4.95, as well as $2 Bud Lights, $3 craft and import drafts, and select liquor from $3. We recommend the loaded fries.

And then there's the rain.... Cadillac Ranch isn't the first local bar to offer rain specials, but we'll take 'em anywhere we can get 'em. Any time it's raining, they'll pour you a $2 beer or a $3 well cocktail.

Excuse us, we're off to practice our rain dance.

Cadillac Ranch is located at 2000 E Rio Salado Pkwy (Tempe Marketplace), in Tempe.

For weekday drinking, the price is right at Phoenix City Grille. Happy hour specials run 3 to 6, Monday through Friday. Specials include $2 domestic bottles, $3 draft and well drinks, $4 for house wine and premium beers, and $2 off martinis.

Better still: Cheap cocktails at Sunday brunch. If the crab cake eggs benedict doesn't entice you, the weekend drink special probably will. On Sundays from 10 am to 3 pm, you can wash down your seafood and eggs with $2 Bloody Marys and Mimosas.

Phoenix City Grille is located at 5816 N. 16th Street in Phoenix

What restaurant concept will they think of next? Autostrada is an Italian restaurant in north Scottsdale that, according to its Web site, is "inspired by the Italian car culture." All we know is that if Aaron May is involved, the food's gonna be good.

Get in the old jalopy and head up to Scottsdale for happy hour at Autostrada, which features $3 Peroni drafts, half-price wine and $5 well cocktails. Pair drinks with bruschetta ($5) or a meat/cheese plate ($10) for a real engine revver.
Autostrada is located at 20825 N. Pima Rd in Scottsdale

Happy hour is odd at Aunt Chilada's, but this isn't a mark against the establishment. From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, they offer a complimentary buffet that includes chips and salsa, a fruit and vegetable platter, as well as an appetizer of the chef's choice.

Unfortunately, no drink specials are offered, unless you come one Wednesday when Corona and Dos Equis bottles are offered for $2 all day. Or, come on Friday for an enhanced buffet that includes all of the previously mentioned foods as well as make-your-own tostadas.

The whole thing is a bit wacky, compared to typical happy hours, but hey, the food is good (and free!) and the tequila selection's extensive.

Aunt Chilada's is located at 7330 North Dreamy Draw Drive (Just past I-10, off of Baseline) in Phoenix.

A general drinking guideline: Any drink with a name suffixed by the term 'bomb' is sure to get you bombed. Here's a deal you can take advantage of long after Happy Hour's come and gone.

From 8 to close, Sunday through Thursday at Kabuki, you can knock yourself out with bombs of the sake variety. During this time, a sake-bomb with a 12 ounce beer costs 3.75, while $6.75 will get you one with a 22 ounce beer. An abridged menu of late-night specials also includes glasses of cold house sake for 95 cents, Miller Light drafts for $1.75, and Four Peaks Kilt Lifter drafts for $2.95.

The restaurant offers a selection of popular sushi rolls for $2.95 during its normal happy hour from 3 to 6, Monday through Friday. Non-adventurous types can stick to California and Philly rolls and do it on the cheap.

In addition, Kabuki offers a full-bodied selection of Japanese cuisine -from teriyaki dishes to sushi and the ingredients seem to indicate value; alas, this isn't to say that the food isn't somewhat pricey. Stand by the specials for minimal damage -it doesn't take long to push your tab from $20 to $50.

Kabuki is located on the 2nd floor of the Westgate City Center in Glendale, at Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue, a second location at the Tempe Marketplace in Tempe, 2000 E. Rio Salado Pkwy.

Blue Agave is an atypical Mexican restaurant that offers authentic south of the border cuisine as well as experimental dishes. Order the traditional tamale or the crab-stuffed shrimp off the dinner menu, but also come early for the relaxing atmosphere and, from 4 to 7 every day, enjoy $3 Coronas, draft beers, well drinks and ½ priced appetizers.

You can also sip some of the finest tequila in the Valley as Blue Agave offers over 50 different brands -and it's quite nice to see a Mexican bar that integrates their tequila selection with reposado and añejo varieties.
If you've had a particularly hellish day and the drink specials diminish your ability to invoke some self control whereby you tip the moderation scale, a night of hard drinking may be in line; Blue Agave offers a range of nightly activities, including live music on Thursdays and a beer pong tournament, held every Friday night.

Blue Agave is located at 7000 E. Mayo Blvd in Phoenix

The well-appointed Mucho Gusto - which takes a sometimes non-traditional twist on Mexican cuisine - can be mucho pricey, if you hit the place up for dinner. But happy hour is both pleasant and affordable.

From 3 to 6, Monday through Friday, Mucho Gusto provides $3 house margaritas, house wine, Dos Equis Amber and Lager, as well as $5 appetizers.
We'll be honest: The margaritas are sans sweet & sour mix (a plus, in our book), but they're nothing to write home about. The wine selection, though, is surprisingly impressive, including South American wines, along with the more obvious Californian, Oregonian, and French selections.

The alcohol is adequately priced, but here, the real value is on the appetizer section of the menu. One unusual but tasty favorite: the guacamole, laced with a jalapeño/Grand Marnier reduction.

Mucho Gusto is located at 603 W University Drive in Tempe.

Like many microbreweries, San Tan Brewing Company exclusively offers ales, as opposed to lagers (and yes, categorically, hefeweizens and stouts are members of the ale family). While this might turn some people off, it should be noted that ales typically offer a higher content of alcohol and they often complement bar food a la wine and cheese.

San Tan's Hop Shock IPA rings in at a nearly 7% alcohol content and is emboldened by a hoppy tinge - and it fits nearly everything on the menu. Here, during happy hour, you can get an 18oz pint (a compromise between European and American measurements) for $3.75, while San Tan also shaves $1 off of the price of everything behind the bar.

And appetizers are just $5. A couple of IPAs and an order of the Sweet Basil Curry wings are sure to send you home happy! This special runs from 3 to7, Monday through Friday and, to quote a bartender, "Night owls and drinkers are welcome to stay for reverse happy hour 9 to close, Sunday to Thursday."

San Tan Brewing Company is located at 8 South San Marcos Plaza in Chandler