Bistro Bites are down to $5 during Mimi's "Happiest Hour." We ordered the Chicken Tenders ($5) with a side of fries ($1).

​The Spot: Mimi's Cafe, 4901 E. Ray Road, Phoenix, AZ 85044, (480) 705-4811. Other valley locations include Scottsdale, Glendale, and Mesa. mimiscafe.com

The Hours: 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 4 to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday

The Details: Domestic drafts and bottles are down to $3, with well drinks at $4, select wines by the glass (with five whites and five reds to choose from) at $5, and Bistro Wine Flights (red, white, or sparkling) for only $5. Select Bistro Bites - including the Crispy Zucchini Parmesan, Crab Fritters, and Beef Sliders - are also only $5.

Mimi's Cafe's new happy hour scheme - debuting this past fall and dubbed the "Happiest Hour" - may seem at first glance inconsistent with the chain's brand: frilly curtains, big breakfasts - the kind of place you'd take your grandmother at around 4 p.m. for tea, not a tea-tini.

More >>

You seat yourself during happy hour at Hillside - whether inside at the bar or one of the tables, or on the extensive patio.

​The Spot: Hillside Spot Café & Market, 4740 E. Warner Road, Phoenix, (480) 705-7768. hillsidespot.com 

The Hours: 3 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday

The Details: Both draft beers - including Arizona favorites like the Oak Creek Heifeweizen and Four Peaks Hop Knot - and bottles are down to $3. Select wine by the glass is $3 off, and bottled wines are 15% off. The "Pick 3 Grazers" appetizer (with options like Brie & Tomato Jam served on MJ's grilled rustic bread), usually $12, is now $10, while you can get Chips and Guacamole or Cheese Nachos and Salsa for only $5. The regular Chips and Salsa, usually a steal at $2, is now pure daylight robbery at $1.

Looking to get something like dinner out of this happy hour deal, we ordered the Chips and Salsa ($1) and Chips and Guacamole ($5 - made to order with citrus, jalapenos, cilantro, cojita cheese, and house-made tortilla chips), then picked off the regular apps menu for the Frico Cheese Crisp ($7 - aged Manchego crisp served with aji chile aioli) and Open Face Grilled Cheese ($5). Which is to say, there was a lot of cheese and even more chips on our table.

More >>

The Black Orchid house martini tastes like a watermelon Jolly Rancher and is only $6.25 during happy hour.

​The Spot: Yard House, 9401 W. Westgate Blvd., Glendale, (623) 872-3900. www.yardhouse.com

The Hours: 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 p.m. to close Sunday through Thursday

The Details: Discounts on most drinks, like $2 off wine by the glass and well drinks for only $4.25-4.75, plus pints for $3.50-$5. Most appetizers (from the Chicken Nachos to the Wings to the Moo Shu Egg Rolls) are half price. Pizzas - like the Pepperoni & Mushroom and the Spicy Thai Chicken - are also half price, and the sliders - with six choices including Classic, Pastrami, and Turkey - are down to $6.95 ($9.95 for Ahi).

Situated in the shadow of both the University of Phoenix Stadium and the Jobing.com Arena in the Westgate shopping center - a modern oasis in the midst of the wide Glendale desert - is one of three Yard House locations in Arizona. A huge space with a winding, wraparound patio sporting the kind of sturdy wood furniture you'd put on your Prescott patio, Yard House has one of those menus - like at The Cheesecake Factory - that goes on and on and on. It's known for having more than 100 beers on tap, including, we see, many favorite local brews (that Four Peaks Arizona Peach Ale is so hard to resist).

See how we graded Yard House after the jump.

More >>

We revisited downtown Chandler this week for happy hour at Vintage 95, a wine lounge only open for a few months.

​The Spot: Vintage 95 Wine Lounge, 95 W. Boston St., Chandler, (480) 855-9463. www.vintage95.com

The Hours: 4 to 6 p.m. every day, 4 p.m. to close Wednesdays

The Details: Just down the block from Urban Tea Loft and The Bistro at Kokopelli Winery, Vintage 95 offers different daily specials seven days a week, but the official "Hours of Happiness" feature $2 off all draught beers and $1 off bottles; $2 off well drinks and $1 off other spirits; and select wines for $5 a glass or $20 a bottle. There are no standard happy-hour discounts on appetizers; however, one offer invites you to order any bottle of wine off the extensive (huge!) wine list at regular price (read: not $20) and receive either a free order of Bruschetta ($12) or a Charcuterie Board ($13 - cured meats, cornichons, olives, pistachios, parmesan custard and crostini).

See how we graded this downtown Chandler wine lounge after the jump.

More >>

The White Rabbit cocktail had a rich and creamy flavor and an infinitely lick-able vanilla sugar rim.

​The Spot: SideBar, 1514 N. 7th Ave., Phoenix, (602) 254-1646. www.sidebarphoenix.com

The Hours: 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday

The Details: Appetizers and well drinks are $4, and you get $1 off all beers and $2 off wine by the glass. All wine bottles are $8 off.

There's an instant, come-as-you-are vibe that radiates through SideBar, with its eclectic mix of patrons streaming in on a late Friday afternoon: the middle-aged man in couch-casual talking sports, the young hipster in an infinity scarf, the career-minded businesswoman who's probably more than ready to ditch those heels. You wouldn't expect, with its contemporary, artsy-chic decor, that this is one of those places where everybody knows your name (and frequently, it's "dude").

It's so relaxed, in fact, that it's hard to feel anything but compassion when the single bartender working the entire place (on First Friday, no less) abandons you mid-sentence to serve a regular (oh well, he makes his way back). During the wait, we watched the flatscreen TVs - showing, not sports, but the kind of old movies mocked so mercilessly by the robots of Mystery Science Theater 3000. On the screen, a group of American spacemen (wearing those clingy grey flight-suits that leave little to the imagination) have just landed on a planet of hot, curvy ladies. Isn't that always the way?

See how SideBar stacked up after this rocky start after the jump.

More >>

The new Chicken & Waffles app is just $5, while the margarita is still a steal at $3.

​The Spot: Big Earl's BBQ, 7213 E. First Ave., Scottsdale, (480) 947-6800. bigearlsbbq.com

The Hours: 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday

The Details: Since we graded them back in October, Big Earl's BBQ has revamped their happy-hour specials. Check the chalkboard above the bar for details on the new list of 5 for $5 appetizers, including: Chicken & Waffles, Crispy Shrimp (served with prickly-pear chipotle marmalade), Rib Tips, Veggie Quesadilla, and Pork Belly Sliders (with sweet onion compote and shaved green apple). You can still get the same $3 drink deals, including: Bud Light drafts, "Earl's Pit Master Sangria," and, of course, that tasty Rancho Allegre 100% Agave Margarita we raved about last time.

We ordered a couple of those margaritas, which arrived in cute reclaimed jam jars and tangy as ever, and paired them with the Chicken & Waffles and Veggie Quesadilla apps. The thing about the apps here is that, in the midst of heaping plates of fries and squeeze-bottles of BBQ sauce, not to mention brown-paper tablecloths for all your crayon-hangman needs, they're actually quite daintily plated.

See if Big Earl's BBQ improved its grade after the jump.

More >>

The Tejas Trio comes with generous portions of fresh guacamole, salsa, and chile con queso - a reliable crowd-pleaser.

​The Spot: Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill, 7221 W. Ray Road, Chandler. (480) 893-7550. Other locations include Scottsdale, Tempe and Phoenix. ztejas.comMore >>

With holiday shopping on the brain, we headed to the newly open Thirsty Lion Pub & Grill at Tempe Marketplace. Read on to find out why we loved these Bacon Cheddar Potato Cakes.

​The Spot: Thirsty Lion Pub & Grill, 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Suite 1041, Tempe, (480) 968-2920. www.thirstylionpub.com

The Hours: 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 p.m. to close Sunday through Thursday.

The Details: Wine, well drinks, margaritas, and 11 select craft beers are all $4. Domestics (Bud Light and Coors Light) are, for some reason, still a whopping $3.50. There are 16 discount appetizers in all, divided into three categories: $3.95 includes apps like Hand Cut Pub Fries and the Caesar Salad; $4.95 includes Ruben Sliders and Hand Breaded Chicken Tenderloins; and for $5.95 you can get Artichoke Spinach Dip and Pub Chip Nachos.

We ordered two of the $4 beers - a Blue Moon and a Deschutes Mirror Pond - and started with the Traditional Scotch Eggs ($3.95). They had a crispy outside and were nicely paired with a tangy mustard sauce, but we couldn't taste the pork sausage at all (click here to see how these might stack up against our Battle of the Scotch Eggs contestants last spring).

See how we graded the new Thirsty Lion after the jump.

More >>

The Chocolate Raspberry Truffle-Tini is just the sort of divine cocktail you could waste the day at work dreaming about.

​The Spot: Urban Tea Loft, 11 W. Boston St. #2, Chandler. (480) 786-9600. urbantealoft.com

The Hours: 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 3 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays

The Details: Appetizers are 1/2 off, domestic beer is down to $2.50, and a glass of wine is $2 off. Urban Tea Loft's signature Teatinis are also $2 off, and a large pot of tea - because it is still a tea shop with a full bar - is $1 off. You can also get bottles of wine for 20% off.

There was a lot of lingering over the extensive Teatini menu - with names like Twilight Teatini and Persephone's Desire - before we settled on the Chocolate Rasberry Truffle-Tini ($7 - Chocolate liqeur, Vanilla Vodka, Carolines, and raspberry black tea). This is the kind of drink you fall in love with, a dessert in a martini glass: rich, thick, smooth, and oh-so-chocolatey, with that sweet hint of raspberry. If Tina Fey can have a brownie husband with a caramel filling, then surely it's not too wild to want to take this cocktail home and pick out curtains.

See how the appetizers stacked up next to the incredible Teatini after the jump.

More >>

Asked how the happy hour at Va Bene worked, our server paused: "It...makes you happy."

​The Spot: Va Bene Italian Cuisine and Wine Bar, 4647 E. Chandler Blvd., Phoenix, (480) 706-4070. www.vabeneaz.com

The Hours: 4 to 7 p.m. daily, 4 p.m. to close Sundays and Mondays

The Details: Contrary to what the restaurant's website says, Va Bene's happy hour isn't exclusively drinks; it's just mostly drinks. Domestic bottles are down to $2.50, import bottles for $3.25, margaritas for $4.75, martinis and well drinks for $3.75, and house wines - normally $5 each - are all $1 off. Happy hour is offered in the bar only (but it's a huge and varied space, so this is no problem) and also includes 1/2 off appetizers.

We traded in nouveau chic this week for white tablecloths in a trip to the Jan to Scottsdale's Marcia, Phoenix suburb Ahwatukee. Seating ourselves at a high-top by the window, we started with the Bruschetta ($3). The crostinis were crispy and the mix of tomatoes, garlic, basil, and olive oil tasted fresh, though the flavor - like many here - was very subtle.

We try escargot for the first time - and Va Bene's final grade - after the jump.

More >>