Canal Club

A couple weeks back, I asked readers on my Facebook Page what their favorite Venice happy hour was and I got a lot of responses that they loved Canal Club. So off to Canal Club we went!! And they were right!  The food selection was great with more than 20 items that are $5 or less, plus there was a good amount of drinks to choose from.  Canal's happy hour is daily, but 4 nights out of the week (Sun-Wed) they have ALL NIGHT happy hour. No wonder it's such a popular place.



 

With such a great selection, it was hard to choose what to get. But our girl, Amber, had been there before so she did the ordering. We went with the Sliders, a couple orders of sushi, and the Chipotle Cheese Fries. Why Cheese Fries at a sushi restaurant??? Well duh.. it's something fried and topped with cheese!
No more explanation needed.  ; )

I was happy with everything we got. Next time though I'll order the Brie and Grape Quesdilla. It's one of Amber's favorites!  But check out the sushi rolls below. No skimpy rolls here!

Chipotle Cheese Fries $3.50

S.T.S.T Roll $4.95

Spicy Tuna Roll $4.50

 Monday's Special 

Grilled Slider $2.50

I know it sounds like a lot for one slider, 

but they are GOOD!!! 

With all this great food, I had a Ginger Martini. (I looove ginger!) It was a decent drink of a sushi restaurant. It comes in a Mini Martini glass, so a beer or wine might be a better value.  Other happy hour drinks are Kirin Beer, House wine, and a couple other cocktails for $5 each.









Along with Canal's happy hour specials, they also have some nightly deals.  We picked Monday to go for their tasty sliders!! See a picture of a slider above.

So if you haven't tried Canal Club, put it on your to-do list. I'm so happy I did!

Happy Hour

Thurs - Sat 5-7pm
Sun - Wed 5pm-close
$3.50-$5 sushi rolls and other eats
$5 Kirin, House Wine, and selected cocktails

Canal Club

2025 Pacific Avenue
Venice, California 90291
310-823-5397

jamesbeach.com/canal

Kitchen 24

I'm not a big fan of diners, but who doesn't love a diner that has a bar, right!? Kitchen 24 is a hip diner in Hollywood that is open 24 hours a day. They also have a happy hour that runs pretty long: Sunday-Thursday 3-11pm and Friday and Saturday 3-8pm, where you can get $6 specialty cocktails, $3 beers, $5 well drinks, and bar appetizers for $5.

Now when I hear the word "diner", bad coffee and greasy food comes to mind. Well, we weren't there for coffee, that's for sure! And what we got certainly was not bad. In fact, the drinks were really good. We were pretty shocked! The drink list was big and we loved the selection to choose from.  We had two drinks that I would recommend getting, but my favorite was the "Up Cahuenga Creek".

"What A Pear" $6

Absolut Pear and champagne with a touch of honey

"Up Cahuenga Creek" $6

Knob Creek Bourbon, Honey Infused Simple Syrup, and Lime Juice

Now the food sounded a bit heavy so we ordered a salad and two appetizers: The Sloppy Joe with Homemade Chips & The Artichoke Dip. Well, we definitely were happy that we got a salad because the food was a heart attack waiting to happen. We loved the Sloppy Joe with chips but felt guilty with every bite. If you aren't watching your waistline or cholesterol level, it's pretty tasty and you should try it. But we each only had a few bites and then had to sadly push it away. But we weren't thrilled with the Artichoke dip. It was pretty greasy.

Homemade Sloppy Joe 

and Old Bay Potato Chips

$5

Spinach and Three Cheese Artichoke Dip

$5

I would definitely go back to Kitchen 24 for the drinks, but I'd probably just order food off the regular menu which is pretty reasonably priced.




Happy Hour
Sun-Thur 3-11pm, F-Sat 3-8pm
$3 beer, $5 wells, $6 cocktails, $5 apps

Kitchen 24
1608 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
323.465.2424

kitchen24.info

Nirvana

I definitely am always trying to find a new or different happy hour, so when my friend Edward invited me to Nirvana, a very sexy Indian restaurant in Beverly Hills, I couldn't say no. So I walked into the restaurant and found Edward and blogger friends, the Uncouth Gourmands, sprawled out on one of Nirvana's beds. Oooo comfy! I ordered a drink, but then walked around the place a bit. I liked it. They have lots of plush seating and a great outdoor patio. They even have a VIP room, which I called "The Sexy Room" because it has a nice large bed and lots of pillows around the room to get cozy with the certain someone.

For happy hour, Nirvana offers specialty drinks for $6.  We tried the Kama Sutra (vodka and pomegranate liqueur), the Mango Mojito, Absolute Happiness (vodka with lemon and ginger) and the Burning Passion (martini with jalapeno). My favorites were the Mango Mojito and the Burning Passion.

Burning Passion - $6

 Mango Mojito - $6

Nirvana also has a long list of appetizers for happy hour for only $6. Here's what we had:

Crispy Mushrooms

stuffed with cheese and cilantro

served with papad and tomato chili salsa

Chicken Tikka

Vegetable Samosas filled with potato and peas

(My favorite)

All three dishes were very good. The chicken was very moist and the Samosas were delicious! I would definitely like to go back and try some of the other dishes, but I think next time I will sit in their great outdoor patio.

Happy Hour

Sun-Wed 5-11pm
$6 Cocktails and Appetizes

Nirvana Lounge

8689 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 657-5040
 

www.nirvanabeverlyhills.com

 

Fraiche - Santa Monica

A few months ago I went to Fraiche in Culver City and had an amazing meal and some incredible cocktails, so of course I have been wanting to visit Fraiche for happy hour. I chose the Santa Monica location because they had a couple more food items on their happy hour menu compared to Culver City. So yesterday, I popped in there with a friend.

Their happy hour runs daily from 5:00 - 6:30pm so it's not very long, but both the food and the prices are amazing. Food items runs $2-$8. For $4, you can get their Grilled Cheese or the Tuna Tartare with Crostini. The Smoked Salmon Panini for $5 is another great deal. For $6, you have a choice of Fradiavolo Mussels, Royal with Cheese, Turkey Burger, Shrimp Cocktail, or Sal's Shortrib Burger. You can find their full happy hour menu on their website.

I started with the Tuna Tartare with Crostini. I was amazed to see how much Tuna Tartare you got... it was huge for only $4. The tuna was mixed with a spicy aoili which complimented the tuna nicely and came with 2 pieces of crostini. It really needed three pieces, but I was so completely delighted with the dish and will probably get it every time I go back.

Tuna Tartare w/ Crostini - $4

My next selection was Sal's Shortrib Burger ($6). It had great flavor and I loved the bun it came on. Unfortunately, the picture I took of it makes it look rather small, but I was definitely pleased with its size.

Sal's Shortrib Burger - $6

The drinks on their happy hour menu include a Cosmopolitan ($4), wine ($4), and beer ($3). I went with the Cosmo and it was delicious. 

 Cosmopolitan - $4

Since their happy hour is only for 1 1/2 hours, we got there right at 5:00.  I usually try to get to happy hours early so I can chat it up with the bartender.  Our bartender for the evening was Lucas. He was very friendly and approachable.  And ladies... he is quite easy on the eyes. We all talked about drinks and such, and my friend and I even tried one of his cocktails off the happy hour menu. YES.. I do actually pay full price for things if they are worth it and this drink was. But Lucas did tell us that they will probably be adding an additional one or two cocktails to their happy hour menu. The one picture below bay be one of them. I'll definitely be back when that happens!

Our bartender, Lucas, and one of his creations.

And if good food, good drinks, and a cute bartender isn't enough for you... Fraiche has happy hour ALL NIGHT LONG every Wednesday and Thursday. Now you just HAVE to go!!!! And if you see Lucas, tell him the Vixen says hi!

Happy Hour
Fri. - Tues.  5 - 6:30pm
Wed. & Thurs.  5pm - Closing

Specials:
Cosmo and Wine - $4
Beers - $3
Small plates - $2-8


Fraiche
312 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

310.451.7482

www.fraicherestaurantsm.com