Next Door Lounge

I've already been out to Next Door Lounge when it first opened, but they invented me back to try their new happy hour menu. At first glance, we were pleased to see there was more food items compared to the old menu. There weren't as many cocktails choices compared to last time, but I'd rather have more food than drink options. Even though I love my cocktails, it's really the food that brings me in. After all, don't we all need good food to absorb the alcohol??? Another plus is that their happy hour cocktails are just $5-6. Definitely a good deal.

Next Door's happy hour is Tuesday through Friday from 5-8pm. I LOVE that it goes till 8pm!! And they also have a late night happy hour Tues.-Thurs. from midnight-1:30pm.  

click to enlarge

So between our two trips, here's what we ate. And there wasn't one dish we didn't like. Definitely good quality food for happy hour!

Shrimp Ceviche - $5

spinach, walnuts, roasted apple, mozzarella, goat cheese, fresh herbs

Loved it! Very tasty.

 Crostini - $3

Roasted red and white beets, carrots, parsnip, 

turnip, celery root, and goat cheese

Spinach and Goat Cheese Flatbread - $6

spinach, walnuts, roasted apple, mozzarella, goat cheese, fresh herbs

Heirloom Tomato and Spinach Flatbread - $6

Smoked Pulled Pork - $6

with guacamole and srispy onions - served with apple coleslaw (not shown but it was GREAT!)

Sliders - $6

served with Sweet Potato Fries

YUM!

And they even have dessert on the happy hour menu. I definitely preferred the Creme Brulee over the Pumpkin Pie. It was a bit flat.

Creme Brulee - $6

Pumpkin Pie - $6

For happy hour drinks, NDL offers $4 beers and wine, and the following cocktails:

Whiskey Sour $6

Old Forester Bourbon, lemon, sugar, egg whites

Moscow Mule - $5

Vodka, ginger beer

 Daiquiri - $5

Matusalem Plantino, lime, sugar

I just LOVE the drink prices!

So between the low drink prices and great food... Next Door Lounge has won me over compared to the last time I was there. I will definitely be back.

Happy Hour

Tues-Fri 5-8pm.
Tues-Thurs Midnight-1:30pm

Next Door Lounge

1154 North Highland Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90038
(323) 465-5500

nextdoorhollywood.com
facebook.com/nextdoorlounge 
twitter.com/nextdoorlounge

Saint Felix

Old films play above the bar

I used to not be a big fan of Hollywood and the happy hours it offered, but it's definitely getting better in the last year. Recently, Saint Felix opened a second location on Cahuenga Blvd in the old Citizen Smith location, and it gets my stamp of approval.

Saint Felix's happy hour is daily from 5-8pm. I love that it's daily AND that it goes till 8pm.  There is a large selection of drinks and some delicious small plates, too!

Let's start with the most important part... the cocktail menu.  I tried four different drinks and the Stockholm Syndrome was my favorite. A couple were a bit sweet but I'm not much of a martini girl, either. If you are in the same boat, no worries... they offer any drink at half-off (like a Whiskey-Coke, Vodka-Soda, etc).

Pear Manhattan $6.50

Cucumber Dilettante $6.00

Stockholm Syndrome $6.50 *My fave*

Desperado $6.50

And in case you aren't a cocktail-lover, it's half-off wine and beer, too!

All beers during happy hour are $3.50 

except Miller Light ($3) and Guinness ($4)

And now on to the food!! The happy hour menu is small but offers quality food.  We tried everything except the Chopped Salad. Our thoughts were that The Chicken Cups were good but the Kobe Sliders, Ahi Sliders, and Cubano Tacos were the things to order! Yum! 

Now if you are like us and stay way past happy hour into the wee-hours of the night and want some other tasty eats, I highly suggest the Steak Skewers and the Goat Cheese Gratin. Both are amazing and worth their price.

Steak Skewers $13

Goat Cheese Gratin $12

The place is big too... here's the back bar.

Some nice seating in the back...

And then of course there is the front bar. Pretty nice size crowd for happy hour, right!?

Another bonus is that it's really close to the Metro. So I will definitely be back for happy hour!

Happy Hour

Daily 5-8pm
1/2 off all drinks
$5 Food items

Saint Felix

1602 Cahuenga Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
323.469.5001

saintfelix.net
facebook.com/saintfelixhollywood
twitter.com/SaintFelixHwd




*food and drinks were hosted

Basement Tavern

Look for the eye!

I've been to Basement Tavern a few times but didn't write up their happy hour because it only offered drinks and no food specials... BUT NOW THEY DO!

If you've never been to Basement Tavern, you are definitely missing out. It's one of my favorite bars in Santa Monica. My friend Shaun-Mathieu just tried to go last week and well... he never found the place. That's because it is literally in the basement of The Victorian. Poor Shaun-Mathieu went right inside the The Victorian and just thought he had the wrong address and left. But since it's in the basement, you have to go to the back of the place and enter that way. Just look for the eye!

  
Once you've made it downstairs, you'll find one of Santa Monica's most charming bars with its elegant furniture and fancy chandeliers.  Don't worry guys, it's rustic enough for you to still feel cool. In fact, there has been some pretty nice eye candy when I've gone. Oops, getting side-tracked. Sorry.

Basement Tavern's happy hour runs daily from 5-8pm and includes half-off most of their food menu, $3 beers, $5 well drinks, $5 wine, and a $5 specialty cocktail called Delia's Elixir (Buffalo Trace Bourbon, agave, raspberries, lemon). I was quite happy to see the Elixir contained Buffalo Trace. I love the stuff. And their well vodka is Pearl Vodka. Well done, Basement Tavern... well done!!!

Delia's Elixir

$5 (reg. $8)

We had a couple of the Elixirs and then decided to try some other cocktails not included in happy hour.  I had the Basil Honeyden (below left) with Basil Hayden Bourbon, honey syrup, citrus, basil and my friend, Emily, had the C'est La Vie (right) Pearl Vodka, mint, citrus, blueberries, champagne. I loved the the Honeyden! I'll definitely have that again.  Emily's cocktail was nice, but I'm more of a whiskey girl. Love and Linda had well drinks and they were pretty strong.

Basil Honeyden - $10

C'est La Vie - $10

Here's the complete cocktail list but they will also make drinks not listed. My friend, Christopher, said that bartender Matt makes the best Sazerac in town. And Chris KNOWS his Sazeracs.

When we looked at the food menu (all half-off except the cheese and meat plates) we were impressed with the selection and prices.

For food, we got the Basement Burger, Truffle Parmesan Fries, Lamb Kabobs, and Proscuitto & Wild Arugula Pizza. The Burger was really good!! I definitely recommend getting that. Unfortunately, I weren't impressed with the other items. But then again, my friend Jenn liked the pizza so try things for yourself.  (Good to know: The burger comes with jalapenos.)

Basement Burger - $5

Truffle Parmesan Fries - $8

Lamb Skewers - $6

Proscuitto and Wild Arugula Pizza - $6

I would go back to happy hour at the Basement Tavern because I was a fan of theirs before and I liked the burger and drink specials. And if you stay past happy hour, they have live music almost every night.

Happy Hour

Daily 5-8pm
Half-off most food items,
$5 Specialty Cocktail,
$3 beers, $5 wells & wine

Basement Tavern

(the basement of The Victorian) 2640 Main St.  Santa Monica, CA 90405 310.396.2469 facebook.com/BasementTavern twitter.com//basementtavern

Next Door Lounge

Next Door Lounge just opened in Hollywood last week and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they have happy hour. Yay! Being that I'm from the Valley, I was a bit confused because there is a "Next Door Tapas Lounge" in Studio City but they are not related at all. Next Door Lounge in Hollywood reminds me of the Edison with its speakeasy vibe from the 20's.  When you first arrive, there is a doorman in front to greet you and to inform the host you are there so he can seat you. I chose to sit at the bar, but he even walked me there and grabbed an extra chair needed for a friend arriving soon. That was kinda classy. But enough of this chitter-chatter, let's move on to the food and drinks!!

Next Door offers happy hour daily from 5-8pm. At first they were advertising that HH went until 7pm but have since changed that. Let's hope that sticks!
 

For happy hour drinks they offer 5 different specialty cocktails, 2 craft beers, and 4 types of wine.
Definitely a nice selection.

We tried all five drinks and my favorite was the Whiskey Sour. It is my favorite drink in general so no big shock there. $8 for the Whiskey Sour was a decent price but the others would be better at $6. (Regular prices are around $12) The only drink I didn't care for was the Daiquiri. It was just kind of bland. But the rest were fair. I wouldn't say they meet the same quality as the drinks I've had at the Edison or other bars known for their mixology.

**Good to know: If you order the Whiskey Sour, make sure to tell them you don't want it on the rocks. The picture below is my drink, but when a friend ordered it later from a different bartender, it was with ice. #NoIceInWhiskeySoursPlease

Whiskey Sour $8

Old Forester Bourbon, lemon, sugar, egg whites

 Tommy's Margarita $8

Blanco Tequila, agave nectar, lime

 French 75 - $8

Gordon's gin, lemon, sugar, prosecco

 Daiquiri - $8

Matusalem Plantino, lime, sugar

 Moscow Mule - $8

Vodka, ginger beer

For happy hour food there is a small but tasty selection.  There are four items which are all shown below except for "The Sheik" which is a Greek salad with cucumber, red onion, tomato, and Greek olives served with Chipotle hummus and pita ($6). I liked all three dishes we had.

Los Federales $6

Tortillas filled with grilled lime free-range chicken, caramelized onions, 

roasted peppers, black beans, cheese with a Chipotle drizzle

Spinach and Goat Cheese Flatbread - $6

spinach, walnuts, roasted apple, mozzarella, goat cheese, fresh herbs

 The Darb - $4

Roasted red and white beets, carrots, parsnip, 

turnip, celery root, and goat cheese
Very tasty!!!

And they even have dessert on the happy hour menu. Love!!!

Creme Brulee - $4

Overall I liked the food more than the drinks, but they are still in their opening stages so hopefully some of the bumps will be smoothed out down the road.  Joe Brooke (former cocktail director of the Edison) does have a role in making some of the cocktails and he told us they are still working on the final cocktail menu so a revisit is definitely in order.

Happy Hour

Daily 5-8pm

Next Door Lounge

1154 North Highland Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90038
(323) 465-5500

nextdoorhollywood.com
facebook.com/nextdoorlounge 
twitter.com/nextdoorlounge