Carson House

The newest addition to Beverly Hills, owned by Scott Paletz and Steve Fowler is Carson House. An upscale gastropub that offers modern day comfort dishes, plus a seemingly endless tap of craft beers and a nice selection of wines. And the good news: they just launched their Happy Hour program. 

Chef Johnny Messina is serving up American pub fare with a twist and head mixologist Patrick Brady slings some smooth craft cocktails. 

Carson House is quite literally, like a house. Laid out with a living room / lounge area, full bar, dining room, communal table to big, red plush booths in the back. I've been to Carson House twice now and every time the service has been nothing less than exemplary: friendly, knowledgable and timely, basically there when you need them and gone when you don't. 

The happy hour is on weekdays, 4pm-8pm with drink specials that include $5 well cocktails, wine and $4 beers. 

From the happy hour menu, I'd recommend the personal pizzas, (cooked in their wood burning oven) and the chicken sloppy joes. Happy hour or not, Carson House is a great spot for lunch, dinner or late night eats. Plus their brunch menu is coming soon. 

Roxbury: Absolut Pear Vodka, Lime Juice & Thyme Sprigs

Potato Skinnies

Chicken Sloppy Joes

Lil Doggies (Would pass on these)

Personal Pepperoni Pizza 

Brighton:Black Grouse Scotch, Spiced Apple Cider, Lemon Juice & Cinnamon
Not on the Happy Hour menu but it's refreshing and delicious! 

Chicken Lollipops (Not on the Happy Hour menu)
A must order!

Philly Cheesesteak Potstickers (Not on the Happy Hour menu)
Literally a cheesesteak inside a dumpling

~~~~~~~Reviewed by Jenni~~~~~~~~

Carson House
8635 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA  90211
310.289.2800

www.CarsonHouseBH.com

Happy hour: Weekdays 4pm-8pm

Dinenr Hours:
Monday – Wednesday 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Thursday – Saturday   5:00 PM – Midnight

Bar Hours:
Monday – Saturday 5:00 PM – 2:00 AM


Parking:
Valet Parking available for $5.50 per car.
Metered Parking on Wilshire Blvd is Free after 7pm and all day Saturday and Sunday

Dominick's

Since I don't get down to the Beverly Hills area much, I'm always glad to find a good new drink spot. And that we did! Okay... it's technically in West Hollywood, but I consider it's location Beverly Hills.
'Nough said. ;)

Dominick's has been around since 1948 and maintains its vintage charm yet with a upscale edge.



Dominick's happy hour, "Five O'Clock Meeting", is Monday - Friday from 5-7pm at the bar. They offer a great selection of cocktails and small bites.

 Click on images to enlarge

During our visit, we sampled the Gold Rush, Moscow Mule, and Penicillin. LOVED all three but I would have to say the Penicillin was my favorite. Those three cocktails ran $6-8 and both my friend and I agreed they were a nice size for the price. Dominick's also offers "The Littles" which are 4 oz drinks for $4. We got the Manhattan and it was divine. 

Penicillin - $8
my fave

Gold Rush - $6

Moscow Mule - $6

Manhattan - $4

As for the food, the dishes ran $1.50 - $16.00... which I thought was interesting.  As I loved the oysters and their $1.50 price tag, I found $10 for calamari a bit steep for happy hour. 

Calamari - $10

Oysters - $1.50 each

Meatballs - $1.50

Beef Carpaccio - $10

And then for dessert! This wasn't on the happy hour menu, but I'm so glad we discovered it. Freshly baked beignets. I can't remember how much they were but I want to say $7-9 and worth every penny. DELISH!

Beignets that melted in your mouth - Priceless

So if you are in the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills area, Dominick's is a wonderful place for some great, classic cocktails and some bites! It's definitely a great place for a casual date.

And thanks to Bread and Butter for inviting us out. It was a good find!

~~~Visited by Victoria~~~

Dominick's

8715 Beverly Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90048
310.652.2335

Happy Hour: M-F 5-7pm

Parking: Valet and Street Metered 

@Dominicks1948

facebook.com/dominicks1948

Muddy Leek

Cute, quaint and some really good cocktails. Located a few blocks from Helms Bakery, Muddy Leek opened in December of 2012 and we were recently invited to experience their  Muddy Hour. 

Owned by Chef Whitney Flood and his wife, Julie Retzlaff, the restaurant is described as a "hyper seasonal." Here you'll find hand crafted cocktails, freshly baked bread and well-priced happy hour dishes to match. The space itself is modern with touches of rustic, garnished with fresh flowers and blackboard specials plus a small outdoor patio.

 
Chef Whitney takes pride in knowing exactly where his ingredients are sourced, supporting local farmers including Windward Farms, Scarborough Farms, Coastal Farms and more.

During happy hour dishes are $5-$9, drafts are $5 and house wine is $6. Specialty cocktails run around $12/$13 even during happy hour. Still, the refreshing and very well-balanced cocktails, created by Bar Manager Lance Kanawi were the highlight of the night!



  

The Blind Lemon Jefferson
rye, lemon, bitters

Venison Corndog 
with house beer mustard

Dried Olive Croquettes
harissa and black olive oil
(The best dish of the night)

Leek Pizzetta
bacon and potato
 (The flavors we're delicious but the crust was a bit tough)

Italian Mule
vodka, amaro meletti, lime, ginger, soda
(My favorite cocktail of the night)

The Merguez "Hot Dog"
garlic aioli on a grilled baguette

Chicken Fried Bacon
bib lettuce and tomato chutney 
(Fried chicken + bacon... can't go wrong)

Sr. Calarita
mezcal, jalapeno, cucumber, lime
(A nice smokey yet refreshing libation)

A look above

Happy hour dishes

Specialty cocktails - no HH pricing

Muddy Leek
8631 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 838-2281
Happy hour menu

Lunch Tues - Sat 11am to 2 pm 
Happy hour Tues - Fri 4 to 6pm
Dinner 5 to 10pm
Parking: Street/meter

www.muddyleek.com
twitter.com/MuddyLeek

Cliff's Edge

Cliff's Edge is one of my favorite restaurants. It has amazing food, one of LA's most beautiful patios, and NOW great drink deals. Head back to the bar and you'll find "Nightly Specials" which include a $7 Bartender's Special, $6 wine, and $3 beer. The Bartender's Special is a wonderful hand-crafted cocktail which periodically changes. The best part is that the specials are EVERY night, ALL night!!!

The last night we were there, the Bartender's Special was a Hibiscus Whiskey Sour and it was delicious!

Bartender's Special - $6

Along with the Bartender's Special, we thought we'd try some drinks off the regular cocktail menu. We were very impressed. All the drinks were well balanced and superbly made.

Cocktail Menu

Glasgow Mule

Gold Rush

Bitter Pill

Cliff's Edge doesn't have food specials, but you gotta have dinner before you leave. Seriously! Chef Ben Bailly is now chef at Cliff's and the food is even better than it was before. I loved the Skate Wing (a type of ray fish). It was amazing. Our appetizers were great, too, but the Skate Wing stole the show. The foam surrounding it threw us off for a sec, but it all worked together nicely. Check out the pics below to see my favorite plates.

Skate Wing

Seared Scallops

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Albacore Ceviche

And dessert, of course!

So seriously... go to Cliff's Edge, grab a few of their nightly specials and then grab some dinner. You won't be disappointed.

Cliff's Edge
3626 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323.666.6116

www.cliffsedgecafe.com
twitter.com/cliffsedgela 
facebook.com/CliffsEdgeCafe

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