OVERINDULGED LAST MONTH? Shocking. You don’t have to give up all your sin to put a little penance into January; just check out a few of these healthier happy hours.
Carmelita Happy hour at this sophisticated vegetarian mainstay, 5pm to 7pm daily, is an herbivorian feast including bright takes on things like sunchoke chips, squash pizzas, frisky salads, cauliflower-leek croquettes, and seasonally fruity cocktails. 7314 Greenwood Ave N, Greenwood, 206–706–7703; carmelita.net
Elliott’s Oyster House It’s called Progressive Happy Hour because raw oysters—from the city’s best selection—are 50 cents apiece starting at 3pm, 75 cents apiece at 3:30, and on in that vein till happy hour’s end at 6pm. 1201 Alaskan Way, Waterfront, 206–623–4340; elliottsoysterhouse.com
La Carta de Oaxaca Surprise…there is no happy hour! And thank God there isn’t, because then you really wouldn’t get a seat. We just think regular prices on the shrimp cocktail or herb-bright tacos, along with a trip through the stunning salsa bar, are always pretty happy—and those, ahem…healthy margaritas remain priceless. 5431 Ballard Ave NW, Ballard, 206–782–8722; lacartadeoaxaca.com
Liberty Nothing unwholesome about obsessively crafted pre-Prohibition cocktails built on blue–ribbon liquor and fresh juices, then served with fresh sushi rolls. Well, almost nothing. Happy hour at this bartender’s bar is 4pm to 7pm daily. 517 15th Ave E, Capitol Hill, 206–323–9898; libertybars.com
Poppy Everything Jerry Traunfeld touches turns to well-being, and his idea of happy hour—a five-plate platter of bites for $5, with herb-kissed cocktails—will make you happy for more than an hour. Sunday through Thursday, 5pm to 7pm and 9pm to 11pm. 622 Broadway E, Capitol Hill, 206–324–1108; poppyseattle.com
Published: January 2011
I was so excited to read about Carmelita’s that I took my family there right away. Our first vegetarian restaurant that featured a happy hour. Unfortunately the food was not as good as we’d thought.
We ordered the two pizza dishes – (1) three types of squash, (2) potato & mushrooms. While the presentation was beautiful and the toppings delightful, the “pizza crust” was very sandy to the touch and didn’t live up to the yummy taste of the rest of the dish, which was too bad. We love thin crust pizza.
The purple potato gnocci was the highlight of the meal. The greens in the cream were delicious as was the gnocci (better than what we had at Bizarro’s recently). The creme brulee was fine, quince compote added a nice tartness to a very sweet dish.
The service – people who filled our waters – was great. But we did get a rather snippy reply when we asked if happy hour was still happening – we got there at 6:00pm’ish. In the dining area we could only order happy hour alcoholic drinks. Since our underage daughter was with us, we couldn’t sit there. Unfortunately we can’t enjoy these drinks these days before of medical reasons so really missed out on happy hour.
Unfortunately we won’t be going back. We found the place to be a little too pretentious and the food wasn’t worth putting up with the pretention.