Cactus has one of my favorite happy hours in the city, so I was bummed to learn that the restaurant decided to cancel happy hour at the Madison Park location. I called up owner Bret Chatalas, who told me the location struggled with the logistics of happy hour due to a tiny bar area that flows right into the dining room. “We had a lot of issues this summer,” said Chatalas, who waited until after the busy season to shut the discounts down. One problem was that dining room customers would get wind of drink specials next door in the bar, then wonder why their margaritas weren’t discounted. “We were upsetting people more than making them happy,” he told me.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen restaurants with limited or no bar space struggle with the whole happy hour endeavor. I keep going back to Olivar to see if they’ve figured it out; an awkward encounter always awaits.

Chatalas said all of the food items on the HH menu are still available, just in larger size at steeper prices. We’ll especially miss the smoked chicken quesadilla—just perfect snack-size and at $5, rather too much at Frisbee-size and $10.

There are no plans to discontinue HH in Alki or Kirkland.