Headed out to Redmond yesterday and what did I happen upon while lost amongst the strip malls of Redmond Way? Jerzy’s Wine Bar and Bistro, a little wine-bar-in-a-house nestled improbably, adorably between shopping centers. Spotting it, I did a dangerous left turn into a nearby parking lot and crept over to investigate.

As I skulked around the red shingled house to a sweet little patio area near the entrance, a goatee’d man pulled up on a bicycle and we got to chatting. There was a language barrier, but I gathered he was an employee, and soon enough the owner came out and joined us. I was soon invited inside, where I found a cozy little barroom with bottle-lined shelves and curlicue ironwork and one blue wall and a lot of other randomness that all somehow added up to something good, to somewhere you’d want to spend a little time.

Happy hour at Jerzy’s runs Monday through Saturday from 5 to 7pm (the bar is closed Sundays). There are $5 reds and white, five different types of bruschetta, croque monsieur sliders, and various “tapas” (olives and whatnot). Jerzy’s also has a very nice lunch deal: soup or salad, entrée, and a glass of wine for $8.

My Redmond go-to happy hour has always been the Matador, but now I think I might be hitting up Jerzy’s. Croque monsieur sliders? Come on now. Wonder what other HH gems are hiding out there in Microsoft land….