CincoLA

Well, finally. Now there’s a great happy hour spot near Playa Vista and that happy hour spot is Cinco, located in Westchester/Playa del Rey.  The staff at Cinco is friendly, the venue is comfortable and they have a fabulous happy hour! 

The Oaxacan Gastropub serves up some great drinks – including a refreshing Eldeflower Spritz, Tequila Gimlet and a Oaxacan Old Fashion. Happy hour drinks and dish specials are 3-7pm, Monday – Friday which features $1 street tacos, $6 craft cocktails and $5 bar bites.


 

The team behind Cinco are five friends (hence the name) – all with restaurant backgrounds. The lineup includes: Blake Landis (Bar Chloe, The Yard), Ben Molina (The Yard, 77 Lounge), Will Smith (not the Fresh Prince, but of Michael's in Santa Monica), Hernan Fernando (whose family in Oaxaca provided the food recipes) and John Weir (Bar Chloe, Casa Del Mar). 

The crowd is a mix of locals, young professionals and students - you'll see people of all ages and demographics. Take a seat at the bar, booth or communal table and unwind after a long day.

  

In terms of the happy hour food, order the tacos and the queso fundido  (order this dish extra hot for some added gooey cheesy goodness). If you’re looking for something more to eat, the dinner menu ranges from $6 to $13 so you won't break the bank.

Cinco boasts 30 craft beers on tap, specialty cocktails (ahem, specialty mezcal cocktails if you’re a mezcal fan, like I am) plus homemade tamales every Tuesday. The place is great for groups, a date and even family friendly. I’ll definitely be back soon! 

Looking for something to do on Cinco de Mayo? Well mosey on over to Cinco. They’re celebrating with a whole GOAT roasting, yes I said goat...beer and tequila specials. It's sure to be a fun time for all. Festivities begin at Noon. Just remember the DD - whether it's Lyft, Uber or taxi for your crunk ass. Go. Eat, drink and enjoy!

Paloma

Fresca Cooler

$1 street tacos - order the carnitas

Happy hour burrito (the only miss, way too much rice)

Tamale Tuesdays. Homemade $3 each

Elderflower Spritz

Oaxacan Old Fashioned

Cinco Sunset

Cinco
www.cincola.com 
Cinco's Facebook page 
7241 W Manchester Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(310) 910-0895
 
Parking: Free small lot or street parking  

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

The Spitting Chicken Cantina

Mexican Massage Parlor  and Watermelon Basil Margarita
reg. $10.50, $6.50 during HH

If you live in the Valley like me, then you know that finding a good happy hour spot WITH a patio is a rare find. Well, I have a good one for you, so you are welcome ahead of time. ;)

Spitting Chicken Cantina is the sister-restaurant to Mad Bull's Tavern and is literally about four doors down.  Happy hour is daily from 4-7pm in the cantina and out on the patio.

They also have some crazy 

awesome nightly specials. Click here to see them on their website.

click to enlarge

As far as food and drinks go, the Spitting Chicken gets a big two thumbs up from me. All their margaritas are 16 oz. and only $6.50 during happy hour. LOVE! So far I have tried the two shown above and their Famous Spicy Cucumber, and I have loved all three.









They also have a nice selection of beers which are $2 off during happy hour.

















I was definitely pleased with food selection, too! At first we thought about going for the sampler platter at the bottom of the menu, but the waitress said the servings were kind of small for me and my two friends. So we opted with ordering the ribs, the nachos, and the lobster tacos which was a good amount of food. That's just $6 each! And three items were really good! My friend and fellow blogger, Shaun-Mathieu (aka The Feng Shui Foodie) also ordered the Street Tacos for himself and was happy with those.

Ribs $5.99

Street Tacos $5.99

Nachos $5.99

Inside look at Lobster Ball

Lobster Balls $5.99

So if you are in the Valley, the Spitting Chicken is definitely a good happy hour spot.  For my portion of food and my big margarita only cost me $12.50 plus tax and tip.
Winner, winner, (spitting) chicken dinner!!!!


The Spitting Chicken Cantina
14633 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
818.377.6777

Happy Hour: Daily 4-7pm
Parking: Free lot in back & metered parking until 6pm

spittingchickencantina.com/
facebook.com/TheWorldFamousSpittingChicken

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