Just because you're broke (or cheap) doesn't mean you can't party in style. Never mind those happy hours with watered down cocktails. There are drink specials all over town where you can sip 35-cent martinis under a crystal chandelier, pound kamikaze shots for $3 or indulge in free ice cream. You just have to know where to look.
Want to impress your date without letting on that you had to search under the couch for enough change to take her out? The Edison has all the fancy fixings for a romantic evening—long staircase, crystal chandeliers and intimate booths—and on Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. the bar’s signature 1910 martini only costs 35 cents. And on Fridays, there's a recession-style happy hour with more 35-cent cocktails, plus free all-you-can-eat soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Cheap margaritas, live DJs and a free magic show (well, two out of three ain't bad).
Event promoter Tom Whitman's weekly night at O Bar brings out a predominantly gay crowd (this is Boystown, after all) for a night of dinner, drinks, and dancing (in no particular order). The most exciting moments of the night happen on the hour, every hour, from 9:15 p.m. to 12:15 a.m., when there’s an open bar for five-minute intervals. There’s a countdown too, so you know exactly when to head to the bar. This long-running Thursday night dancefest gets packed fast, so get there early boys.
You can’t get the full sports bar experience without ordering a brewski and some unhealthy grub. CT Lounge has got you covered during their 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Happy Hour, especially on Tuesdays, when pints of Bud and Bud Light are $2 and munchies are half-price.
Busby's East hosts this happy hour weekdays from 4 p.m.-7 p.m., offering up ridiculously cheap beers and well drinks ($3) and half-price appetizers. But if guzzlin' cold ones and chowing down isn't entertainment enough, Busby's also has endless bar-friendly diversions, including skee-ball, shuffle board and 46 flat-screen TVs. Three-buck beers and shuffle board? Count us in!
You would never realize you’re just around the corner from the hustle of Third Street Promenade when you’re in this charming, little Parisian-themed bar. What’s even more inviting are the bars’ weekday specials from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. like $4 Stella, $5 Pimm’s Cups. The charm doesn’t stop there at Chloe: There are even $5 small plates to accompany your cocktail and complete a perfect (and economical) early evening.
L’Huere Verte means “The Green Hour” in French, and what the guys at Bar Noir are referring to is the green liquor known as absinthe. It was formerly banned from the U.S. for its supposed hallucinogenic effects, but now it’s legal and the bar wants to serve you up a tasting. Every evening from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., bartenders demonstrate the centuries-old French-serving ritual associated with this 100-proof green alcohol. The best part is that you’ll probably get a good buzz just off one and each of these bad boys and it’ll only cost you $5, parking is complimentary to boot.
We like them cheap-and-stiff, and that’s why the happy hour specials at Boardner’s are our match made in heaven for the Goths who favor this Hollywood venue. Every day from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., beers are $3 for domestic and $4 for imported, and $5 well cocktails and wine. There’s nothing sinful about indulging in cheap booze and half-price appetizers, even if you are a Satanist in a latex bodysuit.
Mountain Bar is home away from home for art nerds and indie kids. We’re pretty sure it has something to do with the killer drink deals like $3 margaritas, $4 drafts and $5 well cocktails that are available every day until 9 p.m., not to mention there’s no cover for 99-percent of the events. Starving artists need a break where they can get it, right?
From 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. it’s happy hour at Saddle Ranch: you get half-off all appetizers and drinks (except bottles of wine and Champagne). But the real fun starts at 5:30 for the Battle on the Bull riding competition where one person from each table can try to take a spin of the cash wheel, where prizes range from $100 to $500! Winner is determined by group applause and speed, and the only rules are that the rider must stay on for at least 10 seconds and can only use one hand to hold on. Giddy up!
We really shouldn’t call The Fifth’s daily drink specials a “happy hour,” considering it’s more of an all-day event. From noon until 8 p.m., the bar serves $3 domestic beers and $4 well drinks. For those with slightly more sophisticated taste buds, it’s $4 imported beers and $5 call drinks (Jack Daniels, Absolut, Stoli, Captain Morgan). That’s eight hours of boozing on the cheap. Just don’t quit your day job.
These guys really know the meaning of stretching your dollar for the sake of getting sloshed; get sweet deals like $3 beer, $10 beer pitchers, and $5 well cocktails. Sober up with half-off many of its fried-to-perfection appetizers. All this goes down from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Pass up rush hour by visiting wine-centric happy hour at one of Culver City's favorite little wine bars. Mondays through Fridays from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., is "Rush Hour" at BottleRock. Score on $4 bar snacks like pizza fingers and heirloom tomato bruschetta, and select wines for $4.50 a glass. A staggering selection of over 800 wines (wow) means you can drink here every happy hour for four years and never taste the same wine twice. Nice!
Weekday happy hours are a dime a dozen, but weekend drink specials are truly something to talk about! That’s why we’re all about Benvenuto Café, where PBRs are only $3 a pint on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
Don’t let secret handshakes, sweater vests or talk of homecoming dates at this USC bar interfere with your drinking schedule. From 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily, the bar offers two-for-one drinks, all served in pint glasses. You’ll be chatting up the Omega Pis in no time.
Drink specials at this Silverlake watering hole vary nightly and always get people hammered by midnight. There are $3 tequila shots on Margarita Tuesdays, $4 cosmos on Wednesdays and $7 beer pitchers on Sundays. But the best deal goes down Monday, Thursday and Friday nights, when the bartenders serve $2 beer and $3 well drinks.
Thirsty for a liquid lunch? Cancel your afternoon meetings! Well drinks are only $4 during Bar 107’s weekday happy hour, which starts at 3 p.m. and goes until 9 p.m.
Beer drinkers are all about Barney’s weekday happy hour, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., when domestic beers cost $3 and imports are $3.75. Keep in mind that the bar serves more than 130 kinds of beer. Well drinks are also cheap at $3, and there’s a half-off appetizer menu too.
Looking good won’t break the bank at this sassy bar that’s decked out like a beauty salon. For a mere $10, you can get a martini—choose from a list of girly cocktails like Platinum Blonde and P.I.N.K Blush—and a manicure, Thursday through Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
If you have $4, this Los Feliz lodge will have you. There are sweet drink specials Sunday through Thursday.. Need to save a couple more dollars? Pabst is only $2 on PBR Thursdays. Looking for something to do during the day? Bloody Marys cost $4 on Saturday and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. when the bar screens movies.
Looking to get hammered? Cabo Cantina’s daily two-for-one happy hour (4 p.m. to 8 p.m.) will please you and your wallet, but probably not your liver. And now that there are locations in Venice, Brentwood and on the Sunset Strip, cheap drinks, neon lights and loud drunk-talkers are within arm’s reach any day of the week.
Cha Cha Lounge
They should have named it the Cheap Cheap Lounge with all the inexpensive boozing that goes on here. Stoli cocktails are $2.50 and PBRs go for $1.50 on weekdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. On Foosball Tuesdays, not only are the games free, but the $1.50 Pabst special goes all night. On Sundays, the bar’s gourmet $2.50 Bloody Marys will remedy last night’s hangover and get you drunk all over again.
Like its straighter but equally neon brother bar, Cabo Cantina, Fiesta is loud, bright and serves up two-for-one drinks that are light on the bills and heavy on the booze. Even better, Fiesta's happy hour runs twice a day: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
Every hour is happy at this K-town dive. They don’t have any specials or martinis with clever names, but the drinks are always cheap—we’re talking like $3.50 for a cocktail—and made to knock your socks off.
What's better than a Tuesday night full of '90s jams? Ridiculous drink specials like the $5 beer-and-tequila-shot combo, not to mention the free tacos, peanuts and Vitamin Energy drinks to sober you up when those tequila shots catch up to you.
How better to get people to sing along at this piano bar then to liquor them up? On Tuesday nights, Bud buckets go for $10 (that’s five beers at $2 each); Bud Dry only costs a buck on Wednesdays; and on Thursdays, Miller Lite goes for $1 while UV Vodka drinks are a mere $3. Still thirsty? Take advantage of the three-for-one drink special Sunday nights.
Leave it to the Hollywood dudes at La Cantina to entice a hot crowd with cheap-o specials such as $2 tacos on Tuesdays and $5 margaritas on Mondays. They also have a daily happy hour from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., when mixed drinks, margaritas, piña coladas, beers and appetizers are all half-priced.
Well cocktails and domestic beers go for $3 on Sunday nights when DJ Joaquin takes over the hip spot for the "Ice Cream Sundays" retro dance party. Yes: There's ice cream. And yes: It's free!
Toy factories make kids happy. Old toy factories that serve beer and wings for cheap make adults even happier. The factory-turned-gastropub offers happy hour from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pints are priced at $3 and $4, and appetizers range from $5 wings to $7 pizzas. They’ve also got a free pool table for those of us who need post-wings exercise.
It may be an upscale ultra-lounge in the Financial District, but it won't burn a whole in your pocket, especially during the daily "4444" happy hour from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. when well drinks, drafts, house wine and appetizers for for $4.
A forest in the middle of a Hollywood strip mall? If that sounds intriguing, then you’ll also be interested in the bar’s mid-evening deals. From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays, and from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays through Thursdays, the bar serves well drinks, wines, and martinis for $4, while beers and a shot of the day for just $3. Can you think of a better reason to take a break from the city and head into the woods?
We bet all the beautiful singles and neighborhood regulars are ecstatic that the Arsenal hasn’t been affected by inflation, especially on “Saturday Supper 10 Bucks” night where you can get its All American Burger Fries and a draft beer of your choice for a measly 10 bucks, in junction with its Saturday happy hour, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Weekday deals are also best during happy hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday through Friday when you get $3 drafts, $4 wells and $6 mojitos. Come early for free valet service from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and stay late for tunes from DJs every Wednesday through Saturday; there's never a cover charge here.
This good old-fashioned beer-swigging pub is the go-to watering hole for expats, beer snobs and their wino friends who want to talk soccer over a pint and some cheese. Now, it’s also the ideal after-movie destination because if you bring in a Pacific The Grove theater movie stub from the same day, you get half-off your first item.
Even big ballers who splurge on bottle service at David Judaken's swanky Hollywood nightclub get a break. Purchase one bottle at regular price, and you get a bottle of Absolut 100 for half-price. Consider the group of girls hanging out by your table doubled. This deal also carries on to Crimson, Opera’s rock 'n roll inspired sister lounge, as well as Mood.
What other people are saying...
Mee from Downtown - February 14, 2009 at 8:24 AM
to SEEZER: the only cheap skate here is YOU - mouthing off on a great deal - go somewhere else if you can find better - and note to yourself: st...
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Report This Commentseezer from downtown - February 09, 2009 at 12:23 PM
The Edison's soup kitchen is NOT all you can eat. You get one two-bite (at best) grilled cheese and a tiny teacup of tomato soup. Totally cheap!!...
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