In my life, I have not seen too many decent happy hours at restaurants. They usually seem like they are deceiving lies just get you in the restaurant. Some are definitely a little better than others, but most of them either start & end to early or just simply take a buck or two off of the drink price. The four places I list below are fabulous in all arenas, times, food selections, and prices. This whole philosophy of happy hours can be thought of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears with the start and end time being too early as the “too hot porridge,” the buck or two off the drink price as the “too cold porridge” & the four happy hours below are the “just right porridge.” As many of you may know by now, I am one that is always looking to find the best deal possible and I usually will not go anywhere without researching deals and discounts first.
This article is a short compilation of my favorite happy hours. All of these restaurants, except one can be found in other states and countries, in addition to where I live in sunny Southern California. The four restaurants below each have something unique to offer.
Yardhouse I absolutely love this place at any hour, but especially at happy hour! What makes their happy hour so great? I am able to get more bang for my buck and they have a great Happy Hour & Late Night Menu. The chart below illustrates their happy hour menu.
| Hours | Drinks | Food | Locations |
| Monday – Friday3pm – 6pmSunday – Wednesday 10pm – Close! | Domestic Pint Beers – $3.50Imports – $4.25 – $5Half Yards (between 3 & 6pm only) go for $7-$10!Well Drinks – between $4.25 & $4.75,House Martinis $6.25Specialty DrinksWines $2 bucks off. | Pizzas:BBQ Chicken · Four Cheese · Margherita · Pepperoni & Mushroom · Ham & Pineapple · Spicy Thai ChickenAppetizers:Spinach Cheese Dip · Moo Shu Egg Rolls · Fried Calamari · Fried Chicken Strips · Chinese Garlic Noodles · Onion Ring Tower · Chicken Nachos · Hawaiian Poke Stack · Seared Ahi Sashimi · Chicken Lettuce Wraps · Spicy Tuna Roll · California Roll · Blue Crab Cakes · Wings: Traditional, Boneless or Bone-in All Pizzas & Appetizers above half-price (items offered may vary by location)Sliders include: Classic, Béarnaise, Pastrami, Turkey Burger $6.95 Ahi Sliders, $9.95 | California, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Kansas, Georgia, Illinois, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York. New Locations to look forward to will be in Washington, California, Ohio, Oregon, New York, & North Carolina |
This is a sweet deal for the bevies!
The food menu is extensive at happy hour & includes select half price appetizers & pizzas. I would have to say all of their pizzas rock, but if I had to pick one choice from above I am partial to the barbecue chicken…hhhmm..thinking of it makes me salivate!
The best appetizer hands down for me is the Moo Shu Egg Rolls…when my BFF & I discovered those 15 years ago, we were in heaven…They are a must when I visit the restaurant…with or without happy hour. LOL. I would say my other favorite is the Ahi sashimi because it is super fresh and seared just perfectly. My husband would probably suggest the Chinese Garlic Noodles,
because he says they are, “super buttery & garlicky.” You know these are great because this is the only restaurant where my husband will order noodles. So as you can see, there is a wide variety of choices and there are several fabulous menu items to choose from on your happy hour journey. See the Yardhouse website for specific locations in each state. Great place!!!
Claim Jumper This place I will say has made some changes since they were taken over by the mega food chain, Landry’s. They have taken menu items away, such as my beloved cheese potato cakes; but thankfully they brought them back when enough people complained.
They are still missing the best apple cinnamon muffin though tht had fresh warmed apple chunks in it! Hopefully that comes back in time too, as I do miss it dearly! There is still a decent happy hour at this place, but you must be sitting in the bar/saloon area to be served the food and drinks for the happy hour prices.
| Hours | Drinks | Food | Locations |
| Monday through Friday from 3:00pm to 7:00pm and the happy hour prices are available in the Saloon/Bar only. | $3 Draft Beers, $4 Premium Draft Pints, $4 Select cocktails & $5 wines! | $2 items include chips & salsa, Caesar salad, & soft pretzel sticks. $3 items include: Mini Pizzas, wings, fried zucchini, street tacos, and sliders. $4 items are Calamari & Irish Nachos The last item is the Widow Maker Burger for $7 | Arizona, California, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee & Washington |
My husband loves the Widow Maker burger because it is big and juicy and he always goes for the most expensive thing on the menu. I guess I did marry the massive foodie and all since he is the one with the food blog. I really enjoy the Irish Nachos, fried zucchini, and Caesar salad.
*An important savings tip…since Claim Jumper is now a part of Landry’s Restaurants, there is a discount with your AAA card! Just a little bonus..every penny counts! To see other AAA Discounts, see my article here–> AAA DISCOUNTS & DEALS
Gyu-Kaku This is one of the most awesome restaurants in addition to their happy hour specials. I tried this place because I bought a Groupon for a full meal and so my husband and I went to check it out. When I checked in @ Gyu-Kaku on Facebook when we dined there a few months back, my friend in Japan commented on my check in and said that it is one of her favorite restaurants to eat at in Japan. I was surprised to find that California had one of the same restaurants as Japan, but it is true!
| Hours | Drinks | Food | Locations |
| Monday All Day Long Everyday 11am–6:30pm (last call) Mon–Thu 8:30pm–11pm (last call) Fri & Sat 8:30pm–12am (last call) Sun 8:30pm–10:30pm (last call) | Daily drink specials $2 Sapporo Light Beers on Mondays, $2 Soju cocktails on Tuesdays, $2 Saketinis on Thursdays & Saturdays, $5 Nigori Sake on Fridays & $2 Hot Sake on Wednesdays & Sundays.*In addition to daily specials, there are always &1.50 Sapporo beers & 95 cent Budweiser & a variety of $3 saketinis | Daily Food Item specials include: Monday 99 cent rib eyes, Tuesday $2 Harami Miso, Wednesday, 99 cent Bistro Harami, Thursday 99 cent Chuck Kalbi, Friday 99 cent lamb, Saturday 99 cent New York Steak, & Sunday 99 cent Yakishabu*In addition to daily specials, there are 50% off appetizers & $2.95 -$9.95 meat platters on too many items to list!!*There are also happy hour full meal specials for two people to share. | United States:California, Illinois, New York, HawaiiOther Countries:Canada, Japan, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia |
This is one of the latest happy hours I have ever seen & we always have great times for sure!! There are too many happy hour food & drink specials to list… Gyu-Kaku calls their varied daily specials their, “Super Happy Hour!!” All of the food here is phenomenal and of course my favorite factor about it is that the prices are awesome. This place literally has some of the best deals in town, happy hour or not. Please see specific locations for specific happy hours.
RESTAURANT BELOW IS NOW CLOSED DOWN
The New Shogun (now closed) is an awesome restaurant down the street from our house. This is the only restaurant of the four happy hours I have mentioned that only has one location, which is in Mission Viejo in Orange County, California. We had actually been there for the Teppan style meal, not even realizing that they had a fabulous happy hour until one day my friends, Celeste & Brian invited us to join them and
some more of their friends on a random Wednesday. We were pleasantly surprised by the yummy cheap options. The first thing I went for was the Nigori Sake & the Sapporo beer. While the Nigori was not on the happy hour price list, it usually is not (except for @ Gyu-Kaku) at least the large Sapporo was only $5. I was impressed!
I can never do sushi without my Nigori Sake, so
deal or no deal, I am definitely all about what they call, “The Crazy Milk!” My favorite sushi roll at this place, hands down, was the Las Vegas Roll. I am such a sucker for cream cheese and love it in my sushi, on my bagel, or on a snickers candy bar. I will literally eat cream cheese with anything…lol.
| Hours | Drinks | Food |
| Monday – Friday 11:30 am – 2:00 pmSunday4:30 pm – 6:30 pmMonday – Saturday 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm | Monday – Thursday 50% Off Sushi & Sushi Rolls Only Selected Items(All hours, but only at the sushi bar) |
Thank you for reading my post about my favorite happy hour specials. I hope to find more fabulous happy hours and cover them on my blog in the future as well. 🙂 Please follow me on facebook here –> Dani’s Decadent Deals Facebook Page & Twitter Page. You can also subscribe your email address to receive my blogs fresh from the press. 🙂 Thank you!
Dani's Decadent Deals 
You guys visit and share some of the most interesting places. I haven’t done a happy hour in ages, but might just have to check out some of the places around here now!
Most deginitely Lena! Good times always!
After staying home with five kids, you just inspired me to get out and do a Happy Hour! Thanks!
Awesome! You totally should! If any of these places are in your area, you should totally check them out!:-)
Happy hour sounds like a great time to try different restaurants when you are on a budget. Thanks for sharing Dani!
Thanks Meryl! Definitely a great way to try things for a better price and a more normal size portion:-)
Great post and pics. I haven’t been to a Happy Hour in years….now makes me feel like going. Thanks for sharing, Dani!
Thanks Alexandra! You totally should do a happy hour!:-)
This post made me starving!! Thanks for sharing!
This post made me starving! Great post!
Thank you! Glad you liked it:-)
This sounds so fun Dani! We actually enjoyed happy hour at Landry’s in San Antonio, TX. We were shocked at the low prices and great tasting food we were able to get for very little. Can’t wait to read about more of the deals you find and share.
Thanks Carla! Claim Jumper is now owned by Landrys. 🙂
*Goes off to update her travel itinerary…
Love it Leah! Thabks for the comment:-)
Love your post. Great pictures and it makes me miss California. I grew up in Ventura County. Never went to Claim Jumpers but it was down the road. Interesting to learn that it was bought out by Landrys. They are very popular in Texas.
Thanks for the comment Chef Katrina! What made u leave sunny socal?:-) i live in the orange county area. 🙂 Claim Jumper was better before Landry’s took it over.:-(
Ah, your posts always make me hungry! I should not read them so late at night, not good tsk tsk tsk
Love the colourful cocktails BTW!
Lol… Thanks for the comment:-) Have a fabulous night:-)
You look like you had a good time! Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks for the comment Carele:)
I love that you know how to have a good time!
Best,
Yvonne Brown
Thanks for the comment Yvonne:)
You sure do know how to do it up right! haha 🙂 That chicken BBQ pizza looks yummy, thanks for lookin’ out with all the good deals.
Thanks for the comment:) Oh yeah I do..I love the deals:)
I’m really glad to know info about 2 of my favorites restaurants today Dani. Thank you so much, I didn’t know about their happy hour, it is something that I will check for sure.
Awesome! Glad I could help! What are your two favorite restaurants? 🙂 Thanks for the comment Meire:)
You guys visit and share some of the most interesting places!!!! 🙂 Awesome!
Thanks for the comment Norma:)
I don’t think I have ever attended a happy hour….hmmmmm
Carl:-) The time is now:-) Get out there and enjoy the cheap prices & yummies:-)
Lots of choices! I’m not too big a drinker, but I love when restaurants run specials, like half-off appetizers. Awesome!
Thanks for the comment Rob:) Specials at restaurants rock:)
Appreciate your bloog post