Connecting with Old Friends in a Wine Shop

So I’ve learned I am NOT good about writing these reviews up right away, I must get better at that!

Sometimes the fun thing about getting older is when you reconnect with great friends from the past. Last Wednesday we met for a happy hour and to catch up at Greenlake Wines and Wine Bar http://www.greenlakewines.com.

This isn’t your typical wine bar, in fact, most people would think from the name it is just a wine store. BUT it is so much more. Every night of the week they host happy hour from 5-7. Thursday’s are especially happy, as they feature a winery, wine region or theme with free tastings! The owner, chef and server (Richard) is warm and personable. He also owns the Wine Outlet on Elliot and used to be a wine columnist for the Seattle PI.

On this particular evening, we were the main customers. Each night they offer 3 glasses for $4. On this night, we sampled: a cab, sangiovese and a red zin. To my and my friend’s surprise, the zin was our favorite! We ended up buying a bottle before we left. The wines they sell are those in which the company is switching distributors and thus must close out their current stock. That means that you get a pretty good savings. For example, the wine we bought was originally $25, and we got it for $15.

With 3 glasses of wine, we needed some food, all of which is cooked by the owner Richard. There are some happy hour specials as well as regular priced food. The food that we sampled was quite small and just average. The best item was the homemade hummus. We also tried the cremini panini (a little bland without enough cheese) and the cheese plate (very small, as in 3 small slivers of cheese). We eyed the Baconini but did not partake.

Bottom Line: This is a great neighborhood gem with lovely owners where you can taste some new wines and get a discount. There are some nibbles to fill your stomach; they just might not be the greatest!

Saturday Happy Hour, Say What?

So last week I had a great place with an outdoor patio AND wine all picked out. I go there to meet my friend only to discover that it was closed just that week. Well that put a damper on our plans. We ended up walking down the street to St. Cloud’s for dinner. http://www.stclouds.com/. The bonus was, we discovered that there were a few spots where you could get happy hour drinks! Your choice of 4 quaint spots at the bar, or one of 4 patio spots out front. We opted for the patio. Every drink was ½ off, that included their specialty cocktails or a glass of wine. We still paid regular price for our entrée (garlic fried chicken, amazing), but it came out pretty affordable.

Well I didn’t feel that it was the happy hour I set out for, so on Saturday my fiancé and I decided to try one of the rare Saturday Happy Hours. We were set on some Italian food, and we wanted to get out and do a little walking. We (well more like I) decided on Il Bistro which is located in the heart of the market. It is tucked away in the little alley beneath the famous flying fish stand. Happy Hour is EVERYDAY during the week starting at 5 and running until 6:30.

Pros: -They have a lot of food options for REALLY great prices. It is the same quality as the restaurant food and bigger than 2 bites.

-Fairly good sized room. There was a party of 11 in the corner, a party of 4, two other couples besides us and still plenty of room.

-Wine is on special for either 3 or 5 a glass. Pretty decent wine and a good size pour. You could choose between Pinot, Chardonnay and Cabernet.

-$37 (without tip) gave us: 4 glasses of wine, 2 salads, goat cheese appetizer, prawns and rigatoni

Cons: Slightly limited drink options and narrow time frame for those who want to come during the week

You can check it out yourself any day of the week! Here is a link to their website for a listing of all their food. http://www.ilbistro.net/bar/happyhour.html

This week, I’m planning on a happy hour night with a good friend from high school, that I recently reconnected with. Stay tuned!