How To: Enjoy a high-end restaurant during happy hour

We all love the local pub or watering hole where everyone knows our name. You stroll in to a familiar setting, know what to order, and get it the way you like it. Usually we choose our local spot because of its location, convenience, atmosphere and often, the price. Taking a trip uptown to try the higher-end bars and restaurants is often something we do only once in a while because of the daunting prices. Especially in these tough economic times, most of us can’t afford to frequent a bar that charges more for what you can get at your local. However, now things have changed. Happy Hour Magazine has scoured San Diego to find the best combinations of ambiance and affordable prices so that anyone can enjoy a nice change of pace and a little more class than they may be used to. Variety is the spice of life, as the saying goes, and by checking out these bars and restaurants you will be spicing up your social life.

So give them a try and shake things up a bit. Get a taste of the good life at a price that you won’t choke on.  And remember, the local will always be there to welcome you back.

Balboa Park
Prado: Tue-Fri 4-6pm, 8-10pm. $3.50 Wells/House Wine/Margaritas/Draft Beer Pale Ale & Special Priced Food Menu. 1549 El Prado

Banker’s Hill
Bertrand at Mr. A’s: Mon-Fri 2:30-6pm. $3 Light Beers, $4 Imports, $6 Wines, $5 Wells, $7 Menu Items. 2550 Fifth Ave. 12th Floor

Hexagone Classic & French Cuisine: Daily 3:30-7pm. $3.50 Beer, $4 Wells, $5 Wine by the Glass, $6 Cocktails, $9 Premiums, $6 Food Menu

Carlsbad
BlueFire Grill at La Costa Resort & Spa: Wed-Sat 4-9pm. $5 Domestics, $6 House Wine/Imports/Wells, $10 Specialty Martinis, 30%-off Signature Appetizers. 2100 Costa Del Mar Rd.

Coronado
Candelas: Daily 4-6pm, Thur-Sat 10pm-12am. 1/2-off Drinks & Food. 1201 First St. Ste #115

Del Mar
Arterra: Mon-Fri 4-8pm. $5 Premium Drafts, $6 Wine, $7 Specialty Cocktails. 11966 El Camino Real

Pamplemousse Grille: Mon-Fri 4:30-6:30pm. $5 Wells, $7 Specialty Cocktails/Wine & Food Specials. 514 Via de la Valle, Ste #100

Paradise Grille: Tue-Sun 2:30-6pm. $5 Sauza Margaritas, $5 Paradise Martinis, $5 Tommy Bahama Mai Tai, $3.50 Drafts, $2-off Wells, $1-off All Glasses of Wine, $8 Food Menu. 2690 Via de la Valle, Ste. D210

Downtown
Cowboy Star Restaurant & Butcher Shop: Tue- Fri 4-6pm. $3 Beers, $5 House Wines, $7 Specialty Cocktails along w/ 20%-off Bar Food Menu. 640 Tenth Ave.

Donovan’s Steak & Chop House: Complimentary Prime Steak Sandwiches Daily 4-6pm. Specially priced Martini & Signature Cocktails Mon-Fri 4-7pm. 570 K St. (Also in La Jolla: 4340 La Jolla Village Dr.)

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Chop Bar: 5 For $6 ’Til 7- 5 Cocktails, 5 Wines by the glass and 5 Appetizers. $6 each. 380 K St.

Grant Grill: Daily 4-8pm. $6 House Sparkling/Cabernet/Chardonnay, $6 Vodka U-Call-Its, $6 All Beer, 1/2-off Cocktail Cuisine. 326 Broadway in the US Grant Hotel

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant: Mon-Fri 3-7pm, 9:30-11:30pm. $1.95-$4.95 Food Specials & Drink Specials.  675 L St. in the Omni Hotel

Morton’s the Steakhouse: Daily 5-6:30pm, 9pm-Cl. $4 Beers, $5 Wine, $6 The Morton’s Spritz, $7 Martinis, $5 Bar Bites. 285 J St.

Nobu: Daily 5-7pm, Sat 11:15pm-1:15am. $4 Japanese beer, $7 Select Wines by the glass, $9 Specialty Cocktails, Sushi & Food Specials. 207 Fifth Ave. in the Hard Rock Hotel

Osetra Watergrill: Sun-Fri 5-7pm. 1/2-off Apps, $1 “Fresh Daily Oyster”, $3 Drafts, $4 Wells, $5 House Wine, $7 Martinis. 904 Fifth Ave.

Palm Restaurant: Mon-Fri 4:30-6:30pm, 9pm-Close. Prime Time Happy Hour with ‘All New Prime Bites Menu’ featuring $3.50 Food Items. $1 Oysters in a Half Shell, $2 Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail. 615 J St.

Encinitas
Firefly Grill: Daily 4:30-6:30pm. 1/2-priced Small Plate Menu & 1/2-priced Wines by the Glass. 251 N. El Camino Real, Suite B

Harbor Island
C Level at Island Prime: Mon-Fri 3:30-5:30pm. $5 Bites, $5 Libations/House Selected Wines/Premium Well Cocktails, $3.50 Brews (Bud Light, Stone IPA, Karl Strauss Amber Lager). 880 Harbor Island Dr.

La Jolla
Clay’s: Daily 4-7pm. $3 Drafts, $4 Wells, $5 House Made Sangria, $6 Wines by the glass, Discounted Appetizers. 7955 La Jolla Shores Dr. 11th floor penthouse of Hotel La Jolla

Crab Catcher: Mon-Fri 3-9pm. $3 Beer/Margaritas/Champagne/Wine special. $5 Martini Specials (Mon-Wed), sushi specials & 15 martinis @ $5 (Thu-Fri). 1298 Prospect St.

George’s At The Cove: Mon-Fri 3-7pm. $7 Three Tacos & a Draft, $7.50 Calamari, $12 1/2lb Angus Burger, $7 Cocktails, $7 Wine, $4 Drafts. 1250 Prospect St.

Jai by Wolfgang Puck: Tue-Fri 5-7pm. $2-$4 Food Menu, $3 Wells/Beers, $4 Specialty Cocktails, $3-$5 Wine. 2910 La Jolla Village Dr.

Marine Room: Sun-Fri 4-6pm. $7 Wells & Select Global Wines. 2-for-1 Lounge Appetizers on Thursday, Friday and Sunday during Happy Hour. 2000 Spindrift Dr.

Truluck’s: Mon-Sat 4-7pm. ALL night Sunday. 1/2-price Cocktails, ½-price Lounge Menu, & 25%-off All Bottles of Wine. 8990 University Center Ln.

Mission Valley
Bing Crosby’s: Mon-Sat 5pm-Cl. $3 Beers, $7 Martinis, $7 Appetizer Menu. 7007 Friars Rd. Ste #394

Solana Beach
Blanca: Daily 5:30-7pm. $7 Food Items, $7 Specialty Cocktails, Beer & Wine Specials. 437 S. Highway 101