Happy hour burgers have a bad reputation, and most of them earn it. A restaurant slaps a discount on a sad, dry patty for two hours a day and calls it a deal. You end up paying half price for something you wouldn’t order at full price either.
That’s not what’s happening at the five places below. There’s a difference between a bar burger going cheap and a real restaurant discounting the same burger it serves all night, made the same way, by the same kitchen, just priced lower for a stretch of the afternoon. These are the second kind. And sometimes only a great burger will hit the spot.
Renny’s Bar & Grill in North Dallas runs a $10 cheeseburger Tuesday through Friday, 3 to 6 p.m., along with a dollar off beer and two dollars off cocktails, wine by the glass and appetizers. It’s a neighborhood American grill and bar at 11661 Preston Rd. in the Preston Forest Village center.
Hudson House in Addison does it better. Their double-patty cheeseburger, built with pickles and Hudson sauce, normally runs about $14. During happy hour, weekdays 3 to 6 p.m., bar and patio only, it drops to $10, alongside half-price martinis, Bellinis and wine by the glass, plus $3 East Coast oysters. That’s at 4933 Belt Line Rd.
Brentwood, the upscale prime rib restaurant in Addison, runs a happy hour cheeseburger and fries for $10 weekdays, 3 to 6 p.m., at the bar. Dinner here runs well past $30 a plate, so this discount actually means something. Brentwood is at 5318 Belt Line Rd.
Even Coast, chef Omar Flores’ seafood and steak restaurant a few doors down at 5463 Belt Line Rd., runs happy hour daily, 2 to 6 p.m., with $3 oysters, $9 house cocktails and a $10 double cheeseburger that regulars swear is one of the best burgers in the area, sesame bun, pickles, a secret sauce hiding under all that seafood-restaurant polish. Friday and Saturday it’s bar-only; the rest of the week you can get it in the dining room or on the patio too.
Ford’s Garage in Plano, the vintage car-themed burger chain, runs a combo instead of a straight discount: a 16-ounce draft beer paired with the Woodward burger, pulled pork or crispy chicken, all for $10. Monday through Friday 2 to 6 p.m., and all day on weekends. It’s beer and burger together, not the burger alone, but it still lands at ten dollars.
