Tag Archives: Happy Hour

The Best $10 Happy Hour Burgers in Dallas Right Now

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.

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Happy Hour: Make a Granda Ocho Tonight

Pomegranates come into season here right about the time the evenings finally drop below ninety, and the two things belong together. This is a drink for that stretch, when it’s still warm enough to sit outside but the light’s going earlier every week.

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The Best Cocktail You’ve Never Made Is Four Ingredients and Takes Two Minutes

In 2011, a bartender named Joaquín Simó was working a shift at Death & Co, the celebrated cocktail bar on East Sixth Street in New York City, when LCD Soundsystem came on the speakers. The song was “Drunk Girls.” He was messing around with equal parts — a bartender’s shorthand for a drink built on four ingredients in identical measure — and had Aperol, yellow Chartreuse, mezcal, and fresh lime juice on his station. He put them together. It worked better than it had any right to. He named it after another LCD Soundsystem song, “Naked and Famous,” and put it on the menu.

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Happy Hour: Five Whiskies, One Cocktail

A good whiskey shelf does not need to be deep. It needs to be honest. One bottle for a Tuesday night when all you want is a finger of something warm over ice, one for a dinner party where somebody is going to ask for an old fashioned, one for the friend who knows what she is talking about, one for a birthday, and one for the night you actually want to sit down with a book and pay attention. Five bottles, five reasons, five prices that scale with the occasion. Here is what I would stock right now, all American, all on liquor store shelves in Dallas this week.

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The Short History of Gin + Cocktail Recipe

Gin, with its storied past and complex botanical profile, stands as one of the most versatile spirits in the world. Born in the Netherlands during the 16th century, gin was originally conceived as a medicinal elixir. Known as “genever,” it was distilled with juniper berries, which were believed to have healing properties. The drink’s popularity soared when British soldiers brought it back home, where it evolved into the gin we know today. Over centuries, gin has maintained its allure, with its crisp, aromatic character lending itself to countless cocktails, from the classic martini to the effervescent gin fizz.

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The Martinez: Pre-Prohibition Elegance in a Glass

Long before the Gin & Tonic or the Manhattan became household names, the Martinez quietly laid the groundwork for modern cocktails. Often considered the direct ancestor of the Martini, this drink emerged in the mid-1800s, likely originating in San Francisco or the small town of Martinez, California, where bartenders were experimenting with the new Italian vermouth arriving on American shores. Its creation reflects an era when cocktails were as much about balance and sophistication as they were about fortifying spirits for the workday—or the long evening ahead.

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Christmas Happy Hour Notes

As December settles in, the calendar fills with invitations that call for something more than the ordinary pour. This is the season of lingering dinners, late-night toasts, and small rituals that mark the passage from one year to the next. A well-made cocktail, thoughtfully chosen, becomes part of that ceremony—an expression of warmth, restraint, and quiet celebration. The following three drinks are designed to move gracefully from Christmas through New Year’s Eve, balancing winter’s deeper notes with brightness and lift, and offering the kind of elegance that feels timeless rather than trendy.

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Happy Hour: Holiday Cocktail Time

Gingerbread Martini

Holiday cocktails have a way of pulling the season into focus—the lights, the laughter, the soft hum of a house full of people. They’re festive by design, little celebrations poured into glassware, whether you’re dressing up a quiet night or kicking off a full-blown holiday gathering. The graphic you shared fits the mood perfectly: creamy whites, ruby reds, spiced browns. These are drinks built for sparkle. And a few of them, in particular, make the season taste as good as it looks.

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