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Sue Kidd is the Lifestyle Editor at The News Tribune and the ringleader for the Food and Home&Garden sections. She has worked as a food journalist at Northwest newspapers since 1993, most recently as a food writer, editor and restaurant reviewer in King County before joining The News Tribune in 2004. Her food obsessions at the moment are honey, cheese and oysters.
Craig Sailor is the Arts&Entertainment editor at The News Tribune. He grew up on a garlic farm near Gilroy, Calif. and now farms oysters in his spare time at Willapa Bay. He’s traveled the world from Kyoto/Kuala Lumpur/Hong Kong to Zanzibar in search of great food.
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Coconut prawns at Woody's on the Water
I took another detour into happy land last week with a visit to a waterfront restaurant that a few TNT Diner readers recommended – Woody’s on the Water. (For my recent Happy Hour blog posts, see this story here, here and here.)
Happy hour is 3 p.m-6 p.m. daily at Woody’s, with bar eats half off during that time. TNT Diner reader gmaglenda raved about the coconut prawns ($5 during happy hour) at Woody’s, and I can see why – the flavors were a complicated meld of spicy, sour and sweet.
Pacific Grill's happy hour menu includes grilled oysters with pancetta, left, meat candy, top, and cheeseburger sliders with garlic fries. Photo by Janet Jensen/The News Tribune.
Let's end our week a little more happy, shall we?
Earlier this week, I took you on a tour of El Gaucho's happy hour. Yesterday, I wrote about Merende. Today, I offer you a report of happy hours at three more Tacoma restaurants that serve noshable eats at bargain bar prices: Pacific Grill, Stanley & Seafort's and Duke's on Ruston.
Don’t think of happy hour as a time to swill the drink of your choice. Think of it as a time to graze. Cheaply.
Here, then, a look at happy houring on the cheap...
The hummus dip at Merende.
Here's another dose of happy hour. Today, my happy hour stop is Merende. Yesterday, I toured El Gaucho's happy hour menu. Tomorrow, come back for thoughts on happy hours at Pacific Grill, Stanley & Seafort's and Duke's.
Now for today's offering....
Il Trattoria di Merende
Five dollars makes me happy at Merende. It’s all I need – five bucks – to enjoy a plate of hummus with pita, or a helping of mushroom risotto, from the "everything five bucks" happy hour menu at Merende. I appreciate a menu full of $5 options. Here’s what I ate:
The El Gaucho burger, priced $8 on the happy hour menu. Photo by Peter Haley/The News Tribune.
It’s happy hour week at the TNT Diner blog. Why? Because we can all use a dose of happy. I’ll have reports of five happy hours around town this week. Today, read about El Gaucho. Tomorrow, you'll hear about Merende. Friday, you can read about Pacific Grill, Stanley & Seafort’s and Duke’s.
Now for today’s offering….
El Gaucho
El Gaucho’s happy hour usually makes me happy as a clam. Or at least that was the case before I sampled El Gaucho's clams. I’ve given them my designation as “Tacoma’s grittiest.” But the sand-laden clams at El Gaucho were just one of a few problems with their happy hour eats. Mostly happy hour there is a guaranteed good deal, and well executed - and the snazzy appeal of the deeply sunken dining room, a handsome room, tuxedoed servers and live piano music makes it a must-stop for any late night wooing you might need to do. Happy hour bar eats are half off during designated hours. A taste of what I sampled during two happy hour visits:
