11 Best Happy Hour Deals for Food and Drinks at Popular Chains
Sometimes you want a drink and a little snack – that can honestly make a great dinner – and chains around the U.S. are ready to fill you up for a nice price. Happy hour might sound like it's just for drinkers, but that's not the case anymore. Many restaurants offer lower prices on the dishes they are known for, sometimes in smaller portions, and we looked at menus around the country to find out where you can get the most bang for your happy hour buck. The days of a sad dish of nuts are gone, with restaurants offering flatbreads, ahi tuna, truffle grilled cheese, sliders, and more, for a lot less.
Prices and specials may vary by location (and depending on what is legal in your state), so please check restaurant websites or social media before heading out. Also, it looks like all happy hour drinks and bites must be dine-in, so go out and be social at some of our favorite spots for a hearty happy hour bite.
Cheesecake Factory
Not surprisingly, the restaurant with the menu of pretty much anything you could possibly crave, Cheesecake Factory, has an impressive happy hour menu packed with delicious bites. Available in the bar Monday through Friday from 4pm until 6pm, the restaurant offers an array of plates for just $10.50, including fried mac 'n' cheese, housemade meatballs, Thai chili shrimp, calamari, and more. It also offers snack plates of cheeseburger eggrolls, crispy crab bites, and more for $9.50. Cocktails and wine are $8.50 and beer starts at around $5.
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
We love the deals at a steakhouse happy hour, and Ruth's Chris is a favorite because it's not only available Monday through Friday from 4pm through 7pm, but you can also get great deals at those same hours on Sundays (this may vary by location). Starting at $10, the restaurant offers Ruth's cheeseburger, steak sandwich, chicken sandwich, spicy shrimp, and more during happy hour. You'll find deals on cocktails, beer, and wine as well.
Carraba's Italian Grill
With over 200 locations across the U.S., Carraba's is a favorite restaurant for a hearty Italian meal. And, not surprisingly, Carraba's happy hour leans hearty as well, with $8 meatball sliders, shrimp focaccia bites, chicken ravioli, and more. Available in the bar area from 4pm until 7pm daily, you can share a pitcher of sangria for $25, along with $8 cocktails, and $3 craft beers.
Bonefish Grill
The seafood-centric bar and grill calls their happy hour "Social Hour," which sounds like a good time to us. The menu includes $7 cocktails, including a fresh margarita, and shareable plates like ahi tuna wonton bites, grilled Mahi Mahi sliders, and shrimp toast. Prices vary by location.
P.F. Chang's
The Asian bistro offers one of the best happy hours around, with specials running from 3:30 until 7pm in most locations (some are limited by state law) on weekdays. All of P.F. Chang's signature appetizers, including crunchy lettuce wraps (with chicken or just veggies), crab wontons, dumplings, and more, are just $10, and drinks start at just $5.
Barcelona Wine Bar
With locations in Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., this growing chain's menu is heavy on small plates and shareables, and of course, a Spain focused wine list. Much of the menu focuses on pintxos (small, typically skewered snacks or appetizers) and their happy hour menus reflect that. They vary by location, but you can expect half price wine, mini cocktails for around $7, and a menu of meats, cheeses, and olive plates for under $7, Monday through Friday from 4pm to 6pm.
Brio Italian Grille
This Italian chain, founded in Ohio in the '90s, has about 50 locations around the country, and the upscale casual restaurant is known for crowd pleasers with a twist. Brio hosts happy hour every Wednesday from 3pm until 6pm and the specials are available at the bar and patio seating. They make it easy, everything is $8, including the Brio Burger, a sausage and pepperoni flatbread, calamari, and even beef carpaccio. Signature cocktails such as the Tropical Cosmo and Espresso Martini are also only $8.
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar
With "wine bar" in its name, you'd expect this California-founded chain to step it up with a great happy hour, and you'd be right! Their social hour is available every night from 3pm through 6pm, and includes wine by the glass for $9 (think Josh Cellars and Hayes Ranch), and lower priced plates like truffle grilled cheese for $15 and bourbon and apricot glazed meatballs for $16.
Joe's Crab Shack
With 30 locations around the U.S, this chain has been serving crab and seafood to diners since 1991. And that includes Joe's very tasty happy hour menu, which is available from 3pm until 6pm, Monday through Friday. The menu includes popcorn shrimp and spinach artichoke dip for just $5, peel and eat shrimp and crab nachos for $7, and blackened fish tacos for $8. Drinks start at $3.50.
McCormick & Schmick's Grille
Since 1974, McCormick & Schmick's has been serving quality seafood and steak in a comfortable setting, and you can enjoy its excellent food at happy hour running Monday through Friday from 3:30pm to 6:30pm. $7 will get you a plate of truffle fries or Wagyu carpaccio, $9 is the price for pork bao buns and crispy Asian calamari, and you can get a juicy cheeseburger for $11. Drinks start at around $5.
Morton's Steakhouse
Sunday through Friday the upscale steakhouse offers a happy hour – called power hour – from 4pm until 6:30pm, that includes discount cocktails, wine by the glass for around $9 and beer for around $5. While prices vary by location, Morton's bar bites menu includes indulgent bites like filet mignon sliders, short rib tacos, and fried chicken sliders for around $12. Just remember, this menu is only available in the bar area.
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