Sip and save Where to wet your whistle without breaking the bank By: Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 26, 2019 Last Modified: 11:39 AM CDT Wednesday, Mar. 27, 2019 Updates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/03/2019 (2005 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The term “it’s five o’clock somewhere” has typically been uttered by those eager to tip back a drink and call it a day. For the budget-conscious imbiber, it just so happens that’s the ideal time to be buying yourself a drink — happy hour.

While the first uses of the term “happy hour” can be traced back to Shakespeare, the current association of the term with cheap drinks during pre-dinner hours is much more recent.

It was during Prohibition in the U.S., which lasted from 1920 to 1933, where alcohol became the focus of happy hour. Since folks who were going out for dinner couldn’t enjoy a drink at a restaurant, they’d gather together at someone’s home and slug back pre-dinner drinks before heading out to eat. Post-Prohibition, the notion of “happy hour” eventually came to be synonymous with cheap pre-dinner drinks; it also grew from a singular hour to a longer window of time, typically in the 3-6 p.m. range, as a way for pubs/lounges/etc. to get the post-work crowd to pop in during an otherwise slower time for their business.

And while you can still find watering holes offering “classic” happy hours featuring insipid draft beer, less-than-great house wine and sub-par spirits, there are plenty of ways to get more bang for your buck when it comes to booze…

The chain gang

If you’re after cheap drinks (and food) any day of the week, chain restaurants such as Earls, Brown’s Social House, Joey, The Keg and the like are typically solid choices during happy hour. Most offer a wide range of wine, beer and cocktails for a couple of bucks off, and feature discounted appetizers to go with your booze.

Some have even begun introducing multiple happy hours — Earls, for example, has an early happy hour for early pre-dinner imbibers and another for those looking for a post-dinner drink. The chain lounges are also popular choices for those looking to watch the big (insert name of sports team here) game while enjoying cheaper drinks.

Winnipeg classics

There are plenty of reasons why some of the city’s longstanding watering holes have stuck around, and in many cases it involves killer happy hour specials. If beer and wings float your boat, it’s tough to beat the deals at Carlos and Murphy’s (129 Osborne St.), where most domestic beer in bottles and on tap are on sale, along with their much-loved wings. It’s also a popular spot on Sundays, when it’s happy hour all day.

Similarly, the rotating daily specials at Rae & Jerry’s (1405 Portage Ave.) have been one of the most popular features of the lounge side of the Winnipeg institution. A visit on Thursdays, for example, can result in enjoying multiple martinis for less than $20.

Rotating specials

Depending on what kind of drink you’re looking for, some lounges and restaurants offer a revolving door of deals dependent on the day you’re drinking rather than the time you’re there. For cocktails, for instance, The Roost (651 Corydon Ave.) has featured specials on manhattans and French 75s on Tuesdays to go with their oyster night, while Rudy’s Eat and Drink (375 Graham Ave.) offer deals on manhattans, old fashioneds and martinis on Thursdays.

Grape deals

The evolution of happy hour has been very good to wine lovers, especially on hump day. “Wine Wednesdays” have caught on at a number of establishments throughout the city, with discounts on reds, whites and more. A typical example would be the Cornerstone Bar & Restaurant (93 Osborne St.), which offers $10 off bottles of wine on Wednesdays, or Feast Café Bistro (587 Ellice Ave.), where you can wash down your bannock burger with a $13 bottle.

Other spots in town offer half-priced bottles of wine on nights that are typically slower. The Oxbow (557 Osborne St.), for example, features all bottles of wine for 50 per cent off on Sundays; on Tuesday nights the folks at Nicolino’s (2077 Pembina Hwy.) offer half-price bottles of wine, as does Sous Sol (222 Osborne St. near Confusion Corner) with their French-focused wine list. Prefer your wine specials by the glass? Langside Grocery (164 Langside St.) offers discounted glasses of Malbec, a rich Argentine red, from Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Then there’s the bring-your-own-wine option, where patrons can lug a bottle to an eatery and are charged a corkage fee, commonly in the $10-$25 range, for the establishment to open and serve the stuff. Some restaurants will feature one night per week where they offer cheaper or no corkage fee. On Monday nights, for example, Vera Pizzeria (670 Osborne St.) charges a single dollar for their corkage fee, should you feel like trying your favourite Chianti with their Neapolitan-style pizza.

Pints for a pittance

While most of the local craft breweries don’t offer much in the way of deals on beer in their tap rooms when it comes to happy hour, the city’s two brew pubs do. One Great City (1596 Ness Ave.) serves up discounted pints and flights of their beer daily from 3 to 6 p.m. and all day Sunday, while Brazen Hall (800 Pembina Hwy.) has all manner of beer, wine and spirits on special during that same time window.

Those looking for a good deal on the rest of the local breweries’ offerings will have to hit happy hour at a pub pouring homegrown pints. Downtown is as good a place as any to start; the King’s Head Pub (120 King St.) offers specials on domestic draughts on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as a more general happy hour on Fridays from 2 to 8 p.m. — the perfect way to wrap up your week. Alternately, there are typically at least one or two local brews at most better bars, lounges and eateries in the city.

uncorked@mts.net

Twitter: @bensigurdson

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