One person's happy hour may be another person's nightmare. Luckily the Baltimore area has something for everyone who ever wanted to avoid rush hour by having a cheap drink and bargain food. Do you love action and bodies packed in like sardines, or do you just want to talk while you sip a glass of wine? Are you looking for a pig-out free buffet or a delicious tidbit to tide you over? The variations are endless.
We could never tell you about them all, or even all the best ones, but we can give you an idea of just how different happy hours can be. Here are 10 happening ones:
Atlantic
2400 Boston St.
410-675-4565
Happy hours: Monday-Friday, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
The decor inside is chic and sleek, but the place to sit and drink is the patio just off the bar. Selected beers, wines, margaritas, martinis, Bloody Marys and cosmos are $3 each. Among the six food specials are any of the excellent sushi rolls for $3.95 and a work-of-art but small steamed seafood plate for $5.25.
Upside: Drinking by the most beautiful lily pond in the city
Downside: You won't fill up on the food.
Bottom line: The place to go when you want something a little different
Bare Bones Grill & Brewery
9811 York Road, Cockeysville
410-667-9600
9150 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City
410-461-0770
Happy hours: Monday-Friday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m.
Bare Bones understands moderation in all things, including happy hour. You get 50 cents off rail drinks, beer and wine, and the free food includes a nice spread of cheese and veggie trays and chafing-dish specials.
Upside: A place to relax at the end of the workday
Downside: There may not be enough wild and crazy action for some.
Bottom line: The bar at this microbrewery isn't fancy, but it's dim and comfortable and you can talk even when it's crowded.
Bay Cafe
2809 Boston St.
410-522-3377
Happy hours: Monday-Thursday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m., Friday, 4 p.m.-8 p.m.
You can get two-for-one drinks every weekday, but the real bargain is the complimentary buffet on Friday, with food like roast beef for sandwiches, fried chicken and meatballs. If you love a crowded happy-hour scene, head for the Bay Cafe at the end of the work week.
Upside: A great view, live music, lots of company
Downside: Long lines for the food
Bottom line: You won't be able to help meeting people here.
Bill Bateman's Bistro
7800 York Road, Towson
410-296-2737
26 Market Place, Power Plant Live!
410-230-0026
566 Gov. Ritchie Highway, Severna Park
410-315-7960
102 Chartley Drive, Reisterstown
410-526-6200
Happy hours: Monday-Friday, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
This college hangout / family restaurant / sports bar in four locations may have the area's most famous happy-hour food. Sometimes it's free pastas and salad, sometimes hamburgers and hot dogs. The most popular, though, is the $2 steak night, usually Mondays or Tuesdays. And discounted drinks, of course.
Upside: Free food that's often real meals, not snacks, with something different on the menu every night
Downside: Toward the end of the week, it's a zoo. No, wait. Maybe that's the upside.
Bottom line: Long known for its wings, Bill Bateman's is becoming even more famous for its happy-hour spreads.
Ixia
518 N. Charles St.
410-727-1800
Happy hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.; First Thursdays, 5 p.m.-9 p.m.
Ah, my dear. What charming piercings you have. Would you care to meet me at Ixia for a Bloody Mary made with fresh horseradish and garnished with black and white sesame seeds and a scallion? Try a complimentary fusion tidbit: perhaps un morceau of spring roll or a duck pot-sticker. Aren't they superb?
Upside: Ixia offers a funky, theatrical setting and a dark lounge made for seduction.
Downside: It's too dark -- but the waiter will provide you with a flashlight if you want to look at the menu.
Bottom line: Not your normal happy hour. Drink promotions change periodically.
McFadden's
10 Market Place, Power Plant Live!
410-779-7101
Happy hours: Monday-Friday, 4 p.m.-8 p.m.
Be sure to leave your business card for a chance to win a corporate happy hour on Thursday or Friday. The winners get in free, their friends pay $5 for all-you-can-drink beer, wine, soda and rail drinks and passed hors d'oeuvres. (Happy hour with drink specials and half-priced appetizers is still available for everyone else.)
Upside: Steamed crabs for $1 apiece if you eat in the bar
Downside: There aren't many seats in the bar.
Bottom line: McFadden's bar food is excellent, so the half-priced appetizers are a deal even without the $1 crabs.
McCormick & Schmick's
711 Eastern Ave., Pier V
410-234-1300
Happy hours: Monday-Friday, 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday, 9:30 p.m.-midnight
Although the restaurant is known for its seafood, insiders pack its handsome bar for the happy-hour menu. You can get a hamburger, Caesar salad, oyster shooters, quesadillas, pizza and more for $1.95 each.
Upside: A fabulous view of the Inner Harbor to go with the good bar food
Downside: A half-pound cheeseburger with fries for $1.95, but only two oysters? At a seafood restaurant? Sigh.
Bottom line: A great place to meet hungry college students
Padonia Station
63 E. Padonia Road, Timonium
410-252-8181
Happy hours: Monday-Friday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m.
Thirty-five TVs, any number of arcade games -- need I say more? Well, yes. You probably want to know about the free buffet, which includes a taco night, hand-carved roast beef another night and $2 steaks. Mondays and Fridays are hot and cold appetizers only. Reduced drink prices are thrown in for good measure.
Upside: One of the rare happy hours where people bring their kids
Downside: See above.
Bottom line: The crowd tends to be older at this raucous sports bar, but they're having a great time.
Paolo's
1 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Towson
410-321-7000
Light Street Pavilion, Harborplace
410-539-7060
Happy hours: Monday-Friday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m.
Fern bars are so '80s. Paolo's is the newer, hipper version: a glossy Cal-Ital bistro with lots of style, and a wood-burning stove for upscale pizzas. Happy hour at Towson includes reduced-price rail drinks, draft beers and house wines, plus two-for-one pizzas, calamari and fried eggplant. Harborplace has no drink specialties at the moment, but all appetizers are two-for-one.
Upside: Great crisp-crusted pizzas
Downside: If you want bargain drinks, you have to go to Towson. If you want any appetizer on the menu at a discount, you have to go to the Harborplace location. You can't have both.
Bottom line: A classy hangout for whatever the '00 version of yuppies is
Polo Grill
4 W. University Parkway
410-235-8200
Happy hours: Monday-Friday, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
Sometimes you want a quiet, high-end place to have a drink with tasty little appetizers and a suave professional behind the bar. Try the Polo Grill.
Upside: Delicious egg rolls and jalapeno poppers served in silver chafing dishes
Downside: Expensive drinks and very salty peanuts
Bottom line: A happy hour for adults in a handsome, clubby setting