Best Happy Hours

Houston's hottest happy hours: New restaurants and bars offer deals that let you drink (and eat) cheap

The happy hour deals at some new Houston hotspots give you the perfect reason to leave work early. These are bars and restaurants where you can have a drink (or two) without breaking the bank.

Weights + Measures

It’s double the pleasure at Midtown restaurant, bar and bakery complex Weights + Measures. Stay warm and tingly with a discounted shooter (or $10 flight) of Schnapps from a roster of global picks at Love and Squalor lounge (weekdays from 4-6 p.m.).

Take advantage of a second deal (available all day every day) at the wine bar and cafe featuring specially priced sparkling, white, rose and red wine ($5 per glass, $10 per flight) and draft beer ($3).

Wooster's Garden

Save on craft beer ($3) and a list of 22 (and counting) cocktails ($2 off each) like the Velvet Sun (made with potato vodka, Campari bitter sweet liqueur, lime, ginger beer and rose water) and the Cloud (dry gin, peach cordial, cherry flavored liqueur, lemon and violet flower and vanilla flavored liqueur) during happy hour (daily from 4-6 p.m.) at low-key Montrose bar Wooster’s Garden.

Oporto Fooding House and Wine

From the folks behind Queen Vic and Oporto Wine Cafe, Oporto Fooding House and Wine in Midtown features Portuguese and Indian fare, and a happy hour special with a price break on food and drinks (weekdays from 4-6:30 p.m.). Bargain sips include house wine or sangria by the glass ($5) and by the quarter, half or full liter ($7-$20); select draught beer ($4); well drinks ($6) and sparkling Spanish wine ($7).

Fill up on small plates from salted cod potato salad (with cilantro, egg, black olives and crispy chickpeas for $7) to mini burgers (served with olive tapenade, arugula, mozzarella and French fries for $7). Gulf oysters are also just a buck apiece.

Oporto Mini Burgers (Photo courtesy of Oporto Midtown)

Gray's Public House

Specialty cocktails like the enticing 50 Shades of Gray (vodka, vanilla, chocolate liqueur, coffee-flavored rum liqueur, Irish whiskey and cream liqueur) are half price during happy hour (weekdays from 4-8 p.m.) at Midtown spot Gray’s Public House. Select beers by the can ($3-$4) are a deal too.

Cushion the boozy blow with snacks like wings, quesadillas and beer-battered cheese sticks (all $5 or less).

Mascalzone Shepherd

London-based restaurant owner, and former Olympic boxer Andrea Magi has opened the second locale of his Il Mascalzone Italian restaurant, this one on Shepherd between Allen Parkway and I-10. Drink up during the regular happy hour (weekdays from 3-6 p.m.) and again during reverse happy hour (Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 p.m.-midnight) when choice beers ($3.50 each) and handcrafted cocktails ($5 each), such as a strawberry basil martini, are on special.

With the money saved, you could splurge on the colossal Mascalzone (half calzone-half pizza for $18) from the non-happy hour menu. It's the house specialty and the restaurant's namesake.

Mascalzone -- half calzone-half pizza (Photo courtesy of Chris Brown)

Dak and Bop

Museum District Korean fried chicken joint Dak and Bop serves up made-to-order, twice-fried chicken and discounted happy hour drinks (Mondays through Saturdays from 5-7 p.m.) including 14 draft beers ($1 off), wines by the glass ($4) and sake bombs ($8).

Doc's Bar and Grill

Early birds rejoice! Happy hour at Austin-import Doc’s Bar and Grill starts at 3 p.m. (and goes until 8 p.m.).

Nosh on mini sliders (beef, buffalo chicken, pork carnita, fried fish or smoked bacon), chicken strips, fried pickles, cheese fries and the likes (all $5 or less) at this Montrose-area bar and grill. Quench your thirst with a potent Everclear-tequila frozen margarita ($4), well drinks ($3.50) or select wine on tap ($5).

Woodbar

Woodbar — the welcoming Montrose neighborhood bakery, coffee counter, restaurant and cocktail bar connected to owner Claire Smith’s Canopy restaurant — gets the happy hour party started early (daily from 3-7 p.m.) with a deal on well drinks ($5), select glasses of wine ($7) and select beers ($2).

Montrose bar Wooster's Garden offers 22 cocktails on the drink list (and counting).

6 Wooster's Garden in Midtown December 2014 bar interior with people

Photo by Eric Sandler

Montrose bar Wooster's Garden offers 22 cocktails on the drink list (and counting).

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Coming soon to Fredericksburg

Houston restaurant vet serves up Roman-style eatery in the Hill Country

Photo courtesy of Bottega Salaria

Valerio Lombardozzi is opening Bottega Salaria in the former home of La Bergerie.

Valerio Lombardozzi’s culinary career has taken him to the world’s finest kitchens, including restaurants owned by icons like Alain Ducasse, Giorgio Locatelli, and Joël Robuchon. In Houston, he led La Table and Tavola, where he earned a reputation for being one of the city's most engaging front of the house personalities.

But his latest project might be his biggest accomplishment yet. The hospitality veteran is opening Bottega Salaria, a homey Italian osteria and artisan market, in the former home of La Bergerie at 312 E Austin St in his adopted home of Fredericksburg.

Lombardozzi says the restaurant, expected to arrive in winter 2026, fills a gap in the Hill Country dining scene, but, more importantly, it's a reflection of his personal history and time spent working at his family’s restaurant in Rome.

“[It’s about] where I grew up, how I grew up, and how I eat,” he shares.

The three-concept experience is inspired by Italy’s Via Salaria, the ancient route Italians used to transport salt from the Adriatic Sea to Rome. The menu acts as a sort of travelogue, borrowing from the different cultures along the road, and the way village fishermen and shepherds ate.

Lombardozzi is quick to say he didn’t want to open a chef-driven restaurant. Instead, the osteria will serve traditional Roman staples such as cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara, saltimbocca with sage and prosciutto, and branzino carved tableside.

“I was one of the last to be exposed to the old generation of professionals who knew how to carve elegantly for the guests,” he says.

The adjacent bottega will stay open during restaurant hours, offering fresh pasta made on-site, house-made sauces, imported Italian pantry items, cheeses, salumi, breads, and biscotti. Patrons will be able to shop for individual items or put together custom gift baskets.

Outdoors, La Fraschetteria will debut a new hospitality experience in the U.S. The self-guided experience invites diners to grab wine directly from garden shelves, gather a spread of meats, cheeses, bread, or pasta, and linger around long communal tables lit by string lights.

Keeping the chit-chat going will be a thoughtful beverage program anchored by a primarily Italian wine list and imported beer. Lombardozzi says the cocktail menu might be a surprise, offering only gin and tonics, spritzes, and negronis. The latter has been made into a game where diners roll dice to determine the evening's combination of gin, vermouth, and bitters.

After dinner, guests can select an amaro from a rolling cart, sip grappa and limoncello, or sip a neat whiskey.

Lombardozzi shares that he wants Bottega Salaria to be just as comfortable for Fredericksburg locals as it is for destination travelers. Beyond daily service, Bottega Salaria plans community events such as garden wine nights with live music, Sunday movie nights, and hands-on cooking classes.

The space is designed for ease with a warm palette combining olive green and pomegranate reds. The decor blends heritage and modernity, bringing in objects like antique mirrors, plates, custom-made lamps, and even old tablecloths and curtains for an Old World feel.

"We’re not just opening a restaurant,” Lombardozzi says. “We’re creating a gathering place. A home for everyone who loves Italian food, culture, and the joy of sharing a meal with others.”

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