Happy hour Deals

9 best new happy hour deals in Houston let you drink and eat well on the cheap

There's no better time than the present to sneak out early for happy hour. And while there’s no shortage of killer happy hours in H-Town, we could always use a few more. Read on for the nine best new happy hour specials in H-Town, both at recently-open spots and at familiar faves. Because all work and no play would be pretty dull.

FM Kitchen and Bar
All our happy hour goals come true at FM Kitchen and Bar, near Washington Ave. Every beer in the house — there are more than 40 total by the can, bottle and tap — is on special ($1 off), along with a half dozen craft cocktails ($1 off), like the watermelon mule mixed with melon vodka, fresh watermelon juice, and ginger beer. Work up a thirst while you play a game of Bocce, Connect Four or cornhole on the patio. (Weekdays; 4-7 pm)
1112 Shepherd Dr.; 832-804-6006

Worcester's Annex
Happy hours are a dime a dozen, but Heights bar Worcester's Annex takes it to a whole new level, offering all 26 house cocktails, including the Fino Fresca with sherry, watermelon juice, Absinthe, lemon juice and cucumber ($4) and Ten Cent Pistol ($6), a blend of rye whisky, aperitif, dry vermouth, and muddled peaches, for 50 percent off. (Weekdays; 4-6 pm)
1433 N. Shepherd Dr.; 713- 862-4748

Le Colonial
You don’t have to settle for mediocre sips and bites when you can score delicious eats ($8), like banh mi sliders and crispy frites with Vietnamese spices served with spicy aioli, and refreshing cocktails ($8), including the Crimson Crush made with pink grapefruit flavored vodka, elderflower liqueur, grapefruit juice, and topped with Sprite, for a deal during social hour at posh River Oaks District spot, Le Colonial. (Monday-Saturday; 5-7 pm)
4444 Westheimer Rd G-140; 713-629-4444

Relish
At Upper Kirby’s Relish, drinks deals abound on the happy hour menu. All 20 cocktails, both classic and creative like Relish Rosé 75 made with gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, and sparkling rosé, are on special ($6 each), as well as craft beers ($5). Also on the menu: a burger and fries combo ($10), kale salad ($10), and deviled eggs ($1 each). (Weekdays; 3-6 pm)
2810 Westheimer Rd.; 713-599-1960

Provisions
Provisions, which shares a roof with its more upscale sibling The Pass, throws it back with “The Original Po' Boy,” stacked with mortadella, capocolla, provolone, mayo, chow chow, pepper relish, lettuce, and tomato ($10), a nod to the original Antone's Famous Po' Boys & Deli, which occupied the building for more than 50 years. The roster of seven bites also features a kale and red oak salad ($8) and a margherita pizza ($12). Thirst quenchers include an Old Fashioned ($6), red and white wines by the glass ($5), and beer ($4). (Daily; 2:30-6 pm)
807 Taft St.; 713-628-9020

Heights Bier Garten
This laid-back neighborhood spot’s name doesn't lie. At Heights Bier Garten, there are more than 45 beers on tap, with nearly half, including hoppy Bell’s Brewery Two Hearted Ale and Brash Cortado coffee milk stout, available for a mere $3 each during happy hour. What’s more, wines by the glass are 50 percent off. (Weekdays; 3-6 pm)
1433 Shepherd Dr.; 713-862-4940

Killen’s Steakhouse
Time flies when you're having fun, which makes the newly revamped — and extended — happy hour menu at Killen’s Steakhouse all the more alluring. Dig into fare (think shrimp po' boy sliders, $12, and chicken fried steak bites, $12) and imbibe craft cocktails like the St. Rita, a combination of tequila, elderflower liqueur, and fresh lime juice ($7). (Monday-Tuesday from 3:30-9 pm; Wednesday-Friday from 3:30-6:30 pm)
6425 Broadway St., Pearland, 281-485-0844

King's BierHaus
During happy hour at the Heights locale of King's Biergarten, the kitchen serves up specialty bites ($5) like a giant beer pretzel and Bavarian fried pickles, while the bar offers draft beers ($6) and cocktails ($7), from a strawberry mojito to a frozen Dark and Stormy. (Weekdays; 3-6 pm)
2044 East T C Jester Blvd.; 281-990-3042

Star Fish
Martinis and oysters go together like peas and carrots. Making the killer combo happen for a deal during happy hour is Star Fish restaurant. Discounted Gulf ($1) and Atlantic ($2) oysters are joined by five different martinis ($5 each) from traditional to the Debutante made with cranberry vodka, vermouth, and lime juice. Specially priced wines by the glass ($5), craft beers ($5), and a house Old Fashioned ($5) can also be yours. Here, happy hour launches Thursday. Good things come to those who wait. (Weekdays; 4-6 pm).
191 Heights Blvd.; 832-831-9820

The Watermelon Mule at FM Kitchen and Bar is mixed with melon vodka, fresh watermelon juice, and ginger beer.

Houston, new happy hour deals, May 2017, Watermelon Mule, FM Kitchen and Bar

Courtesy photo

The Watermelon Mule at FM Kitchen and Bar is mixed with melon vodka, fresh watermelon juice, and ginger beer.

where-drink cocktails happy-hours drinks

Chris Cusack explains

Houston bar owner speaks out about surprise arrest for health code violations

Photo by Sergio Trevino

Chris Cusack owns two locations of Betelgeuse Betelgeuse.

Certainly one of the most unusual interactions between a restaurant and City of Houston officials took place on Wednesday, May 6 when Betelgeuse Betelgeuse owner Chris Cusack was arrested for health code violations at his location on Washington Avenue.

News of the arrest spread quickly across social media over the weekend. Now, Cusack is ready to tell his side of the story.

Cusack, whose time operating restaurants in Houston goes back more than 15 years to Down House and its affiliated restaurants such as Hunky Dory and D&T Drive Inn, tells CultureMap the problem began on Monday, May 4 when a health department inspector came to Betelgeuse Betelgeuse and asked to see the restaurant’s grease trap.

The only problem is that location has never had a grease trap. Prior to becoming Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, it was Liberty Station, a pioneering bar in Houston’s craft beer and craft cocktail scenes. In the early days, Betelgeuse served food from a food truck. More recently, it prepares its food next door at The Bell and Crane. Cusack acknowledges he didn’t share this information with the inspector.

“Usually I’m a charmer with the health department, but I was a little defensive. She kept asking me. I said, ‘ma’am, we don’t make food here,’” he explains. “The tone wasn’t my finest moment, but there was no name calling or anything like that. She said, ‘where does the food come from?’ I said, ‘it doesn’t matter where it comes from. It’s produced in a commercial kitchen.’”

Cusack says he knew there would be a follow up, but he was shocked when the inspector returned two days later with more colleagues from the health department, TABC inspectors, and Houston Police Department officers.

“I got somewhere between 21 and 25 citations,” Cusack says about the return visit. He got dinged for everything from graffiti in the bathroom to a missing Harris County tax stamp on the photo booth he leases from a vendor (it has both State of Texas and City of Houston stamps, Cusack says).

One inspector told Cusack he needed a food dealer’s permit. He showed the inspector that a food dealer’s permit had been issued for the restaurant's address under the former food truck’s LLC but not to the LLC that operates Betelgeuse Betelgeuse. Cusack says he had renewed the food truck’s permit in March, but that wasn’t good enough for the inspector. In Cusack’s telling, he was arrested for not having the permit, since it was also flagged as missing in an inspection from October 2025. He's the only person he knows who has ever been arrested for a misdemeanor violation of the health code.

Cusack says he spent 21 hours in the Harris County Jail. When he got out, he says he was contacted by a more senior official within the Health Department. Once Cusack confirmed he owned both LLCs, he was told he could reopen. Both locations of Betelgeuse Betelgeuse have been operating normally since Friday, May 8.

Cusack maintains he never knew about the October 2025 inspection, which is why he renewed the food dealer’s permit for the food truck’s LLC rather than applying for one under Betelgeuse Betelgeuse’s LLC. “There’s no paper trail that shows I was given this information,” he says. “I did not get the email [from the Health Department].”

As for why things got so out of hand, Cusack theorizes he was a victim of Houston Mayor John Whitemire’s crack down on “reckless behavior” on Washington Avenue and stepped up enforcement on bars generally that led to the temporary closure of near northside cocktail bar Rabbit’s Got the Gun.

Cusack says he’s a “huge supporter” of efforts to reduce crimes like street racing, drug dealing, and sex trafficking along Washington and in its surrounding neighborhoods. Still, he feels targeting by the city for being impolite to a health inspector.

He plans to fight both the arrest and the citations in court. “I want the charges dropped, and I want it expunged completely from my record. That’s the first thing, and I’m going to try very hard to do it,” he says.

“That’s going to end up costing thousands of dollars just to deal with the sheer volume,” he adds.

CultureMap contacted Mayor Whitmire’s office. A representative said the mayor was not aware of the situation and has no comment on an open investigation.

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