Cocktails & Eats

Where to drink right now: 10 hot, happy hour deals

Del Frisco's Pomegranate Martini
Welcome to happy hour at Saint Genevieve!
Photo by William Vo
Mini tostadas with snapper ceviche at Mockingbird Bistro
Photo by Paula Murphy

It’s another sweltering August in Houston. Keep cool with 10 more thirst quenching happy hour specials at hot spots around town. These deals are not only good for wetting your whistle, they're also stomach pleasing and dollar saving.

Blu Restaurant & Lounge

The suburbs need drink deals too. Happy hour at Sugar Land's Blu Restaurant & Lounge runs from 4 to 7 p.m. daily and features dishes from the regular menu for only $4. Choices include the sweet potato samosas, edamame dumplings and tequila ceviche.

Whether it's inside at the swanky bar and lounge or outside on the restaurant's 1,400-square-foot patio, for $5 you can enjoy specials on hand-crafted cocktails like the Blinker made with rye whiskey, grapefruit and raspberry and the 9INE TO 5IVER — a mix of red and white wine, brandy, citrus and peach bitters.

Also available: $2 domestic drafts, $3 imports, $4 craft beers, and wines by the glass for $5.

Houston Texans Grille

Catch the big game — any big game — on more than 65 high-definition TVs while you enjoy food and drink specials at the Houston Texans Grille in CityCentre. There’s a regular happy hour, Mondays through Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m., and a reverse happy hour, Sundays through Thursdays from 10 p.m. until close.

You won’t leave hungry with chicken lime quesadillas, nachos and mini-burgers as options on the two-for-one appetizer menu.

Red and white house wines, a 20-ounce beer of the month and well liquors are yours for $4 and under. Select liquors are only a dollar more and the bar is stocked with just about all Three Olives’ flavors.

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House

The opening of Del Frisco’s sister restaurant, Del Frisco’s Grille, isn’t the only exciting news — so are the bar menu prices available every day from open to close at this Galleria steakhouse. Along with more than a few great dishes to sample — sesame crusted tuna, seared filet tips and smoked salmon rillettes to name a few — Del Frisco’s menu also offers a variety of cocktails, from a pomegranate martini to the classic Old Fashioned.

MKT BAR at Phoenicia Specialty Foods

MKT BAR downtown runs a happy hour deal Mondays through Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. A $6 bites menu is comprised of several dips (herb hummus and pomegranate yogurt dip for example) with baked pita chips, homemade plantain chips with mango salsa and chimichurri sauce and za'atar dusted, hand-cut fries.

Wines by the glass go for $5, draft beer is $4 and bottled beer is $3. Get crazy all day long on Wine Wednesdays. Snack and sip for cheap from open until close with half price bottles of select wine paired with an $8 charcuterie and cheese plate.

Mockingbird Bistro

The 5-5-5 happy hour at Mockingbird Bistro is available weekdays from 4 to 7 p.m. Five bucks will get you select eats, wines by the glass, classic cocktails and two-for-one local brews. Try the lobster risotto lollipops with sweet corn infusion and mini snapper ceviche tostadas.

Add to your dining pleasure with a Lynchburg Lemonade, Greyhound or Cuba Libra.

Bistro Bar at Bistro Alex

From the beverages to the cuisine, Bistro Bar at Hotel Sorella offers a half price discount on all bar menu items weekdays from 3 to 8 p.m. The prices may be small, but the portions are anything but tiny. For $7 or less you can choose from items like the Bistro Burger, pulled pork BBQ burger and chicken tenders (all with fries), and an assortment of flatbreads.

Discounted beverages include beer, wine, well drinks and specialty cocktails such as the Mandarin Cosmo, Pimm’s Cup and French Italian Martini made with Grey Goose Orange, Tuaca and lemon juice.

Note: Take advantage of the complimentary valet with any food or drink purchase.

Jasper’s

From 3 to 7 pm every day, libations and edibles at Jasper’s in The Woodlands are a mere $5 across the board. Noteworthy nosh includes buffalo chicken pizza, crab cake sliders, Angus beef sliders, and Teriyaki chicken lettuce wraps. The drink menu offers the likes of select wines by the glass, an apple or raspberry martini and an Orange Dream Cocktail made with tangerine vodka, orange juice, triple sec, and whipped cream.

Saint Genevieve

Saint Genevieve at West Ave has a 6-7-8 menu Tuesdays through Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. At the $6 level, order the Blistered Shishito Peppers or Herb Gnocchi Tots. Spicy Spanish meatballs and reuben empanadas are on the $7 menu and for $8, you can order the margherita flatbread.

Treviso prosecco and Tito’s Vodka are $7 each and an $8 menu include Alias Cabernet by the glass and the Mellow Time Cocktail, a combination of Jameson Irish Whiskey, lemon juice, honey, bitters and applewood smoked salt.

J. Black’s

From 4 to 7 p.m. daily and all night Sundays, starters at J. Black’s on Washington Avenue are half off. Options include grilled cheese with tomato basil dipping sauce, calamari and pigs in a blanket. Save on drinking, too, with $2 off all drinks and 25-percent off bottles of wine.

Tuesday is “Pints and Pizza” night — $3 select craft pints and half-priced artisan pizzas.

BRIO Tuscan Grille

The Tuscan Tasters bar menu at Brio Tuscan Grille lets you get dishes such as spicy shrimp and eggplant, beef carpaccio, the BRIO Burger and several flatbreads and bruschettas for $3.95 each. This deal is available in the bar Mondays through Fridays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., with a reverse happy hour from 9 p.m. until close.

From 4 p.m. until close, also Mondays through Fridays, reap the benefits of $5 low-priced drink specials on housemade sangrias, mojitos, martinis and wine. Another perk: A dozen-plus martini flavors for $5 each on Martini Wednesdays. With one location in CityCentre, keep your eyes peeled for another location opening mid-August in River Oaks.

Have a favorite happy hour deal? Let us know!

unspecified

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.”

italian cuisine wine fredericksburg hill country openings news-you-can-eat