What better way to end a work day — or a beach day — than with discounted booze and bar bites? If you've been hankering for Westside watering holes where you won't need wads of cash, we can help. $25 bottles of wine, $5 craft beers and $9 filet mignon skewers. There's even a bottomless mimosa special. Yes, we're talking about the best happy hours in Santa Monica.
Bodega Wine Bar serves as a coffee bar in the day then morphs into wine bar at night, with a mix of young professionals and casually dressed wine drinkers. As soon as the clock strikes 4 p.m., order a $7 glass of vino, a $4 beer or a $7 soju. On Wednesdays, their busiest day of the week, splash out on a $25 bottle of wine. You have about two dozen — red, white, rose or sparkling — to choose from. Feeling hangry? Try a bruschetta or hummus starter for $7 or a pepperoni and mushroom pizza for $9. The bar is one level with some raised seating areas and high-top tables. Low, lounge seating is available to the right of the entrance. Bodega doesn't have its own parking lot or a valet, and street parking is metered until 6 p.m.
Grab your crew and head to the self-proclaimed "friendliest bar in Santa Monica" for a game of giant Jenga or a round of Cards Against Humanity. Fuel the competition with $7 cocktails, well drinks and house wine. Craftsman doesn't offer food deals but the dishes are already priced affordably — $6 for spicy tater tots and $8 for a burger. Specific days of the week feature special discounts. Get half-off sparkling wine on Mondays and enjoy the all-night beer happy hour on Wednesdays. The restaurant is handicap accessible with low tables and a wheelchair accessible spot at the end of the bar. Parking is available around the corner on 2nd Street, in a public garage with handicap spots.
Date night during happy hour? It's a good option, especially at Estate. The Wilshire Blvd. restaurant provides a romantic setting with incandescent lightbulbs and sophisticated, rustic decor. Some of its upscale, globally inspired dishes are available at reduced prices on the happy hour menu. Think $10 tuna crispy wonton tacos, $12 Pad Thai and $18 filet mignon skewers. If you dpn't want to get to know a potential paramour over a $9 Improved Whiskey Cocktail or a Tommy's Margarita, opt for a $6 draft or bottled beer. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible and has valet parking.
There's a good news/bad news situation with Fig Santa Monica's happy hour. Good news: all menu items are 50% off. That means splurging at this hotel restaurant won't hit the wallet too hard. A bone-in center cut New York strip steak with rosemary fries and garlic butter goes for $29 while cocktails are $7.50. Bad news: Fig takes "happy hour" literally. The deal starts at 5 p.m. and lasts for a mere 60 minutes. The Fairmont and the Fig are wheelchair accessible, and the hotel offers valet parking for $7 with restaurant validation.
Pre-game your happy hour at the Independence, which offers $20 bottomless mimosas from the moment it opens until 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. There's a $15 minimum food purchase and a two-hour limit on the offer, so if you start drinking at noon, the deal will expire at 2 p.m. To unlock more drink specials, stick around for the actual happy hour, which starts at 3 p.m. and features $8 house cocktails, $7 draft beer and $7 wine and well spirits. Fortify that belly with something hearty, maybe $7 truffle parmesan fries, $8 avocado toast or $9 filet mignon skewers. Wheelchairs will have no problem navigating the Independence, which features a double-door entrance and standard restaurant seating. If you're hard of hearing, you may have problems chatting as the barstaurant gets loud.
How many happy hours can boast "half price on everything"? At Ingo's, an old-school-diner-turned-hip-eatery, drinkers on a budget can enjoy 50% off cocktails as well as the restaurant's library of spirits. Stop by for dinner on Sundays and Mondays to score a bottle of wine at wholesale (plus $5). There's only metered street parking but the restaurant is accessible to those in wheelchairs and has a couple of low tables in the front.
Settle into a relaxing happy hour at Massilia, an elegant yet casual French restaurant a block away from the Third Street Promenade. It's all about light bites and drinks to prep you for a late dinner. Tapas such as clams with Merguez sausages and Comte cheese flatbread are only $3 each with any drink. Libations include a $7 sangria and an $11 Negroni. If you're gonna do l'aperitif properly, go for a palate opener such as the $8 Campari/Aperol Spritz. Street parking is limited but there's a public garage with handicap spots across the street near a crosswalk.
Steps from the Third Street Promenade, the Misfit is perfect for a post-shopping drink and offers happy hour prices to accommodate your depleted wallet. Score $5 off cocktails (which normally cost $14) like Sticky Fingers, made with farmer's market peaches, gin, Campari and lime. Certain beers and glasses of wine are $7 while sangria is $6. Sit at the bar for the Barfly Lunch — a different item every weekday from 12 to 4 p.m. for a mere five-spot. That includes ahi burger Wednesdays. For parking, your only options are street spots or a public garage around the corner on 2nd Street.
Stout has an amazing happy hour for both the hungry and the thirsty. Get $5 lagers, wheat ales, pale ales and hoppy ales as well as half-off all food. That means a Stout burger with blue cheese, gruyere, rosemary bacon, caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes and horseradish cream will run you $7. The bar has plenty of low seats to accommodate wheelchairs, both inside and on the patio. Street parking is limited but a parking lot across an alley from the restaurant has a couple of handicap spots.
