Austin’s Best Happy Hours: Drink and Eat on the Cheap at Top Restaurants

Appropriately named, Happy Hour is the best time to enjoy a few drinks with friends after work before heading home to more responsibilities — whether that’s kids, laundry, or just catching up on your current Netflix binge — or going out for more. Check out these happy hours around Austin for great deals on food, and most importantly, drink.

Hillside Farmacy

 1209 E 11th Street

Happy hours: Every day from 3 to 6 pm.

Too often I leave happy hours wishing places had better food options than a humongous cheese platter or a minuscule bowl of almonds. Hillside Farmacy masters happy hour fare perfectly, expertly pairing delicious cocktails with its award-winning malt vinegar fries.

Seriously, I can almost smell the warm, smoked salt and pepper fries expertly paired with a house aioli that takes these fries to the next step. The mac and cheese is unforgettable too, with taleggio, aged white cheddar and crispy bread crumbs.

As for the star of happy hour, Hillside Farmacy offers a variety of housemade fountain sodas that can are available virgin or with booze.

The “pickpocket” is a go-to for warmer weather, with strawberry, basil and balsamic, available with rum or whiskey. Hillside also serves beer, wine and other inventive cocktails at a reasonable price. The grapefruit jalapeño margarita is a must, with a smoked salt and sugar rim that balances out this tart, spicy and addictive cocktail.

For those looking to celebrate, Hillside Farmacy has a whole selection of bubbly cocktails, with options like the house punch, available in a glass size or bowl, mimosas, aperol spritz, and an elegant French 76, made with local Tito’s vodka.

Royal Jelly

704 W St Johns Avenue

Happy Hours: 4 to 7 Tuesdays to Saturdays, and all day Sundays.

When Chef Jason Salas took over Royal Jelly, he spoke with customers to find out what they truly wanted. It shows in Royal Jelly’s inventive cocktail list, with options like “Mol’e Fashioned”, a riff on an old fashioned with rye whiskey, mole bitters and burnt sugar simple syrup. The “Same Same” cocktail offers up a great tropical option, with lemongrass gin, coconut milk, finished off with lime, tamarind, and an incredible chili-basil oil.

Royal Jelly also offers many local beers, keeping four on tap, and wine options. Complement one of its delicious cocktails with the Merguez Sliders, spicy lamb and beef sausage paired with fennel carrot-mint slaw and goat cheese to share with the table.

Salty Sow

1917 Manor Road

4:30  to 6:30 everyday

When the weather is in that sweet spot of warm, but not sweltering, Salty Sow’s patio is the best place to be. The Blanche margarita is a classic,  a house blood orange frozen margarita that offers just the right twist on the classic. Even better, it’s a beautiful color of light pink, perfect for any Instagram feed.

Whisky lovers need to try the Salty Sow’r, made with TX Blended Whisky, agave, lime and tamarind. Salty Sow also offers $5 wine, craft drafts for $4, and $5 tacos and appetizers. Don’t miss Salty Sow’s pork belly taco or its famous duck fat fries, an indulgent dish made with a 110-minute egg, and a delicious aioli to pair.

Bullfight

4807 Airport Boulevard

Happy hours: Mondays to Fridays, 5 to 6:30 pm.

Bullfight’s happy hour may be the best deal in Austin, with half off all beer, cocktails and snacks. Honestly, there’s not a bad option on the cocktails list, but the Sangre de Torero is a personal favorite.

It’s made with Bulleit bourbon, cream sherry, charred rosemary and orange. It’s a creative cocktail that almost always manages to impress. Friends of mine rave about Bullfight’s sangria, made with tinto, sherry, macerated fruit and spices, which is perfect in a glass or for sharing in a carafe.

Bullfight also offers up an extensive list of sherry, white wine, tinto and cava y rosada. The Jamon croquettes is like your childhood ham and cheese upgraded to the adult fried version, and somehow made elegant.

Uchi and Uchiko

Uchi, 801 South Lamar Boulevard

Uchiko, 4200 N Lamar Blvd

Happy hours: 5 to 6:30 pm, everyday.

Uchi and Uchiko’s happy hour — dubbed the “Sake Social” — is the perfect way to try out these Austin restaurant hotspots. If you’re on a budget and looking to try sake for the first time, this is your spot.

Both locations offer $3 unfiltered cold and hot sake, as well as Sapporo, and red, white and rose wine options. At Uchi, try out the harumaki, a pork spring roll complemented with mushroom and tamarind. At Uchiko, the short rib kimchi is sure to please, made with Wagyu short rib, peanut, and white kimuchi, a variety of kimchi that’s known for its mild and refreshing taste.