Andina | 1314 NW Glisan

During happy hour, Andina’s expensive but incredible menu becomes slightly more accessible. The $16 ceviche is the star: prawns and green mango with Peruvian corn and sweet potato in a citrusy passion fruit leche de tigre. Don’t miss the “Sacsayhuaman” cocktail ($9): habanero pepper vodka, pureed passion fruit, cilantro, and a sugar rim. There are several other excellent mixed drinks, like a super citrusy “Ron-Yki-On” with roasted ginger rum ($8); a traditional pisco sour ($9); an El Condor bartender’s choice ($11), and wines by the glass ($6-7). The waiter wisely recommended the vegetarian empanadas ($5): spinach, mushroom, chard, egg, mozzarella cheese, and a slight sprinkling of powdered sugar on top. Get at least one per person. JENNI MOORE

Happy Hour: daily 4-6 pm, $8-11 cocktails, $6-7 wines, $5-16 menu


Bamboo Sushi | 836 NW 23rd

While expensive, this restaurant’s happy hour offers the same level of culinary delight at normal-person prices. Your meal begins with a complimentary order of edamame (LUXURY) and deeply satisfying glass of cucumber water (DOUBLE LUXURY). Start with a $4 steamed bun (chef’s choice; mine held a buttery slice of tangy steak), and sip on cold sake ($5) while you watch a chef artfully craft a made-to-order sushi roll. I chose the Camo Roll ($10), which pairs avocado and cucumbers with albacore and salmon—topped with crispy nori. The eight-piece roll is filling, doing the work of a dinner menu item. ALEX ZIELINSKI

Happy Hour: daily 5-6 pm, reduced prices on cocktails, beer, sake, & wine, $3-11 menu


Brix Tavern | 1338 NW Hoyt

Brix complements its already lively, inviting atmosphere with a lengthy happy hour menu. At only $6.50 each, their craft cocktails are inventive and unrelentingly fresh; I enjoyed a refreshing, kicky Brix Mule, which can be made with either vodka or bourbon. Their food menu features sturdy faves such as calamari and a personal margherita pizza, but you may as well splurge on the oh-so-fresh Rare Seared Ahi Tuna ($11) which, covered with tomato, corn, avocado, and wasabi mayo, may be the best thing you eat all day—at any price. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

Happy Hour: daily 3-6:30 pm, 9:30-close, $1 off wine & beer, $6.50 house cocktails, $3-11 menu


The Fireside | 801 NW 23rd

Finding bars like Fireside that start happy hour before 4 pm is a very good thing—especially when you start with a belly full of Mexican Firing Squads ($8), a potent blend of tequila, grenadine, and bitters. Getting there early means avoiding any waits for food, and you’ll only have to contend with some aging barflies who would much rather nurse their cocktails than go anywhere near Fireside’s delectable French dip ($7). ROBERT HAM

Happy Hour: daily 3-5:30 pm, Fri & Sat 10 pm-midnight, $6 beer, $7 cider & wine, $8 cocktails, $5-13 menu


The Hairy Lobster | 900 NW 11th

Full disclosure: I was one of those kids who ate cherry cough drops even when I wasn’t sick. Maybe that’s why the decidedly medicinal flavor of the Great Hot Scotch! ($7) quickly grew on me. This cocktail—a mix of Laphroaig, crème de cassis, and jasmine tea—isn’t your typical throw-it-back happy hour fare, but it hit the spot on a particularly blustery day. Seared ahi tuna with a jasmine rice pancake ($9) brought the umami goodness, though I’ll admit being just a little disappointed that there weren’t any lobster dishes on the happy hour menu, considering the restaurant’s name. BLAIR STENVICK

Happy Hour: Tues-Fri 5-6:30 pm, $7 wine & cocktails, $5 beers, $6-14 menu


Mediterranean Exploration Company | 333 NW 13th

The Mediterranean Exploration Company has a fine-ish dining happy hour. The $9 drinks range from sparkling wines to a delicious Tanqueray Sterling vodka and Ceylon tea concoction. As far as food, a boat of sheep’s milk feta ($8) topped with savory spices and olives came with a toasty pita, the fresh radicchio salad ($11) was made for sharing, and the sweet and salty combo of bacon wrapped dates ($2 each) with a crunchy almond in the middle were a crowd favorite. Heavier fare includes a falafel sandwich ($13) and Moroccan meatballs ($14), and finishes with a crispy and sweet pistachio and hazelnut baklava ($5 each)—so you can make a full meal out of just the happy hour offerings. BRI BREY

Happy Hour: daily 4-5:30 pm, $4 beer, $9 wine & cocktails, $2-16 menu


Picnic PDX | 1305 NW 23rd

Picnic puts two of the best beers brewed in Oregon—Boneyard RPM IPA and Pfriem Pilsner—on its happy hour menu for $4 each, instantly endearing it to anyone used to forking over six or seven bucks for a craft pint at their local taproom. If you want something stronger, the classic bourbon old fashioned ($9) is just that: classic. A chicken liver pate with a candle in it is the visual star of the charcuterie board ($8), but the buttery Castelvetrano olives were a personal favorite. BS

Happy Hour: daily 3-6 pm, $5 wine, $2 off cocktails, $4 beers, $4-8 menu


Pink Rabbit | 232 NW 12th

Thankfully, Pink Rabbit manages to keep happy hour happier than any song by the bar’s namesake band, the National. While Pink Rabbit’s regular cocktail menu features offbeat ingredients like activated charcoal, tea, and Lambrusco, at happy hour, the spotlight is on simpler and classic cocktails like a dynamite sherry and apple brandy old fashioned ($9) or a vodka-aperol sour with passion fruit ($9). Snacks run the gamut from beef tendon chips (think pork rinds but better), to taro tots, to sliders, to those beef tendon chips covered with pork curry and Thai chili cheese sauce, with nothing but those decadent “nachos” running over $10. THOMAS ROSS

Happy Hour: daily 3-6 pm, $1 off wells and drafts, $9 cocktails, $3-11 menu


Pope House Bourbon Lounge | 2075 NW Glisan

While the geographic center of Pope House Bourbon Lounge is inside a rambly old house off Northwest 21st, its heart is in Kentucky, with a whiskey-forward menu. For happy hour, you can get a cheap glass of lower-shelf whiskey served as you like it, or try a specialty cocktail, including the Half Man (as in Manhattan), a solid take on the Brown Derby, and a vodka-and-lime Junebug. For eats, they’ve got mac ’n’ cheese, jambalaya, hushpuppies, pork sliders, and a plate of so-so deviled eggs, or get a large house salad with plenty of mushrooms, cucumber, and feta. NED LANNAMANN

Happy Hour: daily 4-7 pm, all day Mon, $1 off drafts, wells, & wine, $5 whiskeys, $6 cocktails, $5-7 menu


RingSide Steakhouse | 2165 W Burnside

Despite its imposing and pricey reputation, the Ringside Steakhouse’s happy hour is totally worth it. The steak bites ($5) are delightful little beef poppers that come with a creamy horseradish sauce I wanted to smear on everything. Their quesadilla ($5) is meaty and satisfying, and in general the bar is a shockingly normal place. Slight catch: It’s one of those one-drink-per-person-minimum places, and RingSide’s happy hour has zero in the way of drink specials. They gotta get you somewhere. JOE STRECKERT

Happy Hour: Mon-Sat 9:30 pm-close, Sun 4-5:30 pm & 9:30 pm-close, $4-6 menu


Solo Club | 2110 NW Raleigh

You can’t get any substantial happy hour food deals, but Solo Club has a good snack game. The salt cod fritters ($9) and the charcuterie plate ($6) are both savory and delicious. The cocktails on their happy hour menu are refreshing and two bucks off, but ultimately it was the sheer beauty of the Solo Club that won me over. That, and the fact that they played two Pulp songs within a space of 30 minutes. I live there now. SUZETTE SMITH

Happy Hour: daily 3-6 pm & all day Sun, $1 off beer & wine, $3-8 menu


St. Jack | 1610 NW 23rd

There is not a single element of St. Jack that’s fucking around, and that goes for their exquisite happy hour. The menu changes regularly, but a recent visit evidenced some fantastic options. The fried chicken sandwich ($10), with pickles and Frank’s Honey was a home run, as was the chicken liver mousse ($6), a creamy bulb of soft loveliness to smear all over pieces of crusty baguette. The discounted cocktail list ($9) was a mere three drinks long, but they’re supplemented by a handful of beer, wine, and sparkling options. NL

Happy Hour: daily 4-6 pm & 10 pm-close, $5 beer, $6-8 wine, $9 cocktails, $4-15 menu


Teardrop Lounge | 1015 NW Everett

A chic martini bar in the Pearl district, Teardrop Lounge’s long-standing, much-beloved happy hour is the only time of day my broke art student friends can feed their ravenous desire for craft cocktails. The best seat in the house is at the round, circular bar where you’re front row for the explosive show of cocktail concoction. There’s so much shaking, slamming, and delicate twistin’! Although the food menu is slight, Teardrop’s relationship with Olympia Provisions affords them an excellent pickle game. Their menu of cocktails changes frequently—I was told every two weeks!—with the seasons of ingredients, but it’s unlikely the sturdy, mellow Graduate, with blended scotch, sweet vermouth, tonic, and orange Curaçao, is going anywhere. SS

Happy Hour: daily 4-6 pm, $7 cocktails, $5 menu


Vault Cocktail Lounge | 226 NW 12th

Vault Cocktail Lounge’s selection of booze is as good as it gets, the staff brings their A-game, and the house cocktails are superlative concoctions. The Little Brogue, made with dark rum, bitters, and a spritz of Laphroaig 10, has bottomlessly deep flavor, and the Solid Gold Oldie (a take on the old fashioned) is dangerously drinkable. Plus, the happy hour nibbles—including a delicious soft pretzel with beer cheese and decadent, prosciutto-wrapped dates—are far tastier than your usual happy hours. NL

Happy Hour: Mon-Thurs 4-6 pm, Fri & Sat 3-6 pm, Sun 4 pm-midnight, $6 cocktails, $5 beer & wine, $3-7 menu


The Waiting Room | 2327 NW Kearney

The Waiting Room’s happy hour—which, like the regular menu, is a mildly modernized take on Southern cooking—is filled with delights. Days later and I’m still dreaming of their cornmeal fried pickles ($6), and, while not as memorable, I was still charmed by their take on poutine ($13) that slathers a nice coating of truffle-port au jus and confit bacon over a helping of curly fries. I also can’t say enough nice things about their tart and bracing Sazerac ($8), which is on tap at the bar. RH

Happy Hour: Tues-Fri 4-6 pm, $3-5 beer, $6-8 wine, $8-12 cocktails, $1.50-$13 menu