Zona 78

Zona 78 definitely has one of the best happy hours in town.  They offer half-off appetizers, half-off well drinks, $5 glasses of wine, $2 dollar domestic beers, and $3 dollar craft beer.  The happy hour runs Monday through Saturday from 3-6.  I do wish the happy hour went until 7, but the deals are too good to pass up.

Beer List

Wine List

First, on to the drinks.  The drink menu has an impressive selection of wine and beer.  I passed on the beer this time around and chose the Riesling.  As I stated before, all wine is $5 except for some premium wines that are sold for $8.

Delicious Riesling

The food menu is fairly varied, though it does mainly consist of bread and cheese.  On my visit, the waitress told us that they're getting rid of their "Bruschetta & Flatbread" section for their summer menu.   I'm not sure if they're going to be replacing them with anything because if not the appetizer section is going to be pretty small. My group ended up ordering the garlic bread plus cheese and the antipasti.

Garlic, please.

The garlic bread was insanely garlicky, so beware if you happen to be on a date or something.  I just make my boyfriend deal with my delicious garlic breath.  The bread has a bit too much cheese, and the sides of the bread were so hard they were basically inedible.

I wish I was eating this right now.

The Antipasti Platter is where it's at.  It comes with various meats, cheeses, and veggies accompanied by balsamic and olive oil.  I wish all antipasti platters were like this.





I will definitely be back for the Antipasti platter and wine again.  I'm hoping their revamped menu will add some dishes that make this a more balanced meal.

Overview:
Time: Monday-Saturday 3 to 6 pm.
Specials: Half-off appetizers and well drinks, $5 glasses of wine, $2 domestic beer, $3 craft beer

Rating: 4.0/5 shots

Zona 78
78 W. River Rd
Tucson, AZ 85704

Tavolino

I'm sorry loyal followers, I know it's been over a year since I last updated, but I'm back and ready to give you the happening on the happy hour scene. 

I've been lucky enough to visit a few time now, and it really is a phenomenal happy hour.  Tavolino is on the corner of Skyline and Campbell, across the street from La Encantada.  The restaurant has some killer reviews on Yelp, and I can see why.

There's a swanky atmosphere at this restaurant- dim lighting, a nice inside bar, an outside patio area, and attractive waiters.  Happy hour is served in the bar area as well as on the patio.    They have a nice menu of wine (sparkling, white, and red) for 5-6 dollars and beer for 3.  If you're looking for hard alcohol during happy hour this is not the place.

I've had two of the white wines on the menu, the arneis, and the trebbiano di abruzzo.  They were both nice, crisp and refreshing.  I've also had the cocktail with prosecco, aperol, and orange.  It's not your everyday drink, and I really enjoyed it.  It was the right mix of dry and fruity, which is hard to do.



The food menu boasts some great deals, pizza and assorted Italian bar snacks starting at $5, and salads starting at $4.  I love a happy hour where you can get a full meal for cheap, and this is definitely one of them.

I've had the margherita pizza, the farinata, the cheese board, and the arancini.  The pizzas are definitely enough for two, and if you want the most bang for your buck, this is the way to go.  The farinata are garbanzo bean fries, and while the texture takes  a bit to get used to, the truffle oil flavor is delicious.  The cheese board is good, but isn't a large portion, and I wouldn't suggest getting it at happy hour. The arancini are awesome, who ever invented the idea of stuffing mozzarella into balls of risotto was a genius.  It's my favorite dish on the happy hour menu.

Arancini for the win

I suggest checking out Tavolino's happy hour if you haven't already.  Delicious food at great prices, it goes until 7 (2 hours to booze after work), and wine galore.





Overview:
Time: Monday-Saturday from 3 to 7.
Specials:  Discounted wine, beer, and food.

Rating: 5/5 shots

Tavolino
2890 E Skyline Dr  
Tucson, AZ 85718

Ra

Ra has a lot going on during happy hour.  It's offered Monday thru Saturday from 4-7 pm and Sundays have their own special going on.  I like the long hours and it's one of the few happy hours in town that runs until 7.

Drink menu- beer, wine, and cocktails

The specials are pretty phenomenal with two separate menus for food and drinks.  Everything is between 2-7 dollars, so not putting too much stress on the wallet.

Food menu, lots of options to make a substantial meal

This wasn't my first visit to Ra and while I'm always partial to the sake bomb, I tried to be slightly classier on this visit.  My friend and I both went with the sake sangria,  red for her and white for me.  The drinks have a nice mixture of sake, wine, and fruit juice, so they're sweet, but not cloyingly so.  The white is a bit lighter than the red and more summery, perfect for the Tucson heat.

There was some fruit in the drink, and I'm always down for a cherry.

Good, but I prefer the white.

 The food is really the main attraction of the happy hour.  There's both sushi and appetizers offered on the menu, and I always walk away pretty pleased with the meal. We decided to order the vegetable tempura, shisito peppers, and the Viva Las Vegas roll.

Tiny serving of vegetable tempura, $6

We both thought the serving size of the dish was a little puny, and it's one of the more expensive dishes on their happy hour menu.  I've ordered it before and it's definitely gone down in quantity.  The food was good, but I'm not sure if you can ever go wrong with deep-fried anything.  The vegetables were composed of asparagus, onion, squash and sweet potato.  Two of each piece, so it's perfect for two people, but it wouldn't be substantial for a larger group.

Viva Las Vegas roll- kani kama crab & cream cheese rolled in rice & seaweed, lightly tempura battered & topped with spicy tuna, kani kama crab mix & sliced lotus root; finished with a sweet eel sauce & spinach tempura bits

Close up on the roll

The Viva Las Vegas roll is one of Ra's signature items.  There's really a lot going on in the roll- crab, cream cheese, tuna in a nice tempura fried package.  The roll is normally $12 dollars, but is 7 during happy hour.  My friend enjoyed the roll, but said she wouldn't order it unless it was discounted. 


The shisito peppers might be my favorite thing on the menu.  They are sauteed with "asian seasoning," I think it tastes like a mixture of garlic, ginger, and soy sauce and served about 15-20 in an order.  They're mainly mild, but some of them have a bite to them.  These are only 4 dollars during happy hour, which is pretty normal for a side dish.

Shisito Peppers... yum

I'm a fan of Ra in general, but there's a few things that bother me.  One, the dim lighting.  They have a nice patio out front (my favorite place to sit), but it's always packed.  Basically, to make happy hour timing, you sit inside where it's so dark you can't see your food.  I know they're trying to create some ambiance, but it would be nice if they could turn the lights up a little.  Second, the food always comes in a strange order.  We got the sushi roll right away, while the peppers came 5 minutes later, and the tempura after that.  It's fine if you're sharing everything, but when you're not it's a bit awkward for the person to look at their food pretending that they don't want to eat it. 

I wouldn't suggest eating here regularly as the bill tends to stack up.  But, the food is consistently good and you can't beat the variety of the food and drink during happy hour.

Enjoying my sake sangria in the dim restaurant.

Overview:
Time:  Monday- Saturday, 3-7 pm.
Specials:  Large selection of food and drink priced between 2-7 dollars.


Rating: 4.5/5 shots

Ra
2905 E Skyline Dr # 289,
Tucson, AZ 85718