Bored with your usual happy hour hangout? This list is brimming with bar options to mix things up this month. Some are stalwarts with newly launched specials, while others are newcomers with noteworthy deals. Here are eight Fort Worth-area destinations to try a new happy hour this month, from a brand new Korean pub to a time-honored Tex-Mex chain. Spread the word and increase your cocktail cred.
Dal Pocha Korean Pub
Fort Worth’s first Korean pub (in the new H Mart complex at 3970 NE Loop 820, Haltom City), Dal Pocha opened in September specializing in Korean street food like kimchi fries, wings, and crispy shrimp with ponzu sauce, along with craft cocktails, Korean beers, and a long list of soju – a popular Korean spirit. Happy hour is 5-7 pm Monday-Thursday and includes $4 draft beer, $5 highballs (try the yuzu), $4.99 kimchi fries, and $5.99 Korean dumplings.
Cristina’s Fine Mexican Restaurant
This Tex-Mex institution dates back to the late 1980s when it was founded by the Vargas family in Flower Mound. Locations now dot the entire Metroplex, including Alliance, Southlake, North Richland Hills, and the newest in Keller, which opened last spring. Also new is Cristina’s chain-wide happy hour. Drinks are on special all day Sunday-Thursday and 11 am-6 pm Friday. The menu includes $6 house margaritas, mojitos, and sangria, along with $5 pints, $4 bottles, and $7 skinny ‘ritas and swirls. Even more, food specials are only $5 and $6 Monday-Friday from 3-6 pm and include mini flautas, half quesadilla, a half dozen nachos, and more.
Buonissimo
This authentic Italian destination located in City Place Center (150 Throckmorton St.) quietly opened in downtown Fort Worth last year, and it’s become a popular place for after-work happy hour. Offered daily from 2-6 pm, the generous specials include half-price wines by the glass, $5 beers, $7 wells, and $5 off signature cocktails. Pair with half-prize pizzas like margherita and diavola, or $6 meatballs. Try the refreshing Cucumbertini made with cucumber vodka and mint botanicals, or the Lake Como Cosmopolitan tinged with turquoise-hued Italicus liqueur.
P.F. Chang’s
P.F. Chang’s weekday happy hour offers lots of options for both drinks and apps. Select wines by the glass and beer, like Sapporo Japanese lager, are $6. Other specials include $9 cocktails and sake, $12 Japanese whisky (served on the rocks, neat, or in a highball), and $12 appetizers like Chang’s legendary lettuce wraps, dumplings, bao buns, and new Japanese wok-fired calamari. Or choose the $15 Sushi & Sip, which comes with choice of spicy tuna or a California roll paired with sake or Sapporo. Happy hour is 3-6 pm Monday-Friday. If there with a group, order P.F. Chang’s new sushi boat, a limited time experience including edamame, a California roll, shrimp tempura roll, and two chef-selected specialty rolls served with a head-turning dry ice presentation, starting at $49.99. P.F. Chang’s has locations in downtown Fort Worth, Alliance, Arlington, and Grapevine.
Buonissimo/Facebook
The espresso martini is on happy hour at Buonissimo.
Seared
This New York steakhouse-inspired restaurant and bar opened this summer in the former Pearl Snap Kolaches spot (4006 White Settlement Rd.) to rave reviews and is already drawing regulars from nearby neighborhoods like Crestwood and Monticello. While steaks are the main draw, a lengthy happy hour menu, available 4-6 pm Monday-Friday, is anchored by a $13 Akaushi Wagyu burger served with endless fries, along with dishes like Thai chili brussels sprouts that serve up to four people, seared signature bacon, and fried calamari, all $10 each. As for the cocktails, they’re all $7 to $8 on happy hour and include espresso martinis, old fashioneds, and margaritas, along with specialties like the jalapeno-infused Watermelon Wrangler and the Crestwood Breeze. House wines and rotating draft beers are $5, plus select bottles of wine are half-off.
Meraki
Chef Tim Love’s latest endeavor is this Mediterranean eatery located inside the former restaurant side of Courtside Kitchen (1615 Rogers Rd.), which now operates independently simply as Courtside Pickleball. Patrons will find Love’s take on classics like falafel, baba ghanoush, and spanakopita, along with elevated dishes such as molasses-glazed lamb ribs. At happy hour (which is truly just an hour), the special is straightforward: all food and beverages are half-off. The deal is good 4:30-5:30 pm Wednesday-Saturday and late-night, 10-11 pm Friday-Saturday. Cocktails are Grecian-inspired, such as the Athenian Spritz with Otto’s Athens Vermouth; the Mythos Mule with lime leaf-infused vodka and ginger beer; and the Sea You in Santorini with blue spirulina-infused gin, sea salt foam, and sea asparagus.
Tokyo Café
The longtime west Fort Worth authentic Japanese restaurant (5121 Pershing Ave.) just dropped a new happy hour menu this month. Visit 3-6 pm Monday-Friday for $4 draft beers and hot sake and $7 select wines, cocktails, and chilled sake. Food-wise, patrons will find sushi rolls for a little as $4 along with deals on popular apps like tok fries ($5), the butadon candied pork belly bowl ($6), corn fritters ($6), and bao buns ($3.50 each). In addition to a new happy hour, Tokyo Café also has a new executive chef in Jose Pino. He takes the reins for longtime executive chef Kevin Martinez, who now leads the kitchen in The Fort Worth Club Athletic Center.
The Dirdie Birdie
Happy hour just teed off at this new indoor miniature golf course (2821 Morton St.), which doubles as a spacious full bar, restaurant, and patio. Offered 3-6 pm Tuesday-Friday, happy hour deals include $5 for every draft beer on tap, $6 wines, $7 Caddy’s Classic Margarita, $8 frozen cocktails, and $8 queso blanco, a substantial snack with its roasted corn and serrano salsa verde.
