St. Louis County Neighborhoods: West County
Oishi Sushi
721 North New Ballas Road, Creve Coeur; 314-567-4478 or click here for more info and a map
Happy Hour: 5 to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday; buy one à la carte piece, get one free
Nestled into a Creve Coeur strip mall, Oishi Sushi offers specials during happy hour on simply that: delicious sushi. The space is nothing fancy, but it's completely comfortable, ideal for a no-fuss bite after eight hours at work or even an out-of-office meeting to end your day sans fluorescent lighting. The fish, already affordable, is even more so for one hour a day during the week: Two pieces of octopus or squid cost $2, salmon and eel are $2.50, and hamachi is $2.60. Add in some hot tea, and you've got a healthy dinner for less than $10. What a deal! (AS)
Paul Mineo's Trattoria
333 Westport Plaza, I-270 and Page Avenue, Maryland Heights; 314-878-8180 or click here for more info and a map
Happy Hour: Weekdays 5 to 7 p.m.; $5.95 and $7.95 appetizers, $3 bottles of beer, well drinks and draft beers, $4 margaritas and martinis, $5 glasses of house wine
In some ways, Westport Plaza is the perfect place for happy hour — and happy-hour hopping: Park your car once, and you can stroll the pedestrian plaza from bar to bar and restaurant to restaurant, seeking out the best of the best deals. Though you start your tour at Paul Mineo's Trattoria, you may not end up moseying any farther. The $5.95 appetizers at this family-run eatery range from graze-able options, such as fried calamari and cannelloni bites, to heartier fare, including a ten-inch chicken pesto pizza and Italian meatballs. The $7.95 appetizer options are more substantial still — you're looking at a whole meal if you order the lobster ravioli dish, which is complemented with a velvety cream sauce. Talk about happy! (AS)
Pujols 5 Westport Grill
342 Westport Plaza, I-270 and Page Avenue, Maryland Heights; 314-439-0505 or click here for more info and a map
Happy Hour: Weekdays 2 to 7 p.m.; $5 select appetizers, doubles on all liquor and beer, $2 domestic pints, $3 margaritas, $5 glasses of wine
At Pujols 5 Westport Grill, you may not be surprised by the number of televisions in the bar. (From where we sat on one visit, we could easily watch no fewer than twelve TVs. Twelve.) And you're also not shocked that the great No. 5 isn't there to greet you at the door — he does have a family and a busy career. But you may be taken aback to learn that one of baseball's greatest players prefers chicken flautas to anything else on the reduced-price appetizer menu. We always thought of Mr. Pujols as more of a sliders man, ourselves. Anywho, these beloved fried flautas ($5 during happy hour) are indeed a tasty, satisfying treat, especially when you wash them down with an ice-cold beer. You may not be at the ballpark — and your wallet thanks you for that — but you can still raise a brew and know that this Bud's for you, especially when domestic pints are just $2. (AS)
