St. Louis City Neighborhoods: South City
Amigo Joe's
5901 Southwest Avenue; 314-645-1995 or click here for more info and a map
Happy Hour: All day Monday through Wednesday; $2 beer and twelve-ounce margaritas
Parrots perch here and there in this cheerily painted restaurant and bar, with palm trees in silhouette set against bright pastel walls decorated with festive, multicolored lights. If those tropical birds were real, they'd have plenty of good deals to squawk about. Happy hour is all day here on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and Amigo Joe's sunny and citrusy Ultimate Margarita (not just an empty name; this guy's made with top-shelf tequila) is a generous pour at sixteen ounces and, at $5, an even more generous price. You can also get down to business with the ever-rotating "tequila of the week" selections. Add it to your cocktail or drink it straight up — whatever you choose, it's just $3.50, all day, every day. (KM)
Aya Sofia
6671 Chippewa Street; 314-645-9919 or click here for more info and a map
Happy Hour: 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; half-price appetizers and beers
Aya Sofia claims to be St. Louis' only Turkish restaurant, and we see no need to argue with that, especially because we find the place utterly charming. While the cozy bar is not really the focal point of this establishment — look to the romantic, dimly lit dining room for that, with pillows in all of the booths and valentine-red draperies — decent deals abound in the smaller space. Standout appetizers, all half off just like the beer, include kibbe (bulgur wheat pocket pies stuffed with seasoned ground beef) and baba ghanoush, a smoky chilled eggplant dip. For the less adventuresome, the restaurant also serves up hummus and pita bread. (AS)
Bruno's American Bar and Grill
2652 Hampton Avenue; 314-769-9331 or click here for more info and a map
Happy Hour: Weekdays 4 to 6 p.m.; $2 domestic bottle beer
Drinking at Bruno's might best be compared to drinking in an old friend's basement. (Or, for that matter, a friend's old basement.) You bet that's a compliment! It's got the wood paneling, the beer signs, the ever-present radio — and it's also got bartenders and waitresses who treat you as though you've got a standing reservation, even if it's your first time in. Probably the biggest difference between drinking here and at a buddy's, though, is that you've got to settle a tab before you leave Bruno's. But what a tiny tab it will be. Cans of Miller, Stag, PBR and Natural Light are $2 all day, with domestic long necks equally inexpensive during happy hour. There are specials every day, but Monday's deals are especially good, when exemplary drafts, including Schlafly, O'Fallon Wheach, Boulevard and Blue Moon are $2, and select glasses of beer are only a buck. (KM)
Colombo's
6487 Manchester Avenue; 314-647-2661 or click here for more info and a map
Happy hour: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; half-price appetizers, daily beer, bucket and shot specials
Right on the southernmost edge of Dogtown on Manchester Avenue is Colombo's, an everyman's south-city bar through and through, from its pressed-tin ceilings to its kitchen's swinging wooden doors to its well-worn back bar — dinged and scratched from the thousands of happy hours it has hosted since the place opened some 60 years ago. From 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, domestic bottles and well drinks are $2.50, pitchers of Bud Light are $6, and domestic buckets are $12. Take advantage of its reliably tasty menu when appetizers — including wings, nachos and toasted cannelloni — go to half price from 4 to 7 p.m. Additional drink specials change with the day, but if there's a game on, you can count on scoring even more discounts. (KM)
Friendly's Sports Bar and Grill
3503 Roger Place; 314-771-2040 or click here for more info and a map
Happy Hour: 3 to 6 p.m. daily, with a late-night happy hour at 10 p.m.; discounted bottles, well drinks, buckets and pitchers
Unless there exists somewhere a jolly fellow named Bob Friendly, we're betting that the "Friendly's" in this bar's name refers to the staff. At this low-frills, high-fun place, the 'tenders are known to — gasp! — actually introduce themselves and will regard you as a regular in no time flat. But "friendly" could also refer to the prices. Here, you're hard-pressed to find a time when food and drinks aren't on special. During the week customers can catch happy hour right after work or stroll in for the late-night version. Caught in the no-man's land between 6 and 10 p.m.? No worries. Chances are at least one local sports team — be it the Cardinals, Blues, Rams, Billikens or even the Tigers — is playing at home, and that means brats, nachos, burgers and dogs are only a buck and a half apiece. Or you can be the star, uh, athlete without all that pesky physical activity when you play any of Friendly's many games, indoors and out, including washers, Skee-Ball, foosball and more. (KM)
