The Open Road to Milwaukee!

After my stop in Landry’s in El Paso, I didn’t make it to another bona fide Happy Hour until my visit with JG at Heaven on Seven in Naperville! You know - the open road calls and sometimes, timing just doesn’t work out. That said, the trip was completely fun, booze-filled and a great American journey! Here’s the story via in pictures!

After El Paso, Mom and I journeyed down to the little West Texas town of Marfa that’s known for its unique art culture and for having been the shooting locations for GIANT, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, and more! We loved the:

Prada Marfa installation outside of town.

And the gorgeous West Texas Sunset.

But most of all, Ma and I enjoyed our patio at the Rock Hudson at the Hotel Paisano (he really stayed there!).

Our journey continued with a stop in Dallas and Fort Worth, where we enjoyed learning more about:

The Grassy Knoll - and I loved hearing about my mom’s own memories of that turbulent time, those of a little 4th grade Catholic girl whose world was forever changed (along with everyone else).

 

The Fort Worth Stockyards!

 

Billy Bob’s Honky Tonk, where I got to sample my first Lonestar beer!

We then made our way to Memphis, with a little stop in Hope, Arkansas, where we got to visit President Clinton’s childhood home!

And then... there was Memphis, Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock N’ Roll (and me!). Loved checking out:

Hog & Hominy’s awesome cocktails - the Jack Rose and Juice from the Jelly Jar!

The Peabody’s Mint Julep...

AND their Party on the Rooftop, baby!

I dropped off my mama in Memphis and picked up a new traveling companion (aka hitchhiker, JK!), long-time friend, TeePee! We made our way to Nashville by way of Lynchburg, where we learned a little about our new friend:

Jack Daniels!!

There's a story behind this picture (probably funnier in the event than the telling :), but you can still ask me next time you see me.

Off to Nashville, we loved:

The vibrant nightlife!

Loretta Lynn singing at the Grand Ole Opry!

Seeing the sites from ABC’s Nashville show - including the world famous Bluebird Cafe (also featured in one of my fav 90’s movies, THE THING CALLED LOVE!).

 

And a pair of killer tequila cocktails at Tavern! May I present... the Margarita del Diablo and the Pablo Honey.

I dropped TeePee at the airport in Nashville and made the solo sojourn to my hometown of Springfield, IL, where:

I celebrated National Martini Day with the Hello Kitty and Cherry Berry at
Bella Milano!  

A family reunion was held!

Some friends and I organized the Radish Run, where we raised over $1,600 to help the Friends of Sangamon County Animal Shelter - in honor of a dear friend who passed away last year and whose death changed my life immeasurably - even prompting this grand move across the nation!

After a wonderful summer of travel, I’ve finally made it to my new home Milwaukee, where I’m so excited to put down some roots, but oh how I that glorious open road... Just yesterday, my heart asked me “where are we going next?”

MILWAUKEE Spectacular!

 

Follow our adventures on The Happy Hour Tour and you’ll find out!!

Chili’s Grill & Bar

4609 Poplar Ave.

Memphis, TN 38117

901.881.8945www.chilis.com
twitter.com/chilis

Parking: Free lotDays: Monday-Friday

Times: Monday-Thursday, 3-6pm, 9pm-close; Friday, 3-6pm, & During All Professional Football Games for Food DealsDrink Deals: 2-for-1 Draft Beer, Margaritas, Well, Call, & Premium Cocktails, & House Wine – ALL DAY, EVERY DAYFood Deals: $2.99-$4.99 Select Appetizers

When covering Happy Hours in Memphis, one might expect me to hit up the infamous Beale Street for a true Memphis experience. However, my family prefers the comfort of old favorites like TGIFridays and Chili’s and since I find going to the bar alone creepy (seriously – don’t do that), I am happy to follow wherever the family may take me. And happy, I was!

My niece, Amber, had to miss out on last year’s Christmas happy hours, but this year she was of age, so she couldn’t wait and put on her weekend’s finest. Amber, my sister, Tracey, and I headed out to their preferred Chili’s location. Like a lot of restaurants, happy hour only takes place in the bar area. That’s more than fine since there are plenty of bar stools, high top tables, & booths to accommodate happy hour patrons.

Amber, Tracey, & me

Upon settling in at a high top table, we learned that this particular Chili’s location has happy hour all day, every day on drink deals! The 2-for-1 drink deals at this location turned out to be better than the ones I had found on-line. For $3.99 each, we ordered frozen margaritas (strawberry & mango) that were served in frosty mugs. For those that don’t like their margarita glasses lined with salt, Chili’s lines the glasses of the flavored drinks with sugar. Like salt, it might not be for everyone, but it was a nice surprise.

All appetizers are priced from $2.99-$4.99! Thanks to the prices, we were sure to fill up our table with goodies. We had 2 orders of the famous boneless buffalo wings, southwestern egg rolls, burger bites, & fries. It was until I had the boneless buffalo wings that I forget how truly amazing they are. How they get the wings to be crispy and juicy, I’ll never know. Too bad the nearest Chili’s in LA is a bit of a drive from the Happy Hour Tour headquarters.

Yes, we ordered a lot.

Another welcome surprise about Chili’s happy hour is that happy hour takes place during all professional football games. More and more bars are expanding their happy hour to inlcude sporting events since games often start when happy hour is already half over and people are sure to be there for hours in need of food & drink. It’s nice to see a chain restaurant see the importance in happy hour during football. Hopefully, the deals expand to basketball and baseball games, too. Regardless of the sport deals, I will be sure to be back for happy hour whenever I find one in the neighborhood.

-JG
Rating: 4 Martinis

The Happy Mexican

6080 Primacy Parkway

Memphis, TN 38119

901.683.0000

Parking: Free Lot

Tues. – Sun., 3-7pm, Margarita Happy Hour: $3.25 small, $5.99 jumbo, $8.99 monster, $12.99 pitchers

Since my parents moved to Memphis, there has been some concern about how I’ll stay entertained since I did not grow up there. Yes, I have family there, almost my entire family in fact. However, I now lacked the traditions of when I would visit my friends in my hometown of Chicago – house parties, Portillo’s, Orberweis Dairy, etc. I thought this might be a problem, but surprisingly my family are huge happy hour tour supporters and couldn’t wait to take me to one.

My cousin, Angie, had suggested The Happy Mexican that not only has happy hour but an all day special every day. Just look:

Monday, 2 for 1 small, lime margaritas

Tuesday, 2 for 1 domestic bottles

Wednesday, 2 for 1, imported bottles

Thursday, 2 for 1 pitches on tap

Friday, $7.99 top shelf, jumbo margaritas

Saturday, $7.99 ultimate margaritas

Sunday, $7.99 presidente margaritas

My sister, Vanessa, picked me up where we joined my other sister, Tracey, cousin Keisha, Angie, and many, many more. It was a good thing that people were already waiting for our arrival because the line was out the door for those waiting for a table and all bar stools were occupied. Good place for groups, bad place to come without a reservation. In fact, without a reservation, it could be quite a miserable experience.

Everyone on my end of the table ordered the $7.99 Saturday night special - the ultimate margarita, which is made with Chincaco tequila. The jumbo definitely lived up to the description. I didn’t need to order another drink all night. As one can see from the photo, one jumbo margarita equaled 2 large margaritas at another bar.

The Happy Mexican didn’t offer any food specials for happy hour, but as with most Mexican places, I’m usually good with the free chips & salsa. A few people ordered a taco here or burrito there, but nothing looked extraordinary to me.

The servers automatically split our checks without being asked, always a plus. However, when we wanted to order another round of drinks the server would only take orders from some and not others. He then told us that we would have to order from the bar from now on, which was clear across the restaurant. He also told us that he his shift was ending but closed us out without getting the chance to order further or intro us to a new server. This was kinda odd since they weren’t asking us to give up our table to a waiting party, just to order from the bar.

All in all The Happy Mexican is a great meet up spot. It was fun to drink with my generation without the watchful eye of parents, aunts, & uncles!

-JG

Rating: 3 Margaritas

TGIFridays

7733 Winchester Rd

Memphis, TN 38125

901.752.1369

www.tgifridays.com

Parking: Free lot

Daily, 4-7pm and 10pm –close, $2-5 select drink specials, ½ priced appetizers

In honor of The King’s birthday… that’s Elvis Presley for those not in the know… we decided to post a Memphis happy hour today. After all, TGIFridays is kinda classic and also loved by people world-round. I was really hoping to find a happy hour in Graceland, but I tell ya, finding happy hours in Memphis is hard work! Since Memphis is more suburban than big city, I knew I could count on a chain restaurant to bring me a happy hour.

My sister, niece, & I ventured out to the TGIFridays that was neighbor to the Target I visited a total of 3 times in 9 days. (I just love that store. Only thing missing: happy hour!) I was sure that TGIFs would have a happy hour since I usually go there for my Jack Daniels Grill fix on Chicago-land visits. However, I was quite disappointed that this info was not found on their site, especially since their happy hour is a national event.

Everything turned around once we got the restaurant. We scored a high top table in the bar area and a server who promised to take care of us. At first, I was disappointed that there are only 4 drink specials per day (2 beers, 1 wine, & 1 mixed drink) on their happy hour menu, but our server quickly told us to ignore the days and order anything off the menu. I’m not sure if the other TGIFridays are this friendly, but they should definitely get rid of that bum menu. My sister & I went for $4 margaritas and mojitos, while my niece ordered some blue drink she couldn’t explain to us. To quote Anchorman: That’s pure gasoline.

The serving size of the drinks was so generous that it was a must that we order food. During happy hour, all appetizers are half-off except for 2 that are pictured on the menu. Ain’t that some sh*t? Maybe TGIF should make a whole new happy hour menu all together, plus post it to their site. Lucky, The Happy Hour Tour is here for you.

There’s a decent amount of food options, priced between $3.19-$4.50 during happy hour. We ordered the Tucsan Spinach Dip, priced at $3.84. It was plenty for all 3 of us to share, and we stayed for another round of drinks. The server was so nice that he would look to our table from the bar from time to time to make sure we were good. There was no waiting around here, that’s some Southern hospitality!

TGIFridays is a great default happy hour. There’s always one somewhere – big cities, small cities, or suburbs. My only complaint is the lack of information on the site & menus. For a place all about flair, they should show a bit more love to the happy hour.

While we never saw any Elvis impersonators, we did spot an off duty Santa Claus... 3 days after Christmas!

Cheers! JG.

Rating: 4 Martinis