Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta
4727 California Avenue

Category:

Mexican Food, Chain

When:

Thursday July 17, 2008
5:30pm to 7:30pm

Walkabouters:

Keri & Eric joined by Kristie and Nolan

Happy Hour:

Noon to 7:00 PM Mon-Fri

Specials: Alcohol: Signature Margharitas (lime) - $4.75 Well Drinks $3.25

Beers - Unknown

Keri drank the lime margaritas (blended) a couple of them to be exact... :) They were cool, crisp and tasty for a warm summer evening. Eric had a lime margarita on the rocks, and a well drink, gin and tonic. Nolan and Kristie drank premium margaritas, which were not on the happy hour menu, but they were strong and tasty.

Food:

Limited selection of foods for Happy Hour. Quesadillas, nachos (premium includes sour cream and guac) and regular, the happy hour appetizers were half price.

Atmosphere:

This place is a typical chain-style Mexican restaurant…except there was no piped in Mariachi music. The music in the bar ranged from Bel Biv Devoe to Sarah McLachlan, so it was an interesting mix of pop and easy listening. The standard ads graced the walls and typical chain restaurant colors often associated with Mexican restaurants. There was a large screen television behind us was tuned to airplane races, which provided visual stimulation for anyone facing that direction. We sat in a booth which was comfortable and spaciously appointed…there were 4 booths, 5 multi-person tables and 6 bar stools. When we got there at 5:30 there was a crowd of about 8-12, this number grew to be more than probably 24 by the time we left at 7:30pm. Our waitress was decent and the service was fine, the more crowded the bar became, the more difficulty she had keeping up with all the tables.
There were 5 beers available on tap and a decent wall of spirits. The strawberry margaritas looked phenomenal, but were not on the Happy Hour menu so we didn’t check them out.

Bar Hooks: Yes

Foot Rail: No

Cost of Happiness: $36.00 (for Keri and Eric only).

Overall rating (1-10 and personal thoughts):

Keri: 5/5.5

I give Puerto Vallarta a solid 5, maybe a 5.5. While they have an extremely impressive time period for “happy hour”, hence the extra half-point, I found everything about it average, or slightly below average. Even though the appetizer menu was half-off during happy hour, they were pricey outside of happy hour…who charges $10.00 for Nachos??? The chips for the chips and salsa were warm and non-greasy, the salsa was pretty spicy and fresh, so I would just stick with those in the future. I drank 3 lime margaritas and didn’t really feel the effects of drinking them at all. The food, the drinks and the atmosphere didn’t make me that “happy”…fortunately the company was excellent and the strange music selections gave us conversation fodder. Oh, and, why oh why are there ceiling fans in places like this? They turn slowly (to make you feel like you’re someplace with a slower pace of life?), and really, instead of a cool breeze, or even air circulation, the only thing they provided was irritation! It was extremely warm in this place and all I really wanted to do was reach up there and turn them either up or off!! Although I liked our waitress, and might come here for normal dinner and drinks, I felt that this wasn’t really a walkabout happy hour, more like meeting pals after work at the local Mexican Restaurant for nachos and margaritas.

Eric: 4.5

I have been to quite a few Mexican restaurant happy hours in my life. Some have been great and some have been forgettable. Puerto Vallarta will be forgotten. There are three things going for this place. The happy hours are from Noon to 7:00, the rail drinks were stiff, and I only ate the nachos and did not get diarrhea. Seven hours are really hard to beat. This should be the standard that all places try to achieve. But then again if the seven hours are crap, then what is the point. Puerto Vallarta is your typical looking American Mexican restaurant. Maybe that is my big problem with this place. I would rather see one extreme or another. Either attractive waitresses service microbrews and smoky chipotle Kobe beef fajitas or a dusty floored cantina with two sombrero wearing amigos with cockroaches crawling on their ponchos enjoying an afternoon siesta. I had a hard time figuring out what was on special. They have mostly domestic and a few Mexican beers. I might be in the minority on this but I don’t go near Mexican beers. If you have to put a lime in the bottle to make the beer drinkable, I will pass. Also if you can’t drink the water, how can you drink the beer? I started with the basic margarita because it was the only margarita on special. I ordered a few well drinks that had some punch to it. Our waitress was attentive but was distracting by her unappealing tattoos and piercings. I have yet to get a great plate of nachos from a Mexican restaurant. For some reason, brewpubs have the best nachos. The best part of the nachos was that they were ½ price. Ten dollars would have been a rip off. There was refried beans pasted on the chips which turned them into a soggy mess within three minutes. The pork served on the nachos was chunked instead of shredded. The abundance of melted cheese saved the day. There were a lot of people shuffling in and out during our two hours there. I can see where this place might have its appeal to the regular customer but to the casual person coming off the street looking for a little happiness, I would do the Mexican hat dance to the cantina down the road.

Nolan (Guest Blogger): 6

It started so well... the Waitress was friendly and mentioned there were specials on beers, wells and mixed drinks. Plus half priced appetizers. Did I mention happy hour runs from Noon to 7? It had the right atmosphere of a dive bar with locals, but with a real kitchen attached. Why o why did it go wrong from there... My first clue should have been that there wasn't really a "Happy Hour Drink Menu". It was always whatever the waitress felt like mentioning. So my final take was that happy hour is more of an informal event controlled by the whim of the server and bartender. I suspect regulars get excellent deals on a top shelf margarita, while a tourist is stuck with a bad rum&coke and a bud-light happy hour special. The nachos were serviceable, but more what I would expect from a bar and not a place named Puerto Vallarta.

West 5

West 5
4539 California Avenue
http://www.westfive.com/

Category:
Hip Neighborhood Lounge and Restaurant

When:

Wednesday July 9, 2008
5:30pm to 6:30pm


Walkabouters:
Keri & Eric joined by Kristie and Nolan

Happy Hour:

4:00pm to 6:00pm Mon-Fri


Specials:

Alcohol: Signature Drinks $4.00 (Mai Tai and Alki Cruiser)
Beers - Manny’s Pale Ale $2.50/pint
Wine - $4.00/glass
Keri drank the Mai Tai – strong drink with great flavor, she liked it so much she had 2... or was it 3? Eric had the Alki Cruiser, too much of a lime-aid flavor, he switched to Mai Tai’s. Nolan had the Manny’s, which you can never go wrong with, and at $2.50 a pint, TOTALLY worth it. Kristie had a glass of the wine (can’t remember the name), which she liked enough to get a second glass.

Food: Loved their food options for Happy Hour! The menu is broken up into three categories: $4.00, $5.00 and $6.00. We sampled items from the $4.00 and $5.00 options, which included chicken satay ($4.00), sloppy joe sandwiches and spicy pulled pork sandwiches ($5.00), we also sampled a Caesar salad.
Chicken Satay: was our favorite selection for value and flavor…the chicken skewers were tasty, and the peanut sauce was really fun…if you don’t like peanut butter, probably ought to stay away from this one!
Spicy Pulled Pork Sandwich (SPPS): very “wet”, but had a tasty sauce with a nice kick to it…the pork was a little overdone, but overall, this sandwich was worth the $5.00 price.
Sloppy Joe: not as good as the SPPS…there was lots of “sloppy” to it, but the meat had the consistency of a meatloaf, which didn’t allow the meat to soak up any of the sauce…wouldn’t order again.
Both sandwiches came with either potato salad or coleslaw, so we sampled both.
Potato Salad: ok, the potatoes were undercooked, and there was no dill/vinegar flavor, there was some seasoning used that made the aftertaste a bit “off” but none of us could figure out what it was.
Coleslaw: oil-based, and not really “blendable” for the spicy sandwiches, as coleslaw is intended to be…it’s like serving Italian dressing with hot wings…they just don’t combine correctly.
Caesar Salad: While Kristie gave the salad a good review, she liked that they didn’t drench the salad with dressing, the lettuce was crisp and the salad had a good overall flavor. Nolan and Keri both sampled the croutons (which Kristie doesn’t eat), Nolan’s review of the croutons is: “these croutons take stale bread to an all new low, probably the worst croutons I’ve ever eaten”. We would have to agree with Nolan, they were truly awful.

Atmosphere:

When you walk in, you’re greeted by an old scoring machine from a bowling alley, and when you look up from the machine, you see a giant glittery crown, which was from an old Seattle hotel. The walls bring back memories of what the city used to be, with the help of pictures from decades past, when life was simpler and so was West Seattle. While the seats at the bar look cool…they are incredibly uncomfortable, especially if you are a woman gifted with hips…with a forward slant and no foot rest, both Kristie and Keri were struggling to keep from sliding off of the front of the stool.
The music seemed to be “alternative”, and during the height of business, was low enough to be background noise, so you didn’t have to yell to be heard. There are approximately 7 two person tables, 7 multi-person tables, and 20 bar stools, no outdoor seating. When we got there at 5:30 there was a crowd of about 12-15, during the peak (around 5:45), there were more than 30 people, ranging from families to singles in ages from 21 to 50 somethings. It’s pretty clear by the clientele that West 5 is a neighborhood favorite, there appeared to be quite a few regulars and it was a comfortable place to meet friends or bring kids. Our bartender was nice and as attentive as he could be, he wasn’t overly attentive and didn’t waste time with small talk, he was a busy man with a job to do!
There were 7 beers available on tap and the wall of spirits appeared to contain every possible alcohol you could imagine!

Bar Hooks: Yes

Foot Rail: No

Cost of Happiness: $31.00 (for Keri and Eric only) we saved $16.00 off the “regular” menu.

Overall rating (1-10 and personal thoughts):

Keri: 8

I thought this place was great! I loved the vibe, I loved the drinks and the food/prices were reasonable enough to make this someplace I’d come back to again and again. As a matter of fact, I will probably see about changing my work schedule, so I can make it to happy hour a little earlier from now on! Except that I will be making sure to get a table, so I don’t feel like I’m sliding into the abyss! After our visit I went to the web-site and checked out the “about us” section…I think the local boys have nailed their vision for West 5 and I would like to see more food/drink establishments in West Seattle embrace the concept that IS West Seattle.


Eric: 7.5

This “hip joint” was more bar then restaurant; just the way I like it. The place looks like the owners went around dumpster diving in order to decorate the place. After checking out the website, I found this sort of true. I do like nostalgia and thought the old school bowling scoring table was a nice touch. Most of the tables and bar seats were taken. It was a mixed crowd ranging from mid 20’s to mid 50’s. It was a cool laid back feel that you could hang out and meet some friends and throw a few back. I was looking forward to sampling some of the seven beers that were on tap. Then I found out that only Manny’s was part of Happy Hour. One beer? Sure it was only $2.50, but what is up with that? I don’t really even like Manny’s. Not that I wouldn’t drink it, but it is not my beer of choice. So I was forced to sample a mixed drink. They have two mixed drinks on special. Since Keri got the Mai Tai, I got the Alki Cruiser. I am a fan of gin so I was excited to try it. Let’s just say that I am still waiting to try the gin. I think the bartender forgot to put some in the drink. The drink tasted great, if it were non-alcoholic. It was a nice limeade drink; very refreshing. I tried the Mai Tai next and it was good. It was a nice fruity drink on a warm evening. I like the food selections that they have. A pretty wide range of choices and middle of the road prices, as far as Happy Hour goes. I wanted to try the crab cakes but I am glad I didn’t. The guy sitting next to me ordered them and they looked more like bread crumb cakes than crab. I was waiting for the old lady from the Wendy’s commercials to crawl out of her grave and yell “Where’s the crab?!”; but she didn’t. The sloppy joe and the pulled pork were impossible to eat like a sandwich. They were made for a fork. They were pretty generous. The sloppy joe reminded me a little of Taco Bell taco meat. It was poorly mixed and not much flavor going on. The pork was swimming in sauce. Luckily the sauce was tasty. That is an old trick to mask dried out pork. No on knows if the pork was good because there was too much sauce. I lived in Virginia for about ten years and know a thing or two about pulled pork sandwiches. They are often served with coleslaw. You put the cool creamy coleslaw on top of your sandwich to cut the spiciness of the pork. Similar to blue cheese dressing with Buffalo Wings. But this coleslaw was oil based and not mayo. Definitely the wrong type of slaw to put on your sandwich. The chicken satay was really good and the dipping sauce was yummy.


Nolan (Guest Blogger): 7

Overall, I was satisfied with the West 5 Happy Hour. They've got cheap Manny’s ($2.50) and a decent bbq pork sandwich. The bartender was knowledgeable and friendly. That should be enough to rate them an 8 or 9. I just can't do it though. There are just too many small things that drag down that rating. Manny’s is the only beer on special; the sloppy joe was like a boring chili served on bread; the caesar salad had the worst croutons served outside of a school cafeteria; the excellent selection of small batch bourbon was only for decoration since the hour wasn't happy enough to include them. Final Rating: 7. The cheap Mannys and sandwich allow for an excellent happy hour, but I just can’t go any higher.

Mission

Mission
2325 California Ave SW
http://www.missionbar.com/

Category:
Latin Restaurant & Lounge

When:

Thursday July 3, 2008
5:35 – 6:15


Walkabouters:
Keri & Eric

Happy Hour:

5:00pm to 7:00pm Mon-Fri

Specials:

Alcohol: Well Drinks $3.50 and $1.50 off Margaritas
Beers (tap) $3.50 – There are nine beers on tap with a mix of micro and domestics. Keri drank a Skinny Dip New Belgium beer (good summer beer) and Eric had the Rogue Dead Guy Ale (are micros supposed to be served a little warmer than ICE COLD?)
Eric had one of the Bartender’s Choice Margaritas, which contains Sauza Commemorativa and cranberry juice. This drink was strong in a good way, the salt was a little heavy for the taste, but overall, it was good.

Food: NO FOOD SPECIALS DURING HAPPY HOUR (“late night” food menu/discount begins at 10:00pm ends at midnight)

We sampled the plantains with guacamole, which were only ok. The flavor of the plantains, with cinnamon gave them a graham cracker flavor, and dipping a graham cracker in guacamole? There were five portions (slices) of plantain and about a third of a cup of guacamole. The guac was a little grey, and had large chunks of avocado, which the plantain were too delicate to “scoop”. The appetizers were too pricey for what you received. Average cost of “Tappas” was around $8.00, and the average Entrée was around $12.00 for better than average Mexican food.


Atmosphere:

Music was a very eclectic mix. I’ll let Eric expand on the music, but I’d like to just mention that there was a bit of country music being played, which didn’t fit the overall “cave” type ambiance of the bar. There are 4 two person tables, 3 six person tables, and 12 bar stools, limited outdoor seating. Around 6:15 the bar started to fill up with 30 somethings, which increased the noise level dramatically…I think the high ceilings aren’t conducive to noise reduction! The bartender was great, he was very informed on the beer selections and offered samples of most of the tap beers, so we were able to make educated decisions. There is an upper mezzanine that contains a small bar for private functions. Parking can be validated for the garage under the Bartells.


Bar Hooks: Yes

Foot Rail: Yes

Cost of Happiness: $31

Overall rating (1-10 and personal thoughts):

Keri: 5

Although the atmosphere here was better than our last location, and happy hour actually runs for a comfortable 2 hours…I was unimpressed with a location that doesn’t have food specials for people drinking alcohol. The implied privacy of the votive candles and “rock” wall, high ceilings and dark lighting are absolutely blown away by the amount of customer noise generated and confusing music selection.


Eric: 6.5

I walked into the restaurant and could not see a thing. Granted it was mostly because it was very bright outside and my eyes were not adjusting fast enough; but it was dark nonetheless. It was quite warm outside and it was cool inside which was refreshing. Once my eyes adjusted, I was able to order a beer. The Dead Guy Ale, besides having a cool name, was pretty good. This place is far from a dive bar. Quite the opposite. I was completely shocked when I heard Planet Caravan coming through the speakers. It is not often you hear Black Sabbath in a Latin lounge, let alone an obscure track off of the Paranoid album. That fact alone is enough to raise my overall rating one point. I'll tell you this, if I ever, ever, hear a Steely Dan song come out of the speakers, it will be an immediate three point deduction. That is not a threat. Eating is not my main focus when it comes to happy hours. But I was surprised that they have no food specials. One thing I did notice in the menu was that they were proudly displaying the fact they serve lard-free black beans. That disgusted me. When no one was looking, I spit on the menu. How can you serve authentic Mexican food and not use lard? But what is worse is that they are happy about it. Praise the Lard! Back to the drinks… I liked that the bartender offered up samples of some of the beers on tap. The margarita I had was good but unremarkable. The guacamole that we had was grey. I am sure it was green when they made it but they need to learn how to keep the avocados from turning colors.