Bayside
Happy Hour

A classic margarita is $15 on the drinks list and $7 here; a frozen one drops from $16 to $8. Add $5 Corona or Modelo, $5 elote and empanadas, $7 guacamole or two chicken tacos and $9 wings, and the deal covers a full meal. The window runs seven days, twice a day. The Verdict: the best happy hour in Bayside, and the only one worth planning a weekend around. The Local Move: come back after 10pm on a Friday, when the same prices run until the 3am close. The Honest Caveat: flavored margaritas are $1 extra.

Seven hours every weekday, from noon, with a full printed menu. Drafts (Modelo, Stella, Sam Adams, Heineken, Coors Light) and Corona are $5, the Moscow mule, lychee martini, margarita, mojito and piña colada are $10, and the margherita pizza is $14 against $18 at dinner. The Verdict: the best weekday happy hour by the station, and a cheap late lunch. The Local Move: $6 arancini and a $5 Stella before the 7pm cutoff. The Honest Caveat: it’s the bar and “selected tables” only, and $10 wine by the glass is no bargain.

Half off every wine and beer, not a short “select” list, plus ten $10 plates: ravioli, ribs, polpette, arancini, risotto, gamberi and more. It’s a family-run room at the address where the owner’s uncle ran a beauty salon for more than thirty years. The Verdict: the best wine happy hour in Bayside. The Local Move: a half-price glass of red and the $10 gamberi at the bar. The Honest Caveat: bar area only, holidays excluded, and the doors don’t open until 5pm on Monday and Tuesday.

A known weekday window at a sandwich-and-beer room across from Spanglish. The draft list rotates through local and seasonal craft beer, and the hand-cut Belgian fries ($10, enough for two) with a choice of house sauces are the order. The Verdict: a solid after-work stop with an unknown saving. The Honest Caveat: no posted prices, and the kitchen closes at 9pm Sunday to Thursday.

No happy hour, but the weeknight specials do the same job: half-price bottles on Wednesday, then $10 martinis at both the rooftop and main bars on Thursday from 7 to 10pm, with a $30 mussel pot and garlic-parmesan fries. Monday is a $38 22oz prime rib dinner. The Verdict: the rooftop to drink on along Bell Boulevard, and Thursday is the night. The Honest Caveat: outside those nights, it’s regular prices.

A large Irish-American pub and restaurant across 41st Avenue from Valdari, with a separate bar, craft beer, ribs and a traditional dining room. It opens at 10am on weekdays and closes at 2am. The Verdict: the pint after Valdari’s happy hour ends at 7. The Honest Caveat: no deal, so it’s a room pick, not a value pick.

21 pool tables, two ping pong tables, a lounge with a fire pit and 16 TVs plus two big screens for the game, down at the southern end of the strip. Food is bar standard: wings, $15–$18 quesadillas, $10 pretzel bites. The Verdict: the group-night pick when the plan is something to do, not something cheap. The Honest Caveat: no drink deal.

Seventeen private rooms for 4 to 50 people, a 100,000-song library, and a 4am close every night. The discounts are on room time, not drinks. The Verdict: the last stop on Bell Boulevard for a birthday. The Honest Caveat: the name isn’t seasonal, and neither are the prices: there’s no drink deal.

The Bell Boulevard branch of the Ditmars Boulevard fish house: raw clams and oysters by the half dozen, the four-dip pikilia, saganaki and grilled fish. The Verdict: dinner after a Papazzio happy hour, a few doors up the block. The Honest Caveat: no deal, and the website lists dishes without prices.

USDA Prime steaks, classic sides and a proper martini in a clubby room next door to Papazzio. The Verdict: the special-occasion pick on the strip. The Honest Caveat: full price, all the time; for a cheap martini, wait for Bourbon Street’s Thursday.

A newer Korean-style pub across Bell Boulevard from Spanglish, built for soju and shared plates like tteokbokki. Open from 5pm Tuesday to Thursday and from noon at the weekend. The Verdict: the group order when nobody wants another margarita. The Honest Caveat: no posted deal, and it’s closed on Monday.

Mediterranean small plates (whipped feta $18, tuna tartare $22) and signature cocktails at the northern end of the strip, with bottomless brunch at the weekend. The Verdict: the weekend brunch pick on Bell Boulevard. The Honest Caveat: no weekday happy hour, and mains run $26–$34.