Elmhurst
Happy Hour

A chain steakhouse is not where you'd expect the best deal in Elmhurst, and yet: the happy hour runs from opening to close, four days a week, and every price is posted. Beer drops from $8 to $6, the South American happy hour wines from $10 to $8 a 6oz glass, and South American bottles under $150 go half price. The Verdict: the best happy hour in Elmhurst, and the only one you can price before you go. The Local Move: a half-price Malbec bottle at the bar after Queens Center. The Honest Caveat: Monday to Thursday only, and the $8 wine is the happy hour list, not the whole cellar.

The best room in Elmhurst, open since 2002, with a stage slung over the bar and bands most nights: Latin jazz, cumbia, salsa, Afro-Peruvian. Happy hour runs every day from 4pm until the music starts at 8. The Verdict: get there at 7, get a round in, keep your spot for the band. The Local Move: watch from the mezzanine, which looks straight down on the stage. The Honest Caveat: no posted prices, and it gets tight once the band is on.

Seven hours of bar specials on a weeknight is long for anywhere, and the Elmhurst location posts its own schedule rather than the chain's generic one. Half-price apps start at 10pm. The Verdict: the late weeknight fallback by Queens Place. The Honest Caveat: bar seats only, and the drink prices aren't posted.

Open since 2008 on the same block as the busiest station in Queens, which makes the 4–7pm weekday window easy to use on the way home. Drunken noodles are $14 and the crab fried rice $18. The Verdict: a dinner stop with a happy hour attached, not a bar. The Honest Caveat: the happy hour prices aren't posted; the lunch discount is the deal you can count on.

The 1979 original: a small dining room inside a butcher shop that makes its own chorizo, morcilla and chimichurri. The Verdict: the best meal on Corona Avenue. The Local Move: buy the chorizo to take home on the way out. The Honest Caveat: closed Wednesday, and the kitchen shuts at 10pm.

Across the street from El Gauchito, with skirt steak, parrillada completa and a glass of Argentine wine, and a room that fills when a soccer match is on. The Verdict: the one to pick on a game day. The Honest Caveat: no happy hour; this is dinner first and a bar second.

Oaxacan home cooking a block from the 82 St stop: mole, pozole and salsas made in-house, $8.95 cemitas and a $21.95 seafood cazuela. The Verdict: the dinner to have before Terraza 7's 8pm band, around the corner. The Honest Caveat: no happy hour, and it closes at 10pm.

Down on Eliot Ave at the south end of Elmhurst: burgers, wings, frozen cocktails and a long beer menu, open until 3am at the weekend. The Verdict: the neighborhood bar for the residential end of Elmhurst. The Honest Caveat: no happy hour, and it's well off the subway lines.

A Nepali dining room with a bar on Grand Ave near the Grand Av-Newtown stop, open until 2am Thursday to Sunday. The Verdict: a late plate of momo on the Queens Blvd side. The Honest Caveat: closed Monday, no happy hour.

Open two nights a week from 10pm, for dancing. The Verdict: the end of a Saturday, not the start. The Honest Caveat: no happy hour, closed Sunday to Thursday.

Twice-fried green plantain built into a sandwich, on two floors with big screens for the game, a few blocks from Queens Center. The Verdict: the place to watch a match with a group and eat well. The Honest Caveat: no happy hour, and the posted drinks list is sodas and malts.

The Peruvian stop on the Corona Ave block, next to the two Argentine grills: ceviche, jalea, lomo saltado and rotisserie chicken, with Peruvian beer, wine and a house sangria. The Verdict: the ceviche option when you've had enough steak. The Honest Caveat: no happy hour, and the room is small.

All-you-can-eat sushi, sashimi and signature rolls on Broadway near the Elmhurst Av stop. The Verdict: the group dinner where nobody argues about the bill. The Honest Caveat: no happy hour, and the all-you-can-eat price isn't posted online.

Cemitas, chilaquiles and breakfast all day, with one posted deal: three tacos and a soda for $12 every Tuesday. The Verdict: a cheap Tuesday lunch, not a drink. The Honest Caveat: no happy hour, and it closes at 9pm.