Houston’s Best Happy Hour Deals: How to Drink and Eat at Top Houston Restaurants on the Cheap

Few antidotes to a long work day hit the spot quite like happy hour. Why not mix things up with a new deal at a recently-opened hotspot or old favorite haunt?

Hit up the Houston restaurants below for a deal on food and drinks, and still be home by 8 pm (or not). These are Houston’s best happy hour deals right now:

Fusion Eats

9 Greenway East

The folks behind Fusion Taco in The Heights have a new restaurant —  Fusion Eats — and they’re making it a happy hour hotspot. Located on the first floor of Building 9 in the Greenway Plaza complex, the low-key restaurant scores big with $5 select wines by the glass, $4 draft beers, $5 Old Fashioneds and Manhattan cocktails, and solid margaritas, made from scratch in delicious flavors such as jalapeno, pineapple and watermelon, for $5 each.

The bright and funky spot ups the ante by offering every taco in the house for just $3. Fillings range from Tex-Mex angus steak to chicken-fried oysters to seared Brussels sprouts to fried avocado. Better yet, all sauces, marinades, tortillas and salsas are house-made making this anything but your average happy hour.

Parking is easy and painless thanks to a street level parking garage across the way with ample space and free validation. (Monday through Friday; 3 to 7 pm.)

Doris Metropolitan

2815 South Shepherd

Swank New Orleans transplant Doris Metropolitan puts a Middle Eastern spin on traditional steakhouse offerings. During happy hour, the contemporary Montrose restaurant offers $7 to $9 wines by the glass and $7 cocktails, from an Aperol Collins to a coconut daiquiri.

And then there’s the food. Sink your teeth into items such as an $8 tuna tartare, $16 beef kebab and the $16 Doris Burger. A juicy burger patty made with beef trimmings is topped with smoked Gouda, lettuce, tomato and aioli, all served on a black brioche bun. A side of truffle fries add the finishing touch. (Sunday through Friday; 5 to 6:30 pm.)

UB Preserv

1609 Westheimer

When the work whistle blows, head straight to Montrose restaurant UB Preserv for snacks from the mind of James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Shepherd. The menu rotates, but expect items like $5 za’atar spiced chicharrones, $5 tomato pani puri and $6 turkey neck molotes.

It’s down the hatch with $3 to $3.50 beers, $4.50 to $5.50 wines by the glass, $7 Old Fashioneds and Pimms drinks, and four half-price tiki bowls. Your ticket to paradise options include the Hurricane made with overproof, white rums, passion fruit, lemon and turbinado and the Wild Man of Navidad with Anejo rum, bourbon, lemon, lime, ginger and angostura bitters.

And yes, the festive cocktails are all served on fire. (Tuesday through Saturday; 5 to 6:30 pm.)

What’s more, hit a trifecta on Sunday during Power Hour, when you can get a Bavik Pilsner beer, shot of Wild Turkey, and boudin siu mai for $15. (Sunday; 3 to 4 p.m.)

International Smoke

800 Sorella Court

Globally-minded California import International Smoke, from James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Mina and personality/cookbook author Ayesha Curry, has landed in Houston with a location at CityCentre.

Here, the happy hour deals feature a $5 Tokyo-style karaage with smoked and fried chicken and a hearty $9 Cuban pulled pork sandwich. A killer combo of ribs and barbecue oysters — $15 for a quarter rack and three oysters, and $28 for half-rack and six oysters — can also be yours.

Say cheers to $6 wines by the glass, $3 to $5 beers, $8 house punch, and a Miller High Life Pony with a side shot of bourbon for $8. But that’s not all. Take advantage of $8 picklebacks. A chaser of house-made pickle brine comes with a shot of bourbon, Japanese whiskey, or tequila.

(Monday through Friday; 4 to 6 pm and again from 9 pm till close)

Calle Onze

222 West 11th

Easygoing Heights restaurant Calle Onze, from the team behind Edison and Patton, offers elevated Tex-Mex/Mexican dishes and a can’t-miss happy hour. Alongside $5 house wines by the glass and $6 reposado is a $4 one-two punch of a Dos Equis beer with a side shot of mezcal, sotol, or tequila. (Daily; 4 to 6 pm.)

Relish Restaurant and Bar

2810 Westheimer

Casually chic River Oaks restaurant Relish Restaurant and Bar gets the party started early with a $6 margarita, $5 glass of rosé, and cocktails aplenty from a $5 Moscow Mule to the $6 Boulevard Bourbon Punch with guavaberry liqueur, pineapple juice, lemon, and chamomile honey syrup. (Monday through Saturday; 11 am to  6 pm.)

A food special kicks in early afternoon with bites like $4 chilled tomato gazpacho, $6 grilled Dijon chicken wings, $6 smoked beef carpaccio, and $7 whole grilled artichokes. (Monday through Saturday; 3 to 6 pm.)  

The Oceanaire Seafood Room

5061 Westheimer

Highlights on the rotating happy hour food menu at high-end restaurant The Oceanaire, located in the Houston Galleria shopping mall, include $6 truffle Parmesan fries, $8 filet mignon sliders and a plate of shrimp and grits for $17.

Pair your food with $5 draft beers, $6 wines by the glass and $7 specialty drinks such as the Prosecco Sangria, and $8 martinis. We recommend the signature Oceanaire 2.0 with rum, ginger liqueur, fresh lime juice, banana syrup and blue lahara fruit-based liqueur or the James Bond with gin, vodka, and French wine-based aperitif. Shaken, not stirred, of course.

(Monday through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m; Monday through Thursday from 9 pm to close; Sunday from 8 pm to close.)

Moxie’s Grill and Bar

5000 Westheimer

Items on the new menu at bustling Moxie’s Grill and Bar in the Galleria-area include $8 potstickers and $8 lettuce wraps, plus house wines by the glass and local craft drafts for $5.50 apiece.

Chill out with an $8 cocktail including a margarita, Old Fashioned, and the house-made Hard Lemonade. Vodka, fresh lemon and soda are simply refreshing. (Monday through Friday; 3 to 6 pm.)

Lucille’s

5512 La Branch

Look no further than Lucille’s in the Museum District for all your Houston happy hour needs. The bar serves up $5 beers and wines by the glass, $6 Mules, $5 wells, $7 call liquor drinks, and a lengthy roster of creative and traditional cocktails from a $10 Negroni to the $12 Saronno Sunset with amaretto, orange vodka, lime and club soda, while the kitchen doles out $5 fried green tomatoes, $7 catfish nuggets, the $10 Butcher Burger and more. (Tuesday through Friday; 3 to 6 pm.)

But the specials don’t end there. Tuesdays, it’s half-off select bottles of wine (11 am to 9 pm), and on Museum District Thursdays (11 am to 9 pm), save 50 percent on bottles of rosé.