Happy hour is an American tradition in which people gather at a local bar or restaurant (more or less between 3:00 and 6:00 pm) for discounted alcoholic beverages and appetizers. For many, it is also a time to congregate with friends or coworkers and have fun before going home after a hard day’s work. Back in my days of selling ad space, in each territory I worked, I had a spot. Several of the reps working the area would in fact meet and have a drink and snack before heading home. Many of these dining spots and/or bars had items like chicken wings, meatballs and other “finger foods” out, and most of them were quite salty or spicy, encouraging us to have another drink. After all, that is where the profit is, or perhaps was. Then along came Covid and it went away.
Happy Hour is back at many dining spaces in the greater Chicagoland area. One of the restaurant chains, Perry’s Steakhouse has a different name for their Happy Hour- they call it “Social Hour” and it is available at all three of their area locations:
5 Oakbrook Shopping Center , Oakbrook 630-571-1808
1780 East Golf Road Schaumburg 847-648-7451
1050 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Vernon Hills 224-842-4620
The Social Hour is from 4 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. and they offer some unbelievable “bar bites” for $9 each as well as some exotic beverages. Jane and I were off to Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook for the opening of “Always Patsy Cline” so we stopped by the Oakbrook location.
***** Perry’s Bar 79 Social Hour:
Perry’s was busy with guests sitting el fresco and of course in the bar as the Social Hour menu was offered. Items like Perry’s pork chop bites, truffle spinach & artichoke dip, Perry’s homemade Texas sausage, In-house pecan smoked salmon were offered on the 7 selections for $9 per. As we are still watching our diets, we selected from this list:
Sliced Filet Slider -absolutely delicious and the onions that came with them were to die for. we also had the broiled seafood stuffed mushrooms that truly were amazing. I am not a mushroom lover and found myself gobbling these choice morsels.
The steak and tater totter bites are an amazing dish and we went off the Social menu for something very special their Tempura Fried Lobster which is offered as one tail (4 ounces) or two ( 8 ounces). We did the one tail in order to save room for the dessert- seasonal cheesecake which was amazing.
For Jane and I , being on the go, this worked out far better than we expected. The food was delicious and in a few cases adventurous. The service perfect and the atmosphere couldn’t have been any better. While waiting for our cocktails ( they do a superb martini and a tasty Bloody Mary) we looked at the senior menu- wow! If you are 65 plus and come in before 6 p.m. they have an unbelievable menu at $39-
a 3 course meal ( 6 options including their Famous Pork Chop or a 6 ounce filet mignon, salad choice or soup and a choice of dessert. They also have a special pairing program where you can sample different wines with the perfect foods. For more info and to see the menus visit www.perryssteakhouse.com
Happy Days are here again as Happy Hours ( or in this case Social Hour) seem to be coming back in a unique and healthy way. I am checking them out as I find them. To check out Perry’s, visit www.perryssteakhouse.com
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