The Happy Hour was invented back in the day of the three martini lunch and the invention of the traffic jam. It was designed to relieve the stress of that long afternoon at work, and sitting at the bar knocking back a couple of cold ones was infinitely preferable to sitting in your car and blowing the horn at the person in front of you. It was also used to fill the bar with customers during the usually slow 4-7 time slot when everyone was commuting. It has come under a little scrutiny of late, as some people question whether or not it’s a good idea to belt down a few drinks right before hitting the road. The buffet was sort of a compromise to mix a little food in with the booze. One thing is for certain though, the happy hour certainly hasn’t lessened in popularity.
There are really only three types of places that do happy hours well: the sports bar, the casino, and the strip club. I guess it’s a matter of preference and taste. Here are the three top places in the St. Louis area:
St. Louis is a huge sports town and has a large number of sports bars to reflect that fact. One of the best is Helen Fitzgerald’s at 3650 South Lindberg in south county. It was voted best sports bar from 2001-2003. There are good deals on draft beer, mixed drinks and wine, and a huge number of televisions to watch. It’s loud and crowded on most nights and the crowds can get a little boisterous at times, especially when one of our teams is in the playoffs. The emphasis is on finger foods and the pizza is very good. The other great thing about Helen’s is that the food buffet is free during happy hour. The only drawbacks are the service can be a little sporadic and parking can be difficult because the place is such a popular hangout.
The Bottleneck Blues Bar at the Ameristar Casino at 1260 South Main in St. Charles, Missouri has excellent appetizers and the cocktails are awesome. If you want to hang around a little later after happy hour, the bar features name bands and comedy acts from around the country. With 3,300 slot machines and 95 gaming tables right outside the door in the casino, there is a world of entertainment right at your fingertips. For food, check out the Landmark Buffet or one of the nearly dozen other bars and restaurants in the newly renovated and expanded complex. The neat thing is that most of the eating and drinking establishments are accessible without having to walk through the casino if you are so inclined.
To hit a strip club for happy hour, you’ll have to travel over the river to Illinois. The closest thing in conservative Missouri might be the Hooter’s restaurant chain. St. Louis’ weekly newspaper, the Riverfront Times, has a large listing of clubs in the back pages, but even this is considered controversial to some. A short hop over the bridge from downtown to Sauget, Illinois however, and you’ll find row after row of the clubs. Most of them, like The Hustler Club, The Hollywood Showclub, and the Club 64 East have drink specials during happy hour and some even have a free buffet. My favorite though, is Wild Country in neighboring Collinsville. They have $1 longnecks, $3.50 pitchers of beer, and $1 shots of Schnapps during happy hour. They also have a lot of mottoes:
“Where the Later It Gets, The Wilder It Gets.” “18 To Get In, 21 To Get Plastered.” ” If You Can’t Find It, You Must Already Be Dead” and, “If You Can’t Find It, You’re Too Stupid To Be Here.” Just to name a few.
