Happy Hour of the Week: Trees
Happy hour bounty in the heart of downtown.
Posted by: John Chandler on May 29, 2009 at 09:00AM
13 Comments
As long as we’re on the subject of happy hour, here’s a bat that gets stuck in my afro: when a restaurant or bar trumpets happy hour specials, and they turn out to be lamer than Gregory House. Like 50 cents off some cocktail you’d never order in the first place (yes, I’m looking at you, appletini!), or a reduced rate on a plate of vulcanized hot wings. Woop-dee-doo. We can do better.
Located right across the street from City Hall, in the lobby of the Key Bank Building on SW Fifth Ave (ideal for you Randy Leonard groupies), is Trees Restaurant and Catering, a dapper little eatery in an airy atrium setting. Trees has decent comfort food, but more importantly, a bountiful happy hour menu. Three tender barbecued pork sliders and coleslaw for $3.50 is a terrific way to unwind after a performance review in which your boss indicated that your value to the company is only slightly greater than that of the stick that props open the window on hot days. The house salad ($3) is at least plate-size and comes with blue cheese, mandarin oranges, and honey-roasted sunflower seeds.
How about a very respectable meatball sandwich and side of seasoned fries for $4? Or a quartet of loaded flatbread pizzas for $5? Not bad, dude.
There’s typically a $4 cocktail—on my first visit it was a properly potent gimlet in a fathomless bucket glass. “But Bar Pilot,” you exclaim, “I had to clean out the office fridge today! My nerves are frayed to the snapping point! I need beer, stat!”
Fear not, little cubicle drone. Trees offers a micro pint of something worthwhile for $3 (Ninkasi IPA on this day), and if you have a hankering for a more formidable tankard of ale, you can test your mettle with a 24-ounce mug of craft beer for $5. Service is fast and borderline obsequious. Working late? Happy hour stretches to a very civilized 7 p.m. Go climb the Trees and enjoy the amenities. You may not want to come back down to earth.
Tags: Happy Hour
I had no idea this place existed until John mentioned it. There’s a serious lack of good happy hour options in the central business district, so this is great to know! Those sliders look delightful, and for three bucks and fifty? Those are Cuba prices.
A truly great find.
Poor Appletini! All it ever wanted to do was quench your thirst and give you a wee buzz!
Honestly, that picture (of the venue itself, not the grub) doesn’t exactly scream “warm and inviting”. It looks like a mall. But hey, Happy Hour is Happy Hour.
Hey, did you get a model release from that cute gal?
Thanks for your constant research on behalf of the thirsty (and thrifty).
Ditto Mike’s comments. I work just a couple blocks away, and we’re always bemoaning the lack of good HH venues around here. Thanks, John!
Amen brother! Thanks for keeping the Happy Hour dream alive. I bow to your unfailing ability to find bounty under any rock or in any Tree :)
“Here’s the bat that gets stuck in my afro.” That is… awesome.
“…a properly potent gimlet in a fathomless bucket glass.”
Mmmmmmmm…properly potent gimlet….drools onto own cravat
and any establishment named for the superior sentient beings on this fair earth would leave me satisfied…
John- Is “micro pint” an official measurement under the “Honest Pints” program?
would that be 12 to 14 oz? Sounds like a true urban treasure, good find.
Happy hour that lasts until 7, how civilized. Three cheers for The Trees! I can’t believe all the so called happy hours in this town that last until 5:30 or 6. Anyone I know who still has a job these days isn’t about to risk losing it sneaking out at 4:45 to make it to a (often lame) HH that ends stupidly early. How refreshing to see that good sense prevails somewhere at least.
That sounds pretty good for us little people that spend all day in the veal fattening pens/cubicles.
Wes
Since I’ve been to this venue, I’d like to say that the Happy Hour is great, the staff is friendly and the food is yummy. As for the photo, that’s only a shot of the atrium – the inside has a cool vibe. And of course, the atrium has a tree, thus the name Trees.
Check it out!
I haven’t made it to HH @ Trees yet, but I did have a business lunch there today and found the help far friendlier and more professional than at many higher-end restaurants in town, the food was delicious, and for being in a corporate office tower, the vibe wasn’t half bad. I will definitely return…