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March '11

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District Happy Hour - Hollywood

"District on Sunset"

By Tara Redfield

 

 

Dear Love,

 

It was a dark and stormy night...yes, it really was! I ran to Maren's car from my apartment building as mini shots of rain hit me (I had an umbrella in my hand, just didn't bother to open it for the short walk). Once my door slammed shut Maren and I were off for our first Happy Hour venture together. It was about time.

 

We headed east on Fountain, but had no idea where to go. We had a few bars in mind, such as Hemingway's and The Roosevelt, but, turns out they didn't have happy hours. Swell. There we were, the "know it alls" of LA's happy hour scene stranded in the never ending rain and bad traffic. Our phones googled and yelped but nothing excited us.

 

Just as we were approaching Hollywood, I remembered District. I had driven by it too many times to count on Sunset and knew that The Mercantile was right next door. The dark brick ambiance had always appealed to me, but, I had never made my way over. According to my memory, it seemed like the perfect place to go on a cold and rainy LA night. I googled, then called. They had a happy hour. I told them we were on our way. Crisis averted!

 

The bar staff looked at us the moment we walked in, umbrellas drenched and stomachs growling. We were clearly in need of serious attention and it looked like we would get plenty of it, since there was no competition to be seen. We took two stools at the bar and kindly asked for some Happy Hour menus. Uh Oh. Award-winning chili cheese fries? Trouble. Good thing we like trouble.

 

Jonathan, the sweet face tending bar for the evening, charmed us with his Southern drawl. He carded us, although, we could have easily carded him just the same. He raved about the chili cheese fries and the freshly baked pretzel bites.

 

 

We first ordered drinks, obviously. I ordered the Gin Martini, (which has a name that my brain embarrassingly can't remember) and Maren got "El Diablo." Mine was green and crisp...like a hundred dollar bill! Maren's was pink: fruity and spicy.

 

 

 

Jonathan pushed the chili cheese fries and pretzel bites in between our drinks. I had imagined in my mind what the fries might look like, but they appeared bigger and better in reality. They were cut steak style: thick. The chili was thick too with chunks of dry aged tenderness. The two-year white cheddar was the final ingredient that melted it's way around every warm potato bite. Mmm-hmm.

 

My favorite thing about the pretzels was the maple mustard dipping sauce. That's right. Maple Mustard. It was the perfect taste when the warm soft on the inside/salty on the outside pretzel bite was dipped into the sauce then popped into our mouths.

 

We were perfectly satisfied by our Happy Hour order at District. Although, I have a suspicion that this bar tastes better the later it gets. Next time we will be checking out their late night Happy Hour! Yes, they have one.


XX,

Tara