A good happy hour can be hard to find, especially if your expectations about what constitutes “good” go beyond more than just discounted well drinks and a chips-and-salsa bar. Locally, there’s our beloved happy hour hero the Yard House, where beginning at 3 p.m. you can snatch a $4 pint of Stone Ruination (all crafts/imports are $4) and some fantastic half-priced tofu and pine-nut lettuce wraps (order extra tofu if you’re a vegetarian; other appetizers and select pizzas are half-priced, as well). And just a short trip (or a $22 cab ride) down PCH sits Don the Beachcomber, where a robust menu of tiki drinks is offered at half-off daily from 4 to 7 p.m. Whether you go with a Missionary’s Downfall (essentially a blended mojito, it’s a delicious cocktail) or a Zombie (previously featured in our Drink of the Week; with three shots of rum, it comes with a strict limit of two per person) or one of Don’s Own Mai Tais (among the best to be found in these parts), the well-crafted drinks are served with fabulously steep savings (they normally run $8-$11). But don’t overlook the Dagger Bar’s appetizer menu, also set at half-off during happy hour (which, by the way, runs all night Mondays). Bearing a largely Hawaiian focus, the menu satiates your munchies with ahi poke tacos (thick blocks of poke packed inside crispy wonton shells), Kahlua pork sliders and decadent coconut shrimp (excellent, even if you usually don’t care for them). But perhaps the most surprising—and by far the most pleasing—item on the menu is the brie quesadilla, plated with mango salsa and a spicy cream sauce drizzled on top. Such execution might come as a shock to those who expect their tiki to arrive with a side of shtick, but new Beachcomber head chef Jason Jassman (previously found at Roy’s in Newport Beach and at Dana Point’s Salt Creek Grille) ensures the food matches the quality of Donn Beach’s legendary drinks.

THE YARD HOUSE 401 W SHORELINE DR • LONG BEACH 90802 • 562.628.0455 • YARDHOUSE.COM

DON THE BEACHCOMBER 16278 PACIFIC COAST HWY • HUNTINGTON BEACH 92649 • 562.592.1321 • DONTHEBEACHCOMBER.COM

Tags: don the beachcomber, Food, happy hour, Long Beach, the yard house