Sazerac is a Happy Hour pick

Sazerac has always featured a salivating happy-hour menu, one that a lot of folks have heard about but have never actually tasted. That's because if you don't live or work near its downtown location, on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Spring Street, Sazerac would not be an ideal stop (the rush hour traffic, the pricey downtown parking).

This Southern style restaurant, though, is bent on making itself a destination happy hour. Sazerac just extended its happy hour, now going from 4 to 8 p.m. six days a week; and it rolled out a new, $2 bar menu — with some sophisticated fare too. Grilled Dates en Brochette with Smoked Bacon and Goat Cheese; and a 10-inch wood-fired pizza with andouille sausage, sweet onion marmalade, fontina and tomato confit. Then there's the crispy truffles Yukon potato dish, and a marinated white anchovies snack.

Still, I bet the masses will gravitate toward the happy-hour staple of burgers and fries, which are given the Sazerac flair. Its $2 burger is actually two sliders, with cabernet onions and garlic aioli on toasted buns. Also $2 are hand-cut Russet fries or sweet potato fries, served with sea salt, Tabasco aioli and rémoulade.

The big news is that up-and-coming Sazerac mixologist Kelly McGilvray has created a new cocktail menu, though most patrons will likely stick to the familiar cosmopolitans, margaritas, martinis, Manhattans and lemon drops, all $5 during happy hour.

Sazerac, next to the Monaco Hotel at 1101 Fourth Ave. in downtown Seattle, has happy hour in the bar area 4-8 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, when there's $2 bar menu, beers and wine cost $3, and cocktails — including the signature Sazerac and the specialty cocktail of the day — go for $5 (206-624-7755 or www.sazeracrestaurant.com).

Tan Vinh, Seattle Times staff reporter