Happy Hour: Arresting pub grub and cocktails at Tavern Law

Happy Hour |

No furniture has been moved around or replaced at Tavern Law. Yet, things feel a bit different, a bit more approachable. The speak-easy style bar feels less self-conscious now.

It's partly the food. Less dinner fare and more pub grub, albeit gussied up: an oxtail banh mi sandwich one week, a cheeseburger topped with pork belly another week.

It's also the cocktails. All specialty drinks cost $9 now, none more. There's happy hour now too, with $7 cocktails — a rum drink with aggressive notes of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg called Kingston Cocktail; a sparkling take on the mojito called Old Cuban; and an English Fizz that tasted like a spiked Earl Grey iced tea with a squeeze of lemon.

That fizz sounds about perfect when Tavern Law starts outdoor seating in mid-July. And that succulent burger, coated in provolone and topped with two slabs of sous vide pork belly, the soft bun spongy enough to absorb the fat that would have dripped on your shirt otherwise. Juicy and rich. And evil. Just pure evil.

Tavern Law, 1406 12th Ave., Seattle, runs happy hour 5-7 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and all day Sundays with selected cocktails for $7 and well drinks $4. All food 10 percent off (206-322-9734 or www.tavernlaw.com).

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com