Best Happy Hour in Santa Fe

Blue Rooster is Santa Fe's only acknowledged gay bar. Everyone is welcome and the crowd tends to be mixed. Ambiance is chic and upscale. BR offer two Happy Hour events each week: Thursday's Lady's Happy Hour attracting a mostly lesbian crowd and Friday's Gentleman's Happy Hour, a mostly gay event. Both run from 5 to7pm held offer special drink pricing. Draft beers are $3. They have Blue Moon and locally brewed Santa Fe Nut Brown Ale. There's also a dollar off both bottled beers and wines. The Happy Hours "seem to attract a very professional crowd interested in making new friends and having great conversation with like-minded individuals." Many who come for the early-evening drink specials and socializing stay through the night when the DJs take over and the place rocks. The secret is, if you stay through until the 9pm music starts, you'll avoid the cover charge.

Low 'n Slow Lowrider Bar at the Hotel Chimayó pays homage to the small Northern New Mexico town that it's named for and the lowrider culture. If you don't know what a "lowrider" is, Google it. The bar's décor reflects this car-centric cultural phenomenon. While the food and drink menus are eclectic, there's a distinctly New Mexican flair. L 'n S hosts two reduced-price events daily. "Hoppy" Hour from 1 to 3pm offers $4 draft beers, including Santa Fe Pale Ale, Newcastle Nut Brown and Monks Ale as well as $2 Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap. Happy Hour held from 4 to 7pm features $5 well drinks and $6 Frito Pies. The bar mainly attracts both hotel guests and a young local clientele.

Love microbrews? Sample them at the source at Blue Corn Café & Brewery's Happy Hour Monday through Friday from 4 to 6pm. They offer $1.00 off beers and well drinks. While many take advantage of the in-house brewed beers and ales, they also have specialty cocktails and a wine list as well. You can sit in the bar with its widescreen TVs and catch a sporting event or, if you prefer, site in the large dining room which can accommodate you along with a host of friends. In warmer weather, there are two outdoor patios. Want something to munch on? Their full menu is available. Their downtown sister restaurant, Blue Corn Café on Water Street, offers the same Happy Hour specials.

Love sipping while ensconced on a comfortable sofa or chair in front of a fire? Head for The Living Room at Loretto where they offer intimate fireside seating as well as traditional bar stools and table seating. The Living Room, adjacent to the lobby, offers two daily reduced price events. "Happy Hour and a Half" is from 5 to 6:30pm and their late-night "Reverse Happy Hour" is from 9 to 10pm. You'll find $4 draft beers (all local) which include Monk's Ale, La Cumbre IPA, Bosque Lager and Bosque Scotia Scotch Ale, as well as house wines, house margaritas and well drinks priced at $5. There's also a selection of appetizers also priced at $5.

Does the word "Agave" bring tequila to mind? It's fitting that the hottest-selling cocktail at Agave Lounge at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa is the Picante Margarita, featuring house-infused Jalapeno Espolon Reposado, fresh lime and Cointreau. Or you can opt for either the specially priced La Casa Margarita or a well drink, all $5 during their Happy Hour Monday through Friday from 4 to 7pm. If cocktails aren't your thing, you'll find beer and wine specials as well. All draft brews, which include a selection of locally-produced ones, are $4. There are also four specially-priced wines on offer. Sit at the bar, one of the barroom tables or head for the back room with its intimate ambiance and sofa and easy chair seating. Relax as you sip your drink and nibble on $4 menu items or $1.50 oysters. The crowd is a mix of locals and tourists.

Want to take an international jaunt for Happy Hour? Head for Il Piatto Santa Fe's "Italian Farmhouse Kitchen" and you'll feel like you've arrived in Italy. The restaurant, specializing in Italian wines, boasts a custom glass and iron wine cave for storage, a standalone bar where you can enjoy wine and a light bite for happy hour or perhaps you'd prefer a wine barrel table in an intimate alcove. They host two daily Happy Hours, the first is from 4:30 to 6pm and the late-night one takes place from 9 to 10:30pm. During these times you will discover half-price wine specials from their extensive list. There are always between 15 and 20 selections by the glass each day. There's also a special HH menu with half-priced appetizer and pasta specials.

Taberna La Boca and its sister restaurant, La Boca, both offer Happy Hours and you can't miss at either. If you want to make your HH into an early dinner, head for Taberna where you can enjoy selected tapas and reduced price wines. Chef James Campbell Caruso's tempting small plates bring the foods of the Basque region of Spain and France to Santa Fe. Flying solo? Take a seat at the bar, with its tempting array of some of the evening's offerings, or at the community table. During Happy hour, from 5 to 6pm daily, selected tapas are as much as 50 percent off menu prices and you'll also find beer and wine deals. There are at least two red and two white wines running between $6 and $7 a glass as well as sherry specials. In addition, there are at least two draft beers offered for $3.

Secreto Lounge, the popular bar at the St. Francis Hotel, is known for its accomplished mixologists. Their daily Happy Hour from 4 to 7pm offers $7 specialty cocktails, $5 draft beers and $1 off the over a dozen wines offered by the glass. Draft brews include the local Monk's Amber Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Heineken and Guinness. Hand-crafted cocktails are all made from scratch with fresh ingredients and an emphasis on organic spirits and produce. Customers can enjoy their drinks in the bar, take them into the spartan white lobby (said to be inspired by New World Spanish monasteries) or in warm weather, sit and sip under the hotel's front portal. It's a prime people-watching location. Hungry? Order from the bar menu provided by Tabla de los Santos, the independent restaurant located in the hotel