UPDATED On the Border Happy Hour

Well, it seems as though that Happy Hours are springing up all over the place now and that includes New and Improved Happy Hours. Take On the Border as one. I hadn't ventured in here for a while, but to my surprise, they now have an extended Happy Hour that totally lowers the price points again. This makes everyone a very happy camper!

Available from Sunday through Friday (so no Saturday), 3 PM to Close, there offerings are anywhere from $2 to $4. Las Vegas only has one On the Border location and that's in Centennial at 5630 Centennial Center Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89149. It sits in between Panda Express and Cane's Chicken!

$2

Cup of Queso (Their traditional cheese queso dip is good.)
Cup of Black Bean Dip (Haven't tried this yet so people report back!)
Guacamole Appetizer (Haven't tried this either.)

2 Empanadas: Ground Beef or Pulled Chicken (These are good and what's nice is that the regular appetizer platter of Empanadas can almost be too much and having the small portion option is perfect!)
5 Avocado Fries (When there's avocado, it begs for me to try them! They came out nice and crispy and hot which means that the avocado melted in your mouth. It had a little bit of a spice coating to it. I think they were good, but if you've been to Kona Grill and had their Avocado Egg Rolls - nothing can quite compare to that!)

$3

Cheese Quesadilla (Well, who can really mess this menu item up? I haven't had it but I have had their Chicken Quesadilla before and it was good!)
4 Mini Chicken Flautas (I don't eat flautas too often, but they are crunchy filled rolls that are deep fried.)
3 Mini Crispy Tacos (When I eat tacos here, I just go for the regular sized ones. I saw them come out on a plate and they are kind of small. If you like their tacos, go there on Tuesday where tacos are a la carte at $1.25 each! Yum!)

3 Stuffed Jalapenos (I vaguely remember trying these eons ago, so I can't vouch for them today. Although I've rarely had a stuffed jalapeno that wasn't good. Enough said.)
2 Mini Chimichangas (OK, I've never tried these.)



$4

Queso/Guac Duo (Well, I imagine that it's just a combo of the two items.)
Bean & Cheese Nachos (I'm not a fan of their nachos because they aren't like the typical platter of chips topped with toppings. Their nachos are individual chips, each topped on their own. It makes for more of a soggy chip nacho and I don't dig that.)
Cantina Nachos (I think these might be the traditional type of nachos. I haven't had them so I can't vouch for them. However, the description does say "piled high with all the fixings".)
Crispy Corn Quesadilla (Hmmmm....not sure about this one!)


AND

Add Rice, Beans or Fries for just $1!

Elephant Bar is Atmosphere with a Very Happy Hour!

Sorry everyone! This is my MOST popular blog and I've been on hiatus for a moment - OK - since April, BUT I've returned with good stuff! This post I am talking about the Elephant Bar. Biggest number one perk? Seven days a week! Oh how I wish that they would build another Elephant Bar closer to my residence on the west side of Vegas but it's that good that I am willing to trek over there for the goods!

I'll probably be battling some of you out there for a seat when I arrive next time but it's all good! If I can get you to try their awesome food, I'm happy to do it.

Happy Hour Times are: Monday-Friday - 3-7 PM and Every Day 9 PM-Close.

The Elephant Bar is located at Green Valley's The District which is right next to Green Valley Ranch Casino and is a mix of American food with Asian dishes as well. Yes, I know. It's quite different but while it's not necessarily traditional Asian dishes, I do appreciate their twist on it.

The first item that is always a 100% order for me at Happy Hour is the steamed Edamame with coarse sea salt on it. They give you a lot and while I'm down for Edamame steamed hot or chilled, I absolutely love munching on these steamed hot pods before any meal. A generous portion for $3.50! Go with this first!

Another item I order about 85% of the time is their Wok Seared Chicken Lettuce Wraps. What I really appreciate about this dish is that

they don't over sauce it - therefore making it a very dark and salty dish. They keep it as a very light wok seared dish and the chicken very much retains its light color. It's delicious. The sauce served with this isn't the traditional hoisin sauce but a green type of sauce. I can't say that I know what it is - but it's all good! I've had this dish as a main entree for myself before but it's a great one to share so you can try more things on their menu. This appetizer goes for $5.50.

The Baja Chicken Quesadilla is also very good. It's a full-sized quesadilla that is filled with flavorful chicken. The Spinach and Artichoke Dip (not good for diets!) is great and as a precaution, any time that I order this appetizer anywhere, I always ask for it to by bubbling hot - it's the best way to eat it! As of lately however, as tempting as this dish is and I do drool when others order it, I've been staying on the route of the Edamame and chicken wraps. Both of these items go for $4.50.

I am also a fan of the Tempura Salmon Rolls. It's a sushi dish but has a lot more complex flavors in the roll that has made me a big fan of it. While it may not look like a huge dish, it definitely satisfies my stomach when I couple it with the Edamame once again. This dish goes for $6.50.

There are some items that I have not yet tried - but I can say that visually when they are served to someone else they've been looking pretty darn good!


Here's a breakdown of more Happy Hour Menu with some combo items that pair a dish with a draft:

$3.50: Edamame, Creamy Macaroni and Cheese, Sweet Potato Fries
$4.50: Spinach Artichoke Dip, Baja Chicken Quesadilla
$5.50: Buffalo Chicken Tenders, Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Big "E" Burger, Parmesan Crusted Green Beans
$6.50: Quick Fried Soy Ginger Calamari, Tempura Salmon Roll, Korean Beef Tacos, Coconut Shrimp Skewers

Combos:
$6.75: Big "E" Burger + Regular Size Domestic Beer
$7.50: Korean Beef Tacos + Regular Size Domestic Beer or House Margarita

Arizona Charlie's Super Special Graveyard Buffet

So Arizona Charlie's Casino on Decatur has a Ham and Eggs and Steak and Eggs breakfast special in their Sourdough Cafe (next blog!), however, I stumbled upon - on accident - another deal that only happens every other Tuesday evening through the morning. I was headed to Arizona Charlie's because I was craving breakfast for dinner. Yes, I wanted Steak and Eggs just after 8 PM. I walked up to the Sourdough Cafe in AZ Charlie's and saw the dreaded sign: Closed for Cleaning from 8 PM-6 AM. Ugh! My plans ruined!

Reluctantly, I headed upstairs to their buffet. My $3.99 Steak and Eggs breakfast/dinner was about to become a $11+ expenditure. Well, let me tell you that I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the buffet sign that read: Graveyard Buffet 8 PM-6 AM. $6.99 regular price. $6.29 with your Blue Ace Play Card. $5.24 with your Orange, Green or Red Ace Play Card.

Yes! They had definitely compensated for the inconvenience of the closing of the Sourdough Cafe for cleaning and gave their diners a perk for eating at the buffet. So, this Graveyard Buffet ONLY happens when the cafe is undergoing cleaning. Yesterday, April 2nd was a cleaning day. So, count on your calendar for "every other Tuesday" to find this buffet.

The buffet overall is quite fair. I think their salad bar is pretty good. There's lots of veggies to choose from and two pots of hot soup at the end of the line. Now, on the special Graveyard Buffet price, they do close down the Asian section which typically has an on-the-spot Stir Fry where you pick your veggie combo. I enjoy that. The American/Italian section has a carving station with ham and beef brisket. There's spaghetti and sauce and your starches as normal. The Mexican section has tamales and taquitos as well as a sign that shows Fajitas made-to-order. Now, I didn't see the guy, so I'm not sure if it was actually available on the "special" night.

The dessert bar has plenty of selection and they even have pies that aren't readily seen. For example, I saw someone ask the dessert server for Key Lime Pie and it comes out of the fridge. It's tucked away so you don't know, unless you know, that it's available. They probably have a few items like that.

Overall, for the price you pay, it's not a bad deal at all.

Fridays are Always Happy at B-Dubs

OK, so if you know what B-Dubs is, then you're familiar with Buffalo Wild Wings. B-W-W - hence the shortened version of B-Dubs that we all prefer to say so we save ourselves a few syllables. While most restaurants would never think of having any Happy Hour on a Friday night, I'm glad to see that BWW thinks otherwise. They don't over think their "special" times, they just do it and it works.

Have you ever thought that a place had Happy Hour only to arrive and realize that you misinterpreted the Monday thru Thursday but not Friday night, however Sunday is good and so forth. You get what I'm talking about. BWW is straightforward: Monday-Friday: 2-7 PM and 10 PM - 6 AM. Period. Plus, on all of the weekdays, the 10 PM hour is traditionally an awkward one where most Happy Hours haven't started yet and you don't dare enter an establishment that's about to close because the kitchen staff will want to punch you for making them whip out their pots and pans again. (You know it's true!)

Besides the traditional Wing Tuesday special of 50 cent wings and Boneless Thursdays with 60 cent boneless wings, Happy Hour gives you enough food and drink items that they know you'll probably order something off of the main menu anyways.

The pricing is simple, everything I'm about to list is $3.

Drinks: 
Tall Domestic Drafts
Jack Daniels
Captain Morgan
Absolut Vodka Drinks

Food:

Mozzarella Sticks - I've had these once before. I always like to tell any place to make them well done so that the cheese is ensured to be melted and gooey. Who ever wants to eat fried cheese that's like a block?

Chili con Queso Dip - Once again, as the ultimate fan of being served food that is piping temperature hot (hey, it just tastes that much better!), I, once again, request any dips to be bubbly. This is a really good dip! It's mainly a cheese based dip that has chili in it. It's served with tortilla chips that if served right, should also be warm. 

Mini Corn Dogs - I've never had these here. Why? Corn dogs bring me back to childhood when I was puzzled at the school lunch line when all of my friends would be darting for these hot dogs wrapped in a cake like fried batter and to fit in, I started eating these things. So, in my lifetime, I've kind of had enough corn dogs. But not to say that these aren't good here by any means. I just can't give you a first hand account.

Garlic Roasted Mushrooms - It says "roasted" but it's a garlic flavored crusted mushroom that is fried. These are pretty good. I've had them at least once before. However, my dining partner isn't a big mushroom fan so I tend to not get to eat these too often. 

Chips & Salsa - This is what you would expect. I do like their tortilla chips here because they are light and crispy and no the super thick ones. 

Every B-Dubs has the same feel with a little bit of a different layout. The servers at my local B-Dubs are great but I can't attest to the other wait staff valley wide. So, you may have to show up and see but in any sense, you've got a wide range of hours including Friday for some economic eats!

Late Nite at Southpoint Casino

The beauty about Las Vegas is if you live on a schedule that is more unorthodox than orthodox, you run into specials that are often a steal - that is - if you are into eating late night. It's a 24-hour city and shifts are always getting off while shifts are just about to begin. I've eaten breakfast at 3 AM before and have sat next to someone who had just gotten up and was having breakfast before they headed into work. Plus, at this time, you see the club goers who have consumed too much alcohol and need some grub! This is beautiful! Late night specials can satisfy a variety of people!

On the very very south end of Las Vegas Boulevard...Mandalay Bay's direction and keep keep keep going, you'll find Southpoint Casino. It's gold/yellow in color and it has a world class equestrian arena. OK, so what does this have to do with specials? Nothing...but just saying.

From midnight to 6 AM Southpoint's Coronado Cafe (their 24-hour restaurant) serves specials. You must be 21 years and older to order these dishes.

Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy - $2.25
Two Eggs, Hash Browns, Toast & Jelly - $2.95
Pancake Sandwich: Buttermilk Pancake, a Fried Egg & Sliced Ham - $3.45
Ham Steak & Two Eggs, Hash Browns, Toast & Jelly - $3.75
Cheeseburger: 1/2 lb Burger with French Fries - $3.75
7 oz N.Y. Steak, Two Eggs, Hash Browns, Toast & Jelly - $3.95

I rarely get to dine at Southpoint late night, but on the few occasions that I have, I remember that their dishes are good. While I'm very specific in my posts about the dishes on special, I don't have anything terribly specific to recall about these items, other than I don't have a negative impression. So, it must have been fine.

Overall, the cafe has good food. They have a Chinese menu that is separate from the main cafe menu and sometimes you need to request it because it isn't always handed to you. If you order off of the Chinese menu,  they typically give you the Chinese Hot Tea for free as it comes with most of their entrees. There aren't specials on the Chinese per se, but if Chicken Fried Rice is $5.95, their prices are definitely within reason on most fronts.

They also have a $12.95 Prime Rib or Porterhouse specials. It comes with your salad or soup as well.

Yard House Happy Hour

When you can combine Happy Hour pricing with real dishes, you've got a win-win situation. I'm not saying that chicken fingers and wings aren't real dishes, but having a variety of items to choose from beyond the typical fried items is always a welcomed sight.

Enter: Yard House. With over 180 drafts on hand, it will satisfy the most serious of beer drinkers while dishing up great complements to the beverages. Just the sight of the kegs is quite impressive. There are two locations in Las Vegas. One is at Town Square on South Las Vegas Boulevard (just down the street from Mandalay Bay Casino). The other one is situated inside the Red Rock Casino in Summerlin (westside Las Vegas).

Yard House's Happy Hour is Mon-Fri 3-6:00 PM and Sun-Wed 10 PM-Close. Their late night Happy Hour especially appeases me because the 10-11 PM hour is an oddball time slot where most places haven't yet started their Happy Hour which makes Yard House right on with their timing!

Most of their appetizers are half-off and here's a run down of the choices:

Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Stir fried chicken with pine nuts, green onions, tofu with three dipping sauces (one of them being peanut sauce).

I order this dish about 90% of the time because it's tasty, interactive (you have to make your own wraps of course) and it's not an item that is typically on other Happy Hour menus. They give you a generous portion of  lettuce and it's not iceberg, I believe it's butter or bibb lettuce. Or - are they kind of the same lettuce?!?!? Who knows. Anyways, it's a flexible leaf that doesn't break in half on you so it works well. As an obvious Asian (Chinese to be exact), I give this one two thumbs up!

Seared Ahi Sashimi: Seared rare, lightly blackened served with soy vinaigrette.

So you have to be a sushi or rare fish eater to appreciate this one, but it's very very good. It's a light appetizer so if you order this one, you'll most likely need to order or share one more dish with someone. It has a very refreshing taste and I've always had it come out just right. I recommend this one for sure.

Spinach Cheese Dip: Just like you know and served with flatbread crisps for dipping. 

This is also a good dish but as in any restaurant that I order a spinach cheese dip, I request that it comes out extra bubbly hot because it always tastes better that way. Their dip has a good taste to it.

Chicken Nachos: This is what you would expect. It's the typical nachos layered with beans, cheeses, guacamole and sour cream. 

It's hard to mess this one up. If you are in the mood for nachos, it's quite a large size so you won't be disappointed with that. It's a consistent dish that will satisfy your taste buds.

Garlic Noodles: Tossed with butter and topped with Parmesan cheese.

This is a smaller dish and it's great as a side to complement the other appetizers. It's got a really nice unique flavor with the garlic and cheeses on it. This isn't a saucy noodle dish. It's more of a dry noodle dish but has a nice burst of flavor.

Onion Ring Tower: Beer battered dusted with Parmesan and served with chipotle and ranch dipping sauces. 

I've had this either once or twice and it's not because it wasn't good. It's just so darn big. It really is stacked like a tower and it's definitely meant to be shared with a few people. You really only want to eat one or two and to try other dishes, otherwise you can get onion-ed out and really full from it.

Pizzas: BBQ Chicken, Spicy Thai Chicken, Margherita, Four Cheese, Pepperoni and Mushroom, Ham and Pineapple round pizzas. 

It's a decent sized pizza that you can either share or eat as your entree. Of all the pizzas, my favorite is the Spicy Thai Chicken one because it's a unique item and it's got the peanut sauce on it. It's definitely not a traditional item but it's not one that you'll find in other places.

More appetizers that are half-price are: Wings, Moo Shu Egg Rolls, Fried Calamari, Fried Chicken Strips, Blue Crab Cakes, Tuna Roll and California Roll.

They also have sliders on the menu for $6.95 and they all come with fries. They offer the Classic, Bearnaise, Pastrami, Turkey or Gardein (TM). You really can't go wrong with their sliders. They are all good. I especially like the Classic, Pastrami or Turkey sliders. Another option for $9.95 is their Ahi sliders. I haven't tried these yet.

There are drink specials, of course. They start at $2.25 and up. Domestics are $3.50 and Well Drinks are $4.25-4.75. Specialty Drinks and Wine by the Glass are $2.00 off.

What's also great about their Happy Hour is that it extends throughout the entire restaurant. Every seat is a Happy Hour seat so you don't have to cram yourself into the bar area. Sit comfortably at a table or a booth and still enjoy the specials.



rooms

Einstein Bagels Offers Late Day Discounts

If you are like me and just eat bagels as they are, then this latest Einstein Bagels special is right up your alley. Monday-Friday, from 3-5 PM, they offer 25% off of their bagels. Sure, it makes sense. It's late in the day and they are about to close and what better way to unload their bagels to customers than a discount?

While I typically like to enjoy the freshest bagels that come out in the morning, a 25% discount could definitely entice me in there for a late afternoon snack.

I used to always get the Asiago Cheese Bagel, but lately I've been having the Everything Bagel and the Cinnamon Sugar Bagel toasted with a side of butter. I'm not a big cream cheese person so I can't really attest to the new cream cheeses. Either way, all of their bagels are good and it's really up to what your tastebuds are looking for, something sweet or salty?

Bagels typically run anywhere from $1.10-$1.70 - depending on if you pick a Classic, Signature or Gourmet bagel. You really can't go wrong with any flavor.