The traditional happy hour has evolved significantly from its humble
beginnings as an incentive for workingmen who have just gotten off shift to
stop at local taverns before going home. Designed to coincide with the end of
the average workday, happy hour proved to be such a success that it wasn't long
before most establishments that served liquor adopted the tradition in some
form. They also began to offer salty snacks such as chips or pretzels in
order to increase thirst among patrons and therefore drive up sales. The bowl
of chips, pretzels, or popcorn has since evolved in most places to include
items such as hot wings, sliders, and miniature fajitas.
Bar and restaurant owners have discovered that offering quality happy hour
snacks is good for business in more ways than one. If the establishment also
serves dinner, it introduces bar patrons to menu items that may provide them
with incentive to stay for dinner. It may also serve to encourage people to
order full plates once they get a taste of the kitchen fare.
In today's
climate, it's also important to prevent patrons from becoming intoxicated while
on the premises, which one of the main reasons why locales offering happy hour San Diego frequently feature
many different snack items.
Happy hour food should be easily eaten with the fingers and not too messy.
Hot wings are the preferred appetizer of choice for many sports bars, and they
are inexpensive enough so that they can be served in abundance. However, they
are rather messy, and bars that include them in their happy hour offerings must
be prepared to hand out lots of napkins. A better choice might be chicken
nuggets that can be eaten with toothpicks and dipped into barbecue sauce if so
desired.
Although some restaurants go all out by providing actual happy hour buffets,
most have found it's better to reach a happy medium between the humble bowl of
chips and a full buffet. The cost of providing an in-house happy hour buffet
usually has to be supplemented by raising drink prices. This practice may result
in customers being alienated because it defeats the whole purpose of happy
hour. Most establishments have found that offering two or three items during
happy hour satisfies customers and keeps kitchen costs at reasonable levels.
