Three o'clock on Coast Highway 101 is a specific kind of hour. The lunch rush has cleared, the beach crowd is drifting back up from Moonlight and Swami's with salt in their hair, and the light starts doing that low gold thing across the patio. That's when our happy hour starts, and it runs until six, Monday through Friday.
Full pricing and the current board live on our dedicated happy hour page — this guide is about how to actually use it.
What the board looks like
Three things drive it. Select pints drop to $7, which usually covers a lager, a pilsner, a Mexican import, and at least one San Diego IPA. Our BG bites go to $10 — Bier Pretzels, loaded potato bites, roasted buffalo cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, shishito peppers. And the drink specials run $10, currently the house margarita and Camelot wines by the glass.
Separate from all of that, the house Biergarden Lager and Biergarden IPA are $7 all day, every day. If you show up at 7:30pm and missed the window, that's still the move. Specials are subject to change — the pints rotate with the kegs, so treat named beers as examples rather than a promise.
How to order it
Two bites and two pints is the standard two-person order and it lands at a reasonable number. If you're four people, get the pretzels, the cauliflower, and the shishitos and share everything; the Brussels sprouts with goat cheese and candied pecans are the one people fight over. Add short rib nachos off the regular menu if it's turning into dinner.
Hungry rather than snacky? Happy hour bites are shareable plates, not a full meal, so most tables end up ordering a burger too. The Cheeseburger 101 with a $7 lager is the most ordered combination on this patio, full stop. Full-size burgers stay at menu price during happy hour.
Where to sit
The patio rail is the people-watching seat: bikes, boards, dogs, and the entire 101 pedestrian parade going by. It gets direct sun until roughly five in the summer, so if you're heat-averse, take a table one row back under the shade. Inside at the bar is the move on a windy day, and the bartenders will tell you what just went on tap, which the printed list won't.
It fills up. Thursday and Friday from about four-thirty onward is the busiest stretch, and the patio turns over in waves rather than steadily. Tuesday at 3:15pm you'll have your pick of tables. Groups of six or more should call ahead at (760) 632-2437 so we can try to hold something together.
Making a night of it
Happy hour ends at six but the kitchen runs until 10pm, 11pm on Friday and Saturday, and we pour until midnight all week. A lot of people slide from happy hour straight into dinner without moving tables, which is fine by us. Weekends flip the schedule: we open at 10am on Saturday and Sunday for brunch, mimosa flights and Bloody Marys included.
Getting here: 641 S Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas, two blocks from the Pacific. Street parking along the highway and the side streets; if you're within walking distance, walk — parking after five is its own sport. And if you'd rather take it home, order pickup on Toast and eat with your own view.
Over in Oceanside, our Cleveland Street patio runs its own specials near the pier. Same idea, different street.