The Journal

Four to six

Happy hour, Monday to Friday. What we put on it, and why the hour between the last of lunch and the start of dinner is the one worth keeping cheap.

Drinks and shared plates set out on a table

The gap in the middle

There is an hour in every restaurant day that nobody plans for. Lunch is finished. Dinner has not started. The kitchen is between services and the room is quiet in a way it will not be again until closing.

Most places treat that gap as downtime. We would rather fill it.

What is on

Monday to Friday, four until six:

  • Beer and seltzers, $5
  • House wine, $10
  • Pizza, $10
  • Chicken wings, $1 each, minimum of six per order

That last line matters, so we print it wherever we print the price. A dollar a wing with a six-wing minimum is a different offer from a dollar a wing, and we would rather you knew that before you sat down than after.

Why these four

They are the things that work when you have not decided how long you are staying.

A beer and a plate of wings is a stop on the way home. A bottle of house red and a pizza between two people is dinner, and nobody has to admit that is what it became. The pizza is the same Roman-style pizza we serve at dinner, baked long in a tray and cut into slabs, not a smaller version made for the occasion.

No reservation, no ceremony

Walk in. Sit at the bar or take a table, whichever is free. There is no separate happy hour room and no wristband.

At six it stops, and the dinner menu takes over. Most people who came in at half past five are still there at seven, which was always the idea.

Come and see

A table, whenever suits.

Reserve a TableThe menus