Stacey has been rallying for me to try more places in Ocean Beach since she hangs out there a lot and knows the good places to go. I’m not adverse to it, per say, except that parking in OB sometimes makes me want to cry and I don’t know where to eat in OB that doesn’t require me standing in an obscenely long line. Thankfully with Stacey as my guide, I got to try out the Arizona Cafe for some sweet $3 happy hour specials. Now we’re talking!
Stacey and I (along with Jake, Frank (Stacey’s boyfriend), and Heather) met up at the Arizona one Saturday evening. It actually happened to be the night of Stacey and I’s high school reunion, which we opted to not go to and instead drank cheaply priced beer and appetizers. Yeah, we’re the anti-social type. I suppose there’s good enough reasons to attend reunions, but we just weren’t feeling it.
Meeting up for happy hour ensured us of trying a few things on the cheap and getting pitchers of beer for half off. We shared pitchers of Yellowtail from Ballast Point Brewery for $8 a pitcher. I had about 2 glasses of beer cause I’m a lightweight. 3 drinks is my max!
If a $3 special doesn’t make you happy, then I just don’t know what will.
This is the Appetizer Sampler. It comes with pepperjack cheese sticks, french fries, and onion caps. I believe they were out of jalapeno caps that day but those usually come in the basket. Pretty typical for a basket of fried foods, but decent when you consider you get a little of it all. The items I tried were all nice and crispy and tasted pretty good.
These are the Turkey Tacos. Jake ordered them and I don’t remember a thing about them.
I tried 2 different kinds of sliders – the first were these Meatball Sliders. It comes on little toasted dinner rolls with one meatball, marinara sauce and some melted mozzarella cheese to top it off. It was a decent slider, just not my favorite of the two. I didn’t like the extra sauce on the slider since it made it harder to eat, but a lot of people dig sauce. I thought it could use a little extra punch of flavor, too (maybe some extra herbs). Good price, decent food.
I felt the winner of the 2 different sliders though was definitely the AZ Sliders. These also come on the little toasted dinner rolls along with grilled onions, gorgonzola cheese and a slide of tomato. The mix of the gorgonzola and onions with the beef made for a perfect bite. The beef itself wasn’t overdone and had a nice little char to the meat. My favorite item of the evening!
[Heather, me, and Stacey]
This place has a TON of TV’s all over the place. If you’re into watching sports (not I), then this is a good place to hang. They’ve got some big, cozy looking booths as well as pool tables and a large bar to sit around.
[Frank and Jake at the bar]
We sat and chatted for awhile; this was the night Jake and Frank got the idea to watch football together. Stacey and I don’t care for football, so they’re figuring they can watch football while we … do girl stuff, I guess? Chat. Eat. Ignore football. Sounds like a plan for the future.
After 2 beers, I was tipsy. But I managed to take this photo, which I love.
All in all I must say that I was pleasantly impressed with their dirt cheap happy hour menu. I don’t know of a too many places with a bunch of $3 food specials. It gives me the warm fuzzies knowing such a place exists. Their happy hour menu is offered daily from 4:30PM to 6:30PM and this is a cash only bar. There is an ATM inside the bar though in case you forget to bring your cash money.
The Arizona Cafe
1925 Bacon St
(between Newport Ave & Santa Monica Ave)
San Diego, CA 92107
(619) 223-7381
Monday to Friday
from 11:00 AM to 2:00 AM
Saturday and Sunday
from 10:00 AM to 2:00 AM
Happy Hour Daily
from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Cash only
