Y’all know I perk up whenever I hear talk of a new happy hour. I have been to the Grocery once for my 20th birthday brunch (tbt) and I had a decadent stuffed french toast that was bomb. Since I didn’t get to have a boozy brunch back then, I made up for it by checking out their new happy hour, which runs from 5-7pm Sunday-Thursday. All the food is $5 and under and the drinks are $6 a piece. For $6, you can normally get a vodka soda that’s mostly soda, but The Grocery is serving up complex cocktails on the cheap and I’m all about it!
Quality Cocktails for $6
The Happy Hour menu includes beer, wine, and signature cocktails for $6 and under, which is a dream come true in Charleston. The Seaside Spritz jumped out at me because I spotted rosé and grapefruit in the description, so I was sold. It was refreshing, light, and the perfect way to start happy hour.
Another unique drink on the menu is the Dirty Green Tomato. It’s a simple combination of pickled green tomato juice and your choice of vodka or gin. The pickled green tomatoes are made in house along with several other pickled items, which take up an entire wall of the restaurant. Think of a classic martini, Charlestonized (yes, that’s an official term I just made up).
Get Your Snack on for Under $5
Move over buffalo cauliflower, cause buffalokra is the new sheriff in town. I’m not a big fan of okra, but if you deep fry anything and cover it in hot sauce, chances are you can change my mind. The okra was crispy (not slimy at all) and had a creamy blue cheese drizzle to cool down the heat.
If you’re looking to skip the veggies and head straight for the cheese (my typical strategy) then the Crispy Pimento cheese is what you need. That’s right, they took pimento cheese and deep fried it, which pretty much qualifies them for a Nobel Prize. I was eating these bites like popcorn and they disappeared off the plate far too quickly.
We’ve all had chicken wings, but The Grocery is kicking them up a notch with a more complex spice than you would get from a buffalo sauce. To provide an extra texture, the wing is coated in crunchy peanuts and scallions. You get the flavorful spice on the first bite, but if you can’t handle the heat, definitely don’t get these wings.
The crispy chicken sandwich is hefty enough to be a meal, not an app. The Grocery’s version featured an English muffin as a bun, bread & butter pickles (made in house, obvi), and cabbage slaw. I loved the texture of the English muffin and the crispy chicken, but for me the sandwich needed an extra kick.
If you’re looking for a happy hour deal that’s almost too good to be true, head on over to The Grocery and check it out. You will probably see me there eating way too many pimento cheese bites and sippin’ on a Seaside Spritz.
