5851 Westheimer Rd.
713-278-2802
www.loscucos.com
The Hours: All day Monday and Tuesday; Wednesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Deals: Draft beers are 99 cents; margaritas -- frozen or on the rocks -- are $1.50.
The Scene: We usually try to reserve our drinking for weekends or after 4 p.m. on weekdays, but sometimes the opportunity is too good to pass up. Los Cucos presented the perfect opportunity this afternoon.
Los Cucos, just east of Fountview and Westheimer, is a fairly typical set up, the type of Mexican food joint you might find farther out in the suburbs. The inside has a mid-sized bar, and there's nice little patio tucked out front.
But Los Cucos also has a lunch-time happy hour that sets it apart. Draft beers, albeit a pretty standard line up, are 99 cents, and margaritas are $1.50. And even though the drinks are served in 10-ounce baby mugs, drinks at those prices are too cheap to pass up.
The bar was fairly packed during our noon visit, with a few people eating lunch by themselves and one group of young 20-somethings who were definitely taking advantage of the 99 cent beer. The patio was a favorite.
One of the downsides at Los Cucos was the absence of any good lunch specials to accompany the happy hour drinks. If there was cheap food, we might make the restaurant a future lunch time destination.
But we went with the cheese enchiladas ($7.99) anyway and were disappointed that we did. The food bordered on cold, and each time we cut into the enchiladas, chunks of shredded cheese fell out.
Of course, with 99 cent beers, just about everything tastes okay.