Brennan's of Houston may not come up in conversation as a go-to place for happy hour, but it should. During happy hour, which takes place in their Courtyard Bar, Brennan's offers a 7-7-7 menu that includes seven cocktails, seven wines, and seven appetizers, all for just $7.
And the great thing about it? Unlike other restaurants where happy hour only happens during odd hours and only on weekdays, Brennan's 7-7-7 is offered daily from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. -- plenty of time for you to relax, unwind, and get happy.
Three of my friends and I stopped in on a random Friday evening around 5 p.m., and were greeted enthusiastically when we arrived. Right inside the door, Brennan's famous house-made butterscotch pralines were piled up on a plate to welcome us as well.
The bar area was lightly occupied at that time, so we got our pick of where to sit, choosing a four-top table by the window, where we started off with cocktails, including a Tom Collins, made of Segram's gin, club soda, and fresh lemon and lime; a Deep Eddy Daly made of Deep Eddy Sweet Tea and lemonade; and a Smoky Mary, the Brennan's version of bloody Mary made with smoked Poblano pepper infused Svedka vodka.
For food, we literally tried everything on the menu. I'm told the menu changes seasonally, but right now, all the happy hour offerings are crawfish themed, which means we had Crawfish Remoulade, BBQ Crawfish, Crawfish and Andouille Empanadas, Crawfish Boudin, Crawfish and Corn Fritters, Crawfish Enchilada, and Crawfish and Tasso Waffles.
When they came out, the tapas-sized portions were all delicious, though some stood out more than others. My favorite out of all of them was the Crawfish enchilada, which I ordered a second order of because I didn't feel like one shared bite was enough.
The Crawfish and Corn Fritters were fun and lighthearted, crispy fried balls pierced with skewers and served a dark piri piri sauce. My friends quite enjoyed the rich Crawfish and Tasso Waffles, which were full of flavor due to the sweet sugarcane smoked tasso. The Crawfish Boudin was also a hit, and went surprisingly well with the kimchi and crackers that it came with.
We ordered a second round of drinks while feasting on the huge, well-priced spread, but saved room for dessert, which is one of those things you just have to save room for if you go to Brennan's.
The chef decided to show us what their dessert was all about and brought out a sampling of some of their desserts: strawberry shortcake, pecan pie, two types of bread pudding, chocolate mousse cake, and key lime pie. My girlfriend's eyes grew as big as saucers and she had to hold her hands underneath her legs while I took pictures. "Can I eat yet?" she asked impatiently before starting to do some heavy damage to the spread before us.
That was before a smiling server wheeled a cart over to our table and started preparing bananas foster table-side. The smell and the sizzle of the dessert was almost my undoing as we watched him perform an elaborate, fire-enhanced culinary mini-show . Talk about decadent. And mouthwatering. And absolutely positively unbelievably amazing!
So there you have it, the $7 happy hour menu at Brennan's of Houston. Stop me from gushing about it already.
