Happy Hour Hopping
I decided to take my fiancée on a date at Echo & Rig. You may have heard of it, it’s a very upscale restaurant with their own butcher shop on the lower level.
They’re located in Tivoli Village, which is an experience all in itself.
I had been here once before and was blown away by the food. Everything I had on my previous trip was beyond my expectation; because my fiancée had never been there, I knew we had to go!
We got to Echo & Rig around 5:15 pm with the intention of reviewing their Happy Hour. We gave our names to the hostess and started to wait.
We waited about five minutes before another couple entered. They talked to the hostess real quick, then watched as they walked into the bar area and took the last two seats.
This is where the date went wrong...
We then thought that you may have to be in the bar area for Happy Hour. The hostess didn't ask if we were there for Happy Hour - even though we were there in plenty of time to make it - so I was sure that wasn't the case.
It was the case...
We were quite annoyed as we had been waiting and would have been able to enjoy Echo & Rig had the hostess done her job correctly.
We had waited an additional five minutes to see if some seats would open up before it became clear we would be waiting a while. Instead of missing Happy Hour all together, we decided to try out one of the other restaurants at Tivoli.
We decided on Brio Grille and were pretty pleased with our decision. When we walked in, to our delight, the hostess immediately asked if we were there for Happy Hour!
We were able to score a seat at the bar but, being so crowded, we chose to sit outside instead. It was pretty hot, but the sun wasn't directly on us and we had some amazing glasses of sangria that kept us cool.
We started out the order with a white peach sangria and a rosa sangria. Both were delicious, we definitely recommend trying them! They were sweet, but not too sweet; the fruit was fresh and it had a little fizz to it that really made it pop.
For our “dinner”, we got the margherita flatbread, crispy smashed potatoes, and crispy shrimp.
The Margherita flatbread was HUGE! I was expecting something small and we’d both have a piece each. It was one of the most delicious things we’ve had out in a while and it was such a simple app.
The crispy smashed potatoes were wonderful and plated beautifully. I didn't think I was gonna like the lemon aioli, but it was surprisingly tasty! Even though the crispy shrimps were so-so flavor-wise, they were pretty big and filling.
The service was a bit slow. We were there at Happy Hour and the only people sitting outside; so, we were often forgotten. We had to go inside sometimes to ask for things we needed, which was inconvenient.
Overall, it was a pretty nice date, we’ll definitely go back to Brio and we can't wait to go to Echo & Rig.
But, remember, make sure you ask about Happy Hour.