Best Mom Happy Hour – Powell Edition

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2In looking for something to write about this month, the topic of moms and happy hours came up and I thought “Voila! I can definitely write about that!” I’m sad to say that I haven’t been to a happy hour in a loooooonnng time, so I was happy to do the footwork for the great readers of Columbus Moms Blog! 

In beginning this endeavor, I chose to start at home – Powell. My ambition would be to take this show on the road and do a series, but let’s start small.

My friend Tammy and I started to research. We knew there were a lot of places where you can imbibe, eat great food and hang with your mama friends in downtown Powell, but we had to hone in on our time since we were specifically looking at happy hours and had a small time frame. Based on our limited timing, we chose Local Roots, Kraft House No. 5 and Liberty Tavern.

Our happy hour rating scale consisted of five categories:

  • How kid-friendly is the establishment?
  • How are the prices/choices for the drinks and appetizers?
  • Is this really a happy hour? Are people friendly?
  • How is the atmosphere?
  • People watching – fun or boring?

And to test those questions, we came up with the “Mom Happy Hour Scale.” We thought of some of the moms we loved watching while growing up and then assigned them “values” based on how we think their character would rate a happy hour:

Wilma Flintston and Betty Rubble – Definitely a place to bring your best friend and gossip about the men-folk back at home. 

Roseanne Barr – A place where you can meet friends, make friends and then have a bar fight.

Carol Brady – You can bring your bunch to this place with no problem. And someone like Alice will cook, serve and bring you drinks! 

Claire Huxtable – Upscale, has nice, soothing music. A place to unwind in style.

Peg Bundy – A place where you can let loose without fear of your husband leaving you.

Marge Simpson – A place with no pretensions….even though it wants to have some.

Now that we had a “scale” to work with, we got ready to go to work and rate Powell happy hours! 

Local Roots

  • Happy Hour Time: 2-7:00 p.m., M-F
  • Drink Pricing: $1.50 domestics, ½ off Ohio drafts, $1 off wine pours
  • Appetizer Pricing: ½ off select appetizers

With the scale in hand, we were looking forward to a fun late afternoon out! We arrived at Local Roots, our first destination, at 3:45 on a sunny and warm Friday afternoon in October. While we were expecting to sit on the front patio that faces Liberty Street, we were instead ushered to the back patio. It wasn’t our ideal spot, but we quickly ordered drinks and appetizers and got the festivities underway.

How kid-friendly is the establishment? Very! They have old, tin lunchboxes that they give out to kids filled with crayons and toys to keep busy.

How are the prices/choices for the drinks and appetizers? The beer choices were great, as was the pricing. We had bruschetta (which was amazing, so fresh and yummy) and pretzel bites (which were warm, salty and delish). Great pricing and choices!

Is this really a happy hour? Are people friendly? Please see below. We didn’t have much interaction with other adults – 1. Because we got there at 3:45 and 2. Because we were secluded away from everyone.

How is the atmosphere? Again, nice and laid back. If you are bringing your kids with you, it doesn’t feel like you are taking them to a bar.

People watching – fun or boring? Well, since we were stuck out on the back patio, instead of off of Liberty Road, the people watching was severely hampered. While the back patio was nice, we kind of felt like we were put out back because we were clearly moms on the town 😉

FINAL SCORE – A full Carol Brady and a half Claire Huxtable. Perfect for the mom with kids who wants just a touch of style.

We finished at Local Roots around 5:00 and busted a move to Kraft House No. 5. 

Kraft House No. 5

  • HH Time: M-F until 6:00 p.m.
  • Drink Pricing: ½ off Ohio drafts, $5 house wine and Wine Wednesday – bottle of wine at retail
  • Appetizer Pricing: n/a

Neither Tammy nor I had ever been to happy hour here and simply put it was amazing! The bartenders, the people around us at the bar, the drink selection (the Beastie tea was delish). We felt like hip moms and really at ease the whole time. We even serendipitously sat next to the “Norm” of the bar. His actual name was Mike and he told us all about the history of the building and of Powell itself. He was fantastic.

How kid-friendly is the establishment? Meh…I wouldn’t take kids. The place was packed and you could tell it was an after-work crowd, albeit a crazy friendly, awesome after-work crowd.

How are the prices/choices for the drinks and appetizers? We didn’t partake in appetizers here, but the drink prices were right in line with what you would expect for happy hour.

Is this really a happy hour? Are people friendly? ALL THE YESES!

How is the atmosphere? Trendy, hipster-like, but super down-to-earth and comfortable for this mom of three that doesn’t get out too much.

People watching – fun or boring? FUN!!

FINAL SCORE: We added a FULL Claire Dunphy because the place was just so cool! We also gave it half a Roseanne for some reason (but the beer is making that decision a little fuzzy). Oh! And a quarter Norm, from Cheers.

Liberty Tavern

Sadly, we couldn’t rate this establishment because they told us happy hour was over, even though their website said it went until 7. We got there at 6 and it was a no-go. So, no score for Liberty Tavern.

best-mom-happy-hour-powellThe winner by a landslide – KRAFT HOUSE No. 5! Get there, NOW, with your girlfriends! After Liberty was a bust, Tammy and I went back to Kraft House and had the best time ever.

Then her husband picked us up and I was happily in bed by 8:30 🙂

 

 

 

Other happy hours in Powell

Azteca – Powell

  • Happy Hour: 3-7:00, M-F
  • Drink Pricing: Drafts, 24 oz. – import or export – $3.99 each, 20 oz. Jumbo margaritas – $5.99 (reg. $10.49), 20 oz. Texana margarita – $7.49 (reg. $10.99)
  • Appetizer Pricing: ½ off appetizers

BW3’s – Powell

  • Happy Hour: 2-7:00 p.m., M-F
  • Drink Pricing: $1 off tall drafts
  • Appetizer Pricing: Some $4 appetizers

Daily Growler – Powell

  • Happy Hour: 3-7:00 p.m. M-F
  • Drink Pricing: ½ of pints and 25% of flights

Liberty Tavern – Powell

  • Happy Hour: 3-6:00 p.m., M-F 
  • Drink Pricing: $3 Well Drinks, $2 OFF Draft Beer, $2 OFF Wine by the Glass
  • Appetizer Pricing: n/a

Powell Village Winery

  • Tuesday – ALL DAY one bottle of wine and one flatbread for $20!
  • Wednesday – $4 glasses of wine from 3 – 7:00 p.m.
  • Thursday – 15% off wine flights

Prohibition Gastro Lounge

  • Happy Hour: M-F until 5:30 p.m.
  • Drink Pricing: 50% off almost everything
  • Appetizer Pricing: n/a
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Jessica
Jessica is a native of Cleveland, OH (well, a small town 30-minutes outside of CLE, Perry, have you heard of it?!) who moved with her family of five to Columbus in 2014 on a giant leap of faith. Columbus has not disappointed from Day One. She is mom to three great kids, Sadie (7), Colin (5) and Elise (3). Somehow the kids ended up each being 26-months apart, something this not-so-mathematically inclined mama definitely did not plan! She’s been married to her husband Brian for ten years and credits him for (mostly) keeping her crazy in check. Her work is one of her passions – she works media relations in the field of organ, eye and tissue donation. Her job brings her great pride and joy and she actually looks forward going into work every single day. Her other passion is advocating for stage four breast cancer research. Jessica lost her mom in 2013, after a two-year, harrowing road with cancer. She tries to raise awareness for the spread of breast cancer and to educate others on supporting causes that fund stage four research to save lives. Jessica recently won her first Blue Ribbon at the Ohio State Fair for “Button Price” a button art (yes, that’s a thing) rendition of Prince (the singer and purple legend), loves Beyoncé, will never turn down the opportunity of a mid-Saturday nap and is excited to continue exploring this great city we live in!