TWIS Happy Hour Guide: Louies Modern

It’s rare that I make it out of work in time for a happy hour that ends at 6 p.m. But when I do, it’s likely you’ll find me at this one.

Louies Modern, located on Palm Avenue in downtown Sarasota, launched its first happy hour in September. The restaurant was screaming for a happy hour: great location, cool vibe, creative cocktails and unique food. It had everything going for it but the discounted prices. Now, every day from 4 to 6 p.m. and from 9 p.m. to close, you’ll find $4 drafts, $5 select wines, $6 plates, $7 Ketel One drinks and $8 signature cocktails on the “Beat the House” bar menu.

The food: Louies’ bar plates range from $8 to $12 outside of happy hour, so the $6 happy-hour price tag can be a steal. The best bang for your buck is the steamed pork buns. For half the usual price of $12, you get two buns filled with juicy pork covered in house made kim chee, kung pao sauce and five-spice cashews. They’re amazing, and you’ll want seconds – but the buns were my second favorite plate of the night.

Louies’ chicken and waffle lollipops are one of the best happy hour plates in town. The four chicken drummies are fried with a buttermilk crust, coated with bourbon maple honey and served with a spicy-sweet hot sauce aioli. It’s the magic of chicken and waffles in one messy, amazing bite. We also ordered the salt-and-pepper calamari, which is served with a bright and surprising yuzu aioli — an awesome alternative to the usual marinara.

Also on the $6 menu are a Mediterranean mezze platter (fava bean falafel, baba ganoush, curry chick peas and toasted naan), a maple leaf duck confit quesadilla (made with brie, blackberry spiced jam and lime pico de gallo), the “Exit 105 Burger” (served on a Jersey pork roll with American cheese, ketchup and asiago fries) and the “Dirty Water Dawg” (Peppadew mustard relish and PBR kraut on a Hebrew National all-beef frank).

The drinks: Louies features almost exclusively craft beers on draft. The $4 happy hour price tag isn’t a huge steal though, considering all but the Left Hand Milk Stout are already just $5 outside of happy hour (that stout is $6). We did try a pilsner we’d never had before that was pretty great – Oskar Blues Little Yella Pils. The epic cocktail menu is where the rest of our drinks came from.

Typically sold for $10, the $8 happy hour price is, again, not a huge steal, but a worthy excuse to indulge in some of the most unique cocktails in town. If you’re looking for a festive fall alternative to the ubiquitous pumpkin spice, check out the Tea Party. Made with Earl-Grey-infused brandy and Bénédictine, cointreau and pressed lemon, it has a surprising fall spice flavor. My Old-Fashioned-loving boyfriend declared this his new favorite.

Also unique and complex is the Gramercy, made with Bacardi 8, candied nut syrup, mint, pressed lime and blanc de blanc. It plays layers upon layers of flavor that keep you curiously sipping. If you’re looking for something tropical, try the Thai Pineapple. Sweet and refreshing pineapple and prosecco join forces with fierce Dobel blanco tequila and Thai basil for a fun patio pounder.

Since you’re sitting at the bar (the only place where happy hour is served), order a drink that's as delicious as it is fun to watch (and smell) being made. The North Palm (Jefferson small batch bourbon, Disaronno amaretto, blood orange and Bitter Truth aromatic) is served in a cedar-smoked glass. The bartender burns a cedar plank, then sets a glass upside-down on the smoking wood. You’ll feel like you’re at a bonfire, only classier. And with the promise of bourbon.

But the best and most surprising drink of the night was the Cherry Beets. Beets? In a cocktail? Ew … right? Not when you combine them with Grey Goose cherry noir, St. Germain, bitters and pressed lemon. Beautiful. Just don’t spill it.

The bottom line: Louies Modern has a beautiful bar with a trendy but relaxed urban vibe and great outdoor feel thanks to its connection to the first level of the Palm Avenue Parking Garage. The centrally-located venue is the perfect place for an after-work drink, before you even consider the fabulously odd cocktail menu and the existence of chicken-and-waffle lollipops. And on a Friday night, there was somehow plenty of room at the bar. Get over there before that changes.