🟢 Tolland's Happy Hour Comes With a Warning

Happy September, Hartford County!

OK, serious question.

Is a restaurant bar WITHOUT a Happy Hour a real restaurant bar?

I mean come on… I went to a spot in Windsor last week and when I asked about their happy hour, I got weird looks.

I’m not weird, they were weird, lol. What do you think?

In today’s edition of The Hartford Pour, we’ll get into:

— Chris M.
Local Whiskey Nerd, Husband, Dad, Entrepreneur (Fun Tip: The Hartford Pour is growing fast and it makes me smile)

Thanks again for all the input on the last survey question. I’m learning so much from you!

We’ve definitely got dog and cat people, but not really anything else. In case you missed it, here it is one more time.

For science…

(This is a TRUE Hidden Gem)

I ordered a shrimp Caesar salad at a pizza place that doesn't make shrimp Caesar salads.

That's usually where the story ends. A polite "sorry, we don't have that," and you pivot to whatever's actually on the menu.

Instead, the guy behind the counter at Andi's Pizzeria in Manchester asked me over the phone, "What can we do for you?" (if you click the link to Andi’s above, just scroll down, you may get lost on their site, lol)

Not in a desperate way.

More like, hey, check it out, even though we don’t have it officially on the menu, we can make it happen (if i was into that) I was, in fact, very into that.

What landed was a shrimp Caesar that isn't written down anywhere, and it was genuinely great.

Shrimp fried and still tasting fresh, like it hadn't been sitting around. Croutons with the right amount of crunch and not one bite past it.

I have strong feelings about over-crunchy croutons. These ones respected me.

I washed it down with a Hosmer's grape soda, one of my favorite local sodas in Connecticut, which they just have, in the cooler, like it's no big deal.

I've been to Andi's a few times now. They've always been kind. This is the visit that stuck.

290 Broad St, Manchester. Order something that isn't on the menu and see what they do.

(There’s a joke in there somewhere…)

The server set my drink down, dropped a fresh coaster on top like a lid, and told me to give it three to five minutes.

That's how an Old Fashioned shows up at The Spot in Tolland: trapped under its own little cloud of smoke you can see from the picture above.

It’s the same torch-and-dome gadget plenty of you have bought off Amazon at some point, except here somebody does it for you, and honestly they make it look way cooler than I ever have at my own counter.

I almost skipped it because the whiskey list is long with tequila and cognac. But there are some gems for a true bourbon drinker hiding in plain sight.

I went with Barrell Bourbon Vantage in the smoked Old Fashioned.

When the coaster comes off, the smoke rolls out over the rim of the glass. Just be careful on that first sip, because if you inhale you're getting the whole campfire in one shot. (that may or may not have happened to me).

The bourbon underneath is fantastic.

Tolland sits a hair past the Hartford County line, but this one's worth the drive. Their happy hour flips from summer to fall on September 2nd, and I'll be back to tell you what the new deal looks like.

200 Merrow Road, Tolland. Just don't inhale.

(September awaits!)

Nobody plans anything for a Tuesday in September, and it showed when I was researching, lol. But I found a couple things, let’s see what we got…

Start at The Foundry, 20 floors up at One State Street in Hartford (the bar entrance is through the garage at 400 Columbus Blvd). Canton singer Hally Jaeggi plays 5 to 8. There’s no cover and there’s great views from that floor to downtown Hartford.

If downtown Hartford isn’t you thing, Connecticut Valley Brewing, 765 Sullivan Ave, runs Two-Wheel Tuesday till 9, so there's a wall of motorcycles out front, and trivia starts at 6:30 (this round: House of the Dragon).

Order A Fantastic Voyage which is their hazy IPA. All tangerine and grapefruit with a fun, little melon kick at the end.

Ahhh… research pays off.

Wednesday night serves up the smartest $4 you'll spend on a glass of wine.

That's Parkville Market at 1400 Park St, where Wine Down Wednesday runs all day until 9: $4 glasses, $15 bottles, with DJ B-EZ doing karaoke from 7:30 until.

Afterwards, Dead Language Beer Project at 1429 Park St (park on Bartholomew Ave, around the back) runs an open mic every Wednesday from 4 to 9.

Poetry and beer is an excellent combination.

Or skip all of that and go downtown.

The Hartford Yard Goats play Reading at Dunkin' Park, 1214 Main St, first pitch 6:30, Adult Floridian Shirt Giveaway at the gate.

Nectar of the Goats is the Thomas Hooker IPA that finally came back to the stands this year after eight seasons gone. Which is mind-blowing to me.

It’s starting to get darker sooner now, (yuck). But the best seat for it is a picnic table at Talcott Mountain Collective, 140 Nod Rd in Simsbury.

Michael Sasportas plays acoustic there from 5:30 to 8:30, no cover.

If you are more like me and enjoy Jazz, check out Glastonbury.

Cotton Hollow Kitchen, 840 Main St, has Goza's Latin jazz trio in the Bar Hollow room from 6 to 9, also free (always the right choice), working through samba, salsa, and the odd Stevie Wonder cover (but it works).

I’m a bourbon nut, so get a Raspberry Bourbon Smash, one of bar manager Mario Wongsosudiro's signatures and thank me later.

Whatever you decide to do, you can end the night with Tiffany Haddish who has a late show at the Funny Bone, 194 Buckland Hills Dr in Manchester (21+, tickets from $77).

Two openers, one closer. So, choose wisely.

Do you know of an AWESOME restaurant or bar? Or something not included in this email you’d like to see?

REPLY to this email and let me know!