Super-Thrifty Summer Drinking and Eating Deals

As restaurants and bars continue to roll out creative recession deals, we’ve rounded up some high-end places with unbelievably low-priced drink specials and cheap eats to match. It’s like our dreams have come true: Happy Hours that last for hours and hours and …

There’s no need to remember the start and end times of restaurant Varalli’s new drinking specials. If they are open, the specials are on. Local drafts like Kenzinger are $3, vodka martinis are $4, wines by the glass are half-priced, apps like calamari are $5, and sides like risotto and fries are $2.75. (Check out the full lineup on Varalli’s site.) But the fun doesn’t end there! Take a look at the half-price Bail-Out Wine List — that $28 La Fleur du Roi Bordeaux Blanc is now just $14, and the $36 Cellar #8 Merlot is now $18.

Seafood Unlimited’s Happy Hour starts at 5, doesn’t end until the restaurant closes for the night, and is now running every night of the week. Cozy up to the bar, guzzle down $3 Yuengling drafts, $5 glasses of wine, and $5 margaritas. Shucked-to-order oysters and clams are $1.25 a pop, tempura veggies and peel-and-eat shrimp are $5, and buffalo fried shrimp and chicken quesadillas are $6.

Friday is our favorite day of the week anyway, but Ms. Tootsie’s RBL is making it sweeter with deals from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. All cocktails (like the margaritas), specialty drinks, and beers are $5 each. Plus there’s a $5 food menu to match, filled with all of Ms. Tootsie’s favorites, like mac ’n’ cheese, wings, and catfish fingers. Yum.

We’ll admit we have a slight crush on wine-wiz Bill Eccleston, the sommelier at Panorama. Which is why their new Sunday-night Sommelier Samplers is our perfect excuse to go and chat with him. Every Sunday through August, Bill will pick a flight of five wines to taste for just $10 each. (That’s more than half off.) While you’re there, dig into a half order of one of their homemade pastas for under $13.

The Palm was leading the pack: They’ve been running their Wine Down Wednesdays — all wines are half off — for months now. So you can score that $100 bottle for $50, split a steak, and call it a hump day celebration.

Center City Sips officially starts up again on June 3rd. A bunch of Center City restaurants and bars are offering Wednesday night specials of $4 cocktails, $3 wine, $2 beers, and half-priced appetizers. Raw, Chifa, and Marathon Grill are just a few of the places — check out the entire list at the CCS site. Bonus: Some restaurants — like Fuji Mountain and Palace at the Ben — will offer 15 percent off dinner discount for those who stay to eat past 7.

Photo: Dave Gough/Wikimedia Commons