The Classy Drink Special

Johnny V refines the $2 happy hour

Two dollar drink specials. Affectionately named the “$2 you-call-it” by college students everywhere, the $2 drink has lost its class, its charisma, what the French call a certain ... I don’t know what. I hear about a $2 happy hour and assume that it refers to some bar that serves nasty drinks in plastic cups and is filled with drunken youth in T-shirts and flip-flops. At least that was my assumption until I ventured into Johnny V on Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach.

It was a Friday night and, with nothing to do, I found myself taking up a friend’s offer to go to Johnny V for its Friday happy hour. After the 10-minute cab ride, filled with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl,” we arrived at our destination. And much to my surprise, this was not the dive bar I had envisioned but rather a lavish building, looking more like a fine restaurant than a bar, with tables, chairs, and yes, even a bouncer at the door ready to check IDs and stamp hands.

After taking a second to wonder if I was underdressed (I wasn’t — there’s no dress code) we walked into the bar and yet again I found myself surprised. In accordance with the chic exterior, Johnny V boasted quite the interior, including two bars, two sitting areas, a VIP lounge, flat-screen TVs, pool tables and a dance floor. I thought there must have been some mistake, or at least some catch. How could such a place offer a $2 drink special?

Hoping to find out, I went to the bar and ordered a rum and Coke. And just as I had suspected, there was a catch; the drinks came in full-size glasses, not tiny plastic cups! Now, I’ve been a part of $2 happy-hours before — they're what led me to my previous assumptions — but I have never been a part of one like this; people walking around with real drinks in real glasses, including real wine in real wine glasses.

And just when I thought this fantasy could not get any better, it did. Here’s how: Every drink comes with a complimentary gourmet appetizer. No dinky bar nuts or a potato chip, I’m talking real appetizers. The list included orange chicken, calamari, fettuccini alfredo, mini-burgers and chicken strips. In a word, these appetizers were unbelievable.

From a Friday night expectation of $2 drinks in plastic cups at a hole-in-the-wall bar to a Friday night realization that I was drinking $2 drinks out of glasses while eating complimentary appetizers off of plates at a spacious club in PB, my night turned out well.

Johnny V, 945 Garnet Avenue, johnnyvsd.com, has made the $2 happy hour classy again, and does so every Friday from 4 to 9 p.m.

What are your favorite happy-hour spots? Feel free to tell us below ...

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