Happy Hour @ Cafe 21, Adams

Earlier this evening, we thought we would give Cafe 21 on Adams another try...

I really liked their Happy Hour at the Gaslamp and we wanted to go to the original location especially since the tapas are $1 less than the Gaslamp's...


There was about half an hour left of Happy Hour. Luckily, there was room inside the restaurant. Every time I've visited, we've only sat out in the front, so this was a nice change, especially since it's so pretty inside. The decor is quite electic, mixing the exotic with the rustic.

Above, a selection of their sagrias and below, pre-sliced fruits as the drinks' garnishes.

Our drinks: TC's fresh strawberry lemonade, Bert's Latitude 33 Vanilla Stout, and my Kiwi Citrus sangria...

All of our drinks were great. TC's drink was so fresh and fruity while Bert's was on the "thicker" side. It had a smooth flavor and was very easy to sip. My drink wasn't as good as my previous sangria, which was white wine based, but I was glad I gave this flavor a try.

We ordered quite a few things from the tapas menu, where everything was $4. Because I loved it so much at the Gaslamp location, I ordered two of the potato pancake with the beef short rib. Other favorites included the thick cut Kennebeck potatoes with prosciutto and cheese (TC's fave), the avocado fries, and the beef/vegetable skewer.

The potato pancakes here seemed to be smaller and the meat was not prepared sliced off the bone; instead, it was shredded. The meat portion was also smaller. You can see the comparison (link at the end) and see the difference. Boo.

We also ordered the Duck Wings with Spicy Apple Cider Glaze and the Chicken Crepe with Apricot glaze,  mozzaarella, and powdered sugar.

As you can see, that was NOT the chicken apricot crepe. It was the spinach with feta cheese (feta cheese = barf).  I didn't complain since I figured, "Well, we can try something new" and no worries since Bert and TC would like it.   The duck wing glaze wasn't that discernable and out of all of the appetizers we had that night, this was the OILIEST. There was a pool of oil that seeped out onto the table from the wooden board. Ugh!

The waitress came by later and apologized for not giving us the right order and said the chef would be making our chicken crepe shortly (we weren't charged for the spinach/feta crepe either which was good).

I guess the chef was in a rush because the edges were burnt and there was no powdered sugar on it (you can also see the Gaslamp post linked at the end for comparison's sake).  It seemed like a rush job.

Compared to the Gaslamp's Happy Hour, a few of these appetizers were on the smaller side and were missing a few of the ingredients and lacked in presentation. The price however, is still pretty good, at $4.

Previous visit to Cafe 21 at this location:
Earlier this April 2014 with Bert and TC for my free birthday meal (the best deal of all!)

Previous Happy Hour @ Cafe 21 (Gaslamp)
At the end of last month with the gals from the gym...

Again, service was great (other than the crepe snafu) and we were able to try a wide variety of appetizers.