Burger bar
Red Cow (Cathedral Hill)
The Selby Avenue Red Cow runs the same Tuesday-through-Friday window as the other locations, with two dollars off wine, beer, and cocktails and seven-dollar starters: ahi crisps, buffalo cauliflower, Brussels, wings, scotch eggs, Wisconsin cheese curds. The scotch eggs and a Moscow mule, two bucks off, is a reliable early-evening plan.
Classic cocktail bar
The Commodore Bar & Restaurant
Old-school St. Paul glamour in a room that has been doing it since the Fitzgeralds were neighbors. Wednesday and Thursday from four to six: fifteen dollars for any app (cheese curds, fries, lamb sliders, cauliflower) and sixteen dollars for any cocktail from the classic list. Wednesday and Thursday also get half-off wine bottles. The late-night Friday and Saturday window from nine to eleven is the one locals know.
Craft beer bar
The Gnome Craft Pub
A genuine craft-beer bar that runs a daily happy hour with two dollars off all apps and a tight beer list at five dollars: Two Hearted, Pacifico, Coors Light, Hamm's, Summer Shandy. Two-Hearted for five bucks is the Cathedral Hill steal. The espresso martini at nine if you are staying.
Vegan-friendly bar
J. Selby's
A vegan-friendly bar and kitchen on the Cathedral Hill block that runs a happy hour Wednesday through Friday from three to six with a dedicated HH menu including HH-only items like the Midwest Tuna Melt. Drink prices vary by visit, so ask at the bar. Worth knowing if you are in the neighborhood.