Crow's Nest

THE BUZZ ON THE CROW'S NEST

Happy Hour  Monday - Friday 3:30 to 6pm, Wednesday all night

Half off all appetizers

All well drinks, wine,draft beers, well Margaritas and Bloody Marys $3.75

Crow's Nest

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Julie's Review

The Crow's Nest offers a great happy hour - you get more bang for your buck here than any happy hour we have visited so far. The view is beautiful, the food and drinks are great. The service was fast and attentive and they offer Thursday night beach parties with free music and dancing  on the sand. What's not to love?

The  hours  are pretty standard: Mon-Fri, 3:30  - 6:00 pm with happy hour all night on Wednesdays.  ( Since happy hour is just in the upstairs bar however, on Wednesdays you need to get there before 7:30 or 8:00 or you will have to pay a cover charge, though it is usually only three bucks)

I have spent many a nail biting time trying to get to the Crow's Nest before  the 6:00 p.m. cutoff.  Thursday was a case in point. I took the earlier bus so that I would be able to get there by 4:30, but traffic was so bad I didn't get there until closer to 5:15.  The traffic gets worse during the beach parties so allow yourself plenty of time.

 
Speaking of parking, I used to park on the street or on the beach, but it is always crowded and hard to find a spot.  The Crow's Nest parking lot is only  $1.00 an hour after 4:00and there is usually room which makes it worthwhile. I was running late, but was able to find a spot at 5:15 even on the day of a beach party.

Happy hour is upstairs at the Breakwater Bar and Grill upstairs. There is a large room with lots of ocean view window seats, an L shaped bar and an outdoor deck with more seating. Jo had already got us a nice ocean side table on the deck with an umbrella. Sweet!  One problem I have had in the past at the Nest is trouble getting a seat, particularly on a Wednesday - regatta night or Thursday during the summer beach party (and we all know how I like to get a seat ) but this was not the case today.  There were several open tables when I walked in.

Since the beach party starts at 5:30, Jo and I quickly got down to business. She was already having a beer, and I ordered my standard spicy Bloody Mary.  Here's where the Crow's Nest gets a five shot rating - a Bloody Mary on a happy hour menu and only $3.75! In fact, well drinks, pints, house wines, well margaritas and bloody marys are all only $3.75 and these are not shabby drinks. Look at the garnish on that bloody mary. Hello happy hour!!!!!!

The food value is just as high. All appetizers on the upstairs menu are 1/2 off.  Our favorites are always the Buffalo Wings which are only $3.50! We also ordered the Award-Winning Calamari $5.50, the Ahi Ruby Rare $5.50 and the Crab Martini $5.50. They also offer crab cakes, crostini, smoked salmon, nachos, prawn martini, house made potato chips or a cup or bowl of clam chowder? All half off! Wow!

By this time our sweet waitress had already brought my Bloody Mary and my water. Even though the place was hopping, she was fast and attentive.  I could finally relax and enjoy the view. We could see the harbor to our right and the beach party set up to the left. Sambada was already starting to warm up down below.

The food came quickly and boy was it yummy. First the calamari  - lightly fried with a delicious Parmesan  breading, they were delicious and were served with both tartar sauce for Julie and cocktail sauce for Jo.  Next was the seared Cajun-spiced sashimi tuna served on crispy rice noodles with wasabi, soy and ginger.  Very tasty.  Followed by our favorite standard, the buffalo wings which are always delicious. We ended with the crab martini which had very generous serving of fresh crab over avocado with cocktail sauce on the side. It was a little messy to share, but was delicious and healthy. We were well satiated by the variety of delicious foods.  

We chatted with our waitress who agreed to have her photo taken for the blog.  I had time to sample another  Bloody Mary, but then I could hear the music was really starting and we asked for our check. We were pleasantly surprised how low the check the was - where else can you have two bloody marys and four appetizers and walk out the door for less than $20 plus tip a piece. Impressive value!

 
Jo headed for home and I headed to the sand where my favorite Brazilian band Sambada was playing. There was plenty of room to dance, though by the end it was packed with happy dancing fans. Sambada always draws a big crowd and they are not to be missed! (They will play again at the beach party on August 21st). 

To hear a band of this quality, with no cover charge, to be able to enjoy the music, while looking at the ocean and the sky and lots of happy, smiling friends is the kickoff to summer for me.  It is great the Crow's Nest offers this free  party for locals.

So in sum -  I give five shots for ambience and the beautiful view, we received five shot service, the food, drinks and value are always five shots. I'd still love one weekend day happy hour in there or making it until 6:30, but they get extra credit for throwing the beach party and having their meal with a view special. This is one of the best happy hours around.  See you at the next Sambada beach party!

Julie's rating: 5 shots! 

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Jo's Review

When it comes to happy hour at the Crow's Nest it's all about location, location, location! The Crow's Nest is a the mouth of the harbor. It has a formal dinning area just as you walk in that is level with the beach with outdoor seating glassed in.   

A very nice setting but the place to hang is upstairs at the Breakwater Bar and Grill.  On the way up the stairs they have surfboards hanging on the walls and a great picture of a wave with a rider.  As you round the corner you get of course the view from the windows that line the wall, lots of table and chairs some high some low, and two outdoor seating areas. 

 

The smaller deck was a smoking area back in the day, yes I gave it  up 5 years ago, and the other deck is beach side, stretching the entire length of the building with stairs going right down to the beach. 

I got there right around 4:30 and the place was hoppin. Some one was just leaving a table outside fully covered in shade from the umbrella, it must be my lucky day.  The weather was perfect and Thursdays they have a BBQ beach dance party and one of my favorite bands was playing that night, Sambada. 

Something unique about the happy hour here, Bloody Marys at happy hour prices is usually unheard of but they have them.  I start off with a spicy Bloody Mary and it comes with a decent amount of garnish, olive, onion,lime, pepperoncini and a large celery stick.  I love Bloody Marys, their like a meal in a glass. Julie is stuck in traffic and running late so I get a text from her with that famous line of hers "order me a bloody Mary :-)". I was getting antsy myself and hungry so along with her bloody Mary I got my first appetizer, their award winning calamari. A large calamari steak seasoned, breaded and cut into strips.  the calamari is moist, tender, and delicious, I can see why it's award winning.

Once Julie shows up we get to ordering.  A Crab Martini, crab meat served in a martini glass with lemon, avocado and cocktail sauce, the Ahi Ruby Rare, spicy seared tuna on a bed of crispy noodles with wasabi,soy sauce and ginger, and of course the usual spicy buffalo chicken wings. I always order the chicken wings here, they are the closes to the actual buffalo style that I have seen in this area. I always wish they served more wings you only get 6 but they are moist, fried just right with a tangy sauce and just the right amount of kick to them. 

The Ahi was smokin, seared just right and melted in your mouth.  The crab cocktail was lovely and the avocado was a nice refreshing addition to the dish. Everything was just yummy and we gobbled it down.  One more Bloody Mary for Julie and I opted to a draft the second round and we were in happy mode. 

The bar and grill  upstairs has their own menu as well along with the happy hour menu all the usual far for a bar a grill with a few added touches unique for them.  I usually like to stick to just mentioning happy hours but there's one more thing that makes the Crow's Nest  special to me.  A salad bar. The salad bar is downstairs in the main dinning area but it's also on the menu upstairs so you can get unlimited trips to the salad bar or one trip to the salad bar with one of the entrees upstairs.  Not many places have salad bars left and this one has lots of good stuff on it.  Most of the time when I come here I get the salad bar and my order of wings and that's a perfect meal to me.  Now if we can just get a happy hour pricing on that salad bar and all would be perfect. 

The band is starting to play and Julie is jumping in her seat so we get the bill (always pleasing at happy hour prices) and head out.  My back is hurting today so no dancing for me but next time for sure.  A very successful happy hour with good food and drinks.

Jo's rating:  5 shots