#63: Happy Hour is NOT an Opportunity

It's a challenge

Dear Friends,

Happy belated Valentine’s Day! I hope your day was a reminder of how loved you are. It’s one of my favorite holidays and admittedly it kind of snuck up on me this year, which rendered me unprepared with the usual cards I try to send to my friends and loved ones. My deepest apologies. I’m going to blame it on the increasingly frequent naps I’ve been taking. Although I failed on the card writing side of Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t let the day escape without eating pizza, since it fatefully landed on a Friday this year.

I came across a new restaurant that opened near my old apartment in DuPont Circle called Alfreda. They do pizza and drinks, mainly, and hold a happy hour every day from 3-6p. Their happy hour deal is a BOGO pizza and $8 spritz. Two of my friends I know from work (labeling just as coworkers feels a little reductive at this point) and I decided to hit them up for a Valentine’s Day happy hour and see what it was all about.

First observation: Great use of a neon sign. They’ve got a cutie little floral design as their logo displayed in neon in the front window. I love a well used neon sign.

Second observation: They were empty at 3:30p on a Friday, prime time to go. They don’t take reservations so we aimed for earlier to avoid the v-day crowds.

Third observation: Our waiter, while a nice guy, did not clearly explain the intricacies of their BOGO deal to us, so we didn’t end up getting the deal. We had to laugh that one off, but please we warned. The deal is you buy any pizza and get a free PLAIN pizza. We just got 4 regular pizzas and ended up paying for all of them. Now we know for next time.

Fourth observation: Their drinks menu only had 2 NA drinks on it, so I got one of each. They were both pretty good! There has been online discourse lately about whether or not NA drinks/mocktails should be the same price as regular drinks/cocktails. I haven’t formed a full opinion in this debate yet, but at this restaurant, they’re all the same price.

Fifth observation: The tomato pizza was the best (the red one in photos). On our first round we added pepperoni and on our second round we added bacon and caramelized onions. My favorite version was with pepperoni. I could have eaten a lot of that one. We were all collectively a little let down by the white pie. It just wasn’t super flavorful. It needed some more garlic or salty cheese or red pepper flakes. SOMETHING.

Sixth observation: The white pie slightly redeemed itself the next day when I ate it cold. Not sure what the science is there, but it was better. More flavor, better.

Seventh observation: Happy hour is not an opportunity, it’s a challenge. We sat in this restaurant for a little over two hours. We had to have a couple rounds of drinks and a couple rounds of pizza. Admittedly, I’m not super well versed on happy hour culture, but I can get behind this. Go with good company and snack your way through the experience.

Overall, as a group we landed on a solid good. It didn’t change our lives, but we didn’t regret the meal. We were of the unanimous opinion that it sure isn’t as good as Andy’s. If you like a cute ambiance and great people watching, get a table by the window and sit for a few hours. It won’t be a waste of time.

As always, have a slice for me 🍕 and enjoy the first LANY song I ever discovered in college. I remembered they existed this week and have been reliving 2017.