Angelina Italian Bistro - Detroit, Michigan

3/16/2010
This place has such a lovely bar area happy hour.

I used to work down the street and met an old work mate as this is her new fave haunt. I have been wanting to try here so I was more than game to make the trek when our schedules both finally cleared enough.

Tuesday through Thursdays happy hour runs from 5-7 pm. Fridays and Saturdays it is 4-6 pm. The bar is pleasant and there seems to be a few people wanting to take advantage of the deals (steals) but we managed to snag seats.

Of course they feature cheaper drinks. Four dollar 20 oz beers including many faves from Detroit area breweries, mostly Motor City Brewing (5 of theirs) but also one each from Detroit Brewing and Atwater.Three dollar wells, four dollar wines and a five buck martini du jour. Sadly I had to stick to iced tea. The upside though, was it was very tasty tea.

We noshed on some of the lovely appetizers but not all of them. The list is quite long and happy. They are all priced between four and five dollars and are great for a light nosh as you chat

The pesto marinated chicken skewers were happily dipped into tasty cheese sauce and were served with field greens. The crispy calamari was perfectly cooked and I really liked the the horseradish marinara, it was my fave of the appetizers. The salumi plate was a treat with very good salami, genoa ham and house made mortadella. The pesce plate was a no brainer pick as I cannot go wrong with hot smoked trout or cold smoked salmon, the whitefish sausage was a new thing for me and I liked it.

Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. My tea was kept filled and I was surprised at how smoothly it all ran. A good happy hour is hard to come by really but here it is beyond merely good.

Street parking is plentiful and the area is safe, trust me, do not let the Detroit locale scare you off a bit. I can't wait to return for some pasta with my husband soon.