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From Looka!/Gumbo Pages.

Normally I wouldn’t dedicate a whole post to just one cocktail, but the Blood Sugar Sex Magic is like nothing I’ve ever tasted. I’ve been thinking about it, on and off, since first trying it a couple weeks ago before heading over to Rosa Mexicano’s par-tay. And then at a dinner last week, Matt of Dig Lounge brought it up, and now I’m thinking about it a lot again. So now I have to blog about it, plain and simple.

I had some time to kill before Rosa Mexicano, so Caroline of Caroline on Crack met me for some pre-party drinks at Rivera, which is conveniently within walking distance of L.A. Live downtown. After perusing the cocktail menu, my eye landed on the Blood Sugar Sex Magic: a perfect combination of rye whiskey, agave nectar, basil and red bell pepper. Yes, you read correctly. Since Caroline, who knows her whiskey, said she’d had the cocktail and liked it, I though I’d give it a try. And I’m sure glad I did. It’s absolutely amazing: fragrant, well-balanced, intriguing even.

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Pomegranate cosmo (foreground), Berry belini

Like any smart hotel, Le Merigot’s Le Troquet bar in Santa Monica is now offering a happy hour deal, but it’s slightly different: it’s a late-night happy hour, from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Food on the bar menu is 30 percent off, and well drinks are 50 percent off.

I had never been to Le Merigot, so when the hotel invited me in to experience the new happy hour deal, I accepted the offer. The hotel is on Ocean Avenue near the Viceroy and Loews hotels, so I figured it would be a nice property and possibly a place I’d go to when I’m in the area.

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I checked out downtown Los Angeles’ The Association bar last week for the first time, and I was pleasantly surprised at finding this hidden gem (just about literally — it’s right next door to Cole’s, but I’ve never noticed it before and passed it by this time because there’s no sign!). Esther of e*starLA and I stopped by the bar for its Twitter Tuesday special: $2 off cocktails from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and a free plate of cheese, crackers and grapes from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. I love free bar food!

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And in more happy hour news…

I’m a sucker for good, inexpensive food and drink. Cheap eats, as it were. And you can always find deals during happy hour, right? (Sometimes, if I can muster the appetite that early, I’ll make happy hour my dinner. But I digress.)

So e*starla and I went to check out the happy hour at Hokusai, a Japanese restaurant near the intersection of Wilshire and San Vicente boulevards in the space that used to house Continental. It’s pretty darn close to where we live, and just across the street from e*starla’s place of business. (This was a while ago, but you know you still want to hear about it — because it’s happy hour!)

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Asia de Cuba cocktail. From mralenlin (Flickr).

Seems like every restaurant has some kind of happy hour deal these days (as they should!), so here are some of L.A.’s latest offerings:

• Asia de Cuba‘s “Out of Office” Fridays: For those of you who can get out of work early (or if you don’t have that problem, this is great!), this restaurant at the Mondrian hotel is now offering a $5 menu on Fridays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: $5 food, cocktails and valet parking. At the Asia de Cuba Bar in the hotel’s lobby, there’s also a happy hour from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily, with half-off the lounge’s menu items (excluding bottles); that means just about everything on the menu is less than $10.

• Rowdy Red Wine & Burger Bar: This downtown burger joint tucked away beneath the City National Plaza building has launched a weekday happy hour starting at 4:00 p.m. until close (7:00 p.m.) with $3 select wines by the glass and 30% off all wine bottles. You can also get a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon for $2 and appetizers for less than $5.

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I must have passed by the Hotel Palomar on the Wilshire Corridor so many times, but I never noticed it was there. Now, with the hotel’s restaurant, Blvd 16, offering a happy hour special, I’ll have a reason to stop in.

Blvd 16 calls its happy hour “Rush Hour” and is pushing the concept as a stop during the evening commute. It’s relatively close to the 405 freeway, so I guess this is a reasonable idea. From 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., you can choose from a variety of small plate appetizers ranging from $3 to $5, and from a list of 3 oz. wine flights ranging from $4 to $6. Well drinks are $6, too.

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And in more Kor Hotels news, Viceroy Santa Monica recently announced summer specials (on food and beverage, not room rates):

Starting Friday, May 22, and lasting through Aug. 28, the Cameo Bar is starting a “Summer Fridays” happy hour. From 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., wines by the glass, well drinks and beers will be priced according to the hour they’re ordered. For example, drinks ordered during the 2:00 p.m. hour will cost $2. Prices increase by $1 every hour until the 5:00 p.m. hour, where the drink pricing fun ends at $5. There’s also a new bar menu, with prices ranging from $2 (fried chicken and biscuit slider) to $15 (half dozen oysters). For those with more cash, poolside cabana rentals are $100 plus a two bottle minimum – and bottle service is half price.

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In addition to the free froyo at Red Mango I wrote about yesterday and the 31-cent scoops at Baskin Robbins I tweeted about, here are a few more deals and steals:

Magnolia downtown. From mralenlin (Flickr).

• Magnolia, both the new downtown and original Hollywood locations, are offering 20% off your dinner bill through May 5 when you book a reservation. Looks like it’s a Daily Candy thing, so make sure to mention and/or bring in your DC email. Also, your dinner party is capped at 6 for this deal.

• From Friday through Tuesday (May 1-5), Provecho downtown is having a crazy-extended happy hour each day from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with $5 Cazadores margaritas, $3 Dos Equis and Tecate, $2 mezcal shots and $5 tacos. On Cinco de Mayo, the resto will also have burlesque dancers, luchadores and a mariachi band. From Thrillist.

• To kick off American Craft Beer Week (May 11-17), Brix 42 in Pasadena is offering $3 beers all that week AND giving one free entree per person on May 11 from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The gastropub will also be holding an all-night happy hour on Tuesday, May 12.