Restaurant Roundup: Happy hour, coffee drink battle, mashup menu

Rivage Oak Kitchen has a new happy hour menu. Hours are 3 to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close Monday through Friday.

Eight coffee shops are competing throughout May in the inaugural Sioux Empire Bean Battle to help fight homelessness. They’ve created unique drinks, and customers can vote for their favorites, with a portion of sales going to The Community Outreach. Participating businesses are: Cappuccino Cabin, Daylily Coffee, Dunn Brothers Coffee, The Human Bean, Queen City Bakery, all locations of Scooter’s Coffee, Voodoo Coffee and Zooks Coffee Bar in Tea. See descriptions of the drinks, and cast votes here.

Boston’s Restaurant & Sports Bar has a new House-Made Mash-Up Menu. There are three wing mashups, three stacked pizzaburgers and Stuffed Crust Mozza Sticks. The wing flavors are Creamy Buffalo Atomic Nashville, Lemon Pepper Dry Rub Cajun and Stingin’ Honey BBQ. The new stacked pizzaburgers are Philly Cheesesteak, Flying Buffalo and Mamma Meata.

Here are the features for May at Chef Lance’s on Phillips.

Here are a few specials we noticed for teachers and nurses — be ready to show identification — for their appreciation weeks:

• Capriotti’s: 20 percent off through May 12.
• DQ Grill & Chill: Free small Blizzard through Friday at participating locations.
• Ruby Tuesday: Free Garden Bar with any entree purchase for dine-in only on Tuesday and Wednesday. Use code THANKYOU26.
• Yonutz: Free big doughnut with any purchase through Friday.

For teachers:

• B&G Milkyway in Harrisburg: Twenty percent discount through Friday.
• Crooked Pint Ale House: Half-price taps on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and free shareable or flatbread with any purchase on Tuesday.
• Josiah’s Coffeehouse, Cafe & Bakery: Get a free coffee drink or free pastry through Saturday.
• Sickies Garage Burgers & Brews: Twenty percent meal discount through Friday.
• Yakkity Yak Coffee Shack: Free black coffee or 50 percent off any specialty drink through Saturday.

Both locations of Plaza Azteca are celebrating Cinco de Mayo with four-day parties.

On Tuesday, Lucky’s on Louise will have several $5 specials. An extended happy hour will run from 2 to 7 p.m.

Sickies Garage Burgers & Brews has a special on Tuesday: Get two house margaritas and a Triple Cylinder appetizer for $20.

Puerto Vallarta has several specials on Tuesday.

Inca Mexican Restaurant and the new Inca Bar next door are featuring $5 margaritas and $10 margarita pitchers on Tuesday.

The Gruff Plates + Pours in Brandon has a featured menu for Tuesday.

Red Lobster is offering $5 Cinco Ritas and crab queso on Tuesday at participating locations.

Safari Bar & Grill in Renner is celebrating with $6 for chips, salsa and queso and $5 regular margaritas on the rocks.

On Friday, the Tequila and Salsa Slam party will be held at The Meadow Barn at Country Orchards in Harrisburg. There will be live music, dancing, food and tequila. Breaking Burrito will offer a traditional street taco bar, and Taqueria Juanita will have a Mexican sweet corn elote bar. Mama Troll Salsas and Salas Salsas will have products for sampling and purchase. There will be dozens of craft tequilas for sampling and specialty cocktails. Codigo Tequila is one of the sponsors. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $109 for the full package or $44 for salsa, food and music, with a cash bar available. See event details and a link for tickets here.

Who Wan’ Smoke has started a family-friendly event called The Cookout that will be held every Saturday in May at 7560 S. Minnesota Ave. The events feature Who Wan’ Smoke and other food trucks, yard games and a DJ. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is $5 for those 12 and older, $2.50 for younger kids and free for babies in strollers.

First Stop Coffee Shop has kicked off its vendors market in the parking lot at 12th and Ellis. The market runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays through September.

Nunzios is kicking off its Tap Takeover Series on Tuesday with a ticketed event at 6 p.m. to introduce its first brewery: Altered Species Ales. Each brewery will be featured for two months with six of the taps dedicated to its lineup. Next week’s event includes a tasting of all six beers, along with a selection of bites to pair with them. Guests will gather at communal tables to create a social atmosphere. Altered Species Ales owner and head brewer Mike Nussbaum will be there to share stories about the brews. Pizzas will be available for purchase. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased here.

At Charlie’s Pizza, kids eat for free every Tuesday in May. Buy a large pizza and get a medium single-topping one for free.

Nunzios has started WTF Wednesdays. What’s The Feature is available starting at lunch in a limited quantity and changes every week. This week, it was stromboli.

If your name is Mike, you can get a free Steak & Cheese Melt on Wednesday at Firehouse Subs.

For every single scoop of frozen custard sold on Thursday, Culver’s will donate $1 in support of local FFA chapters. There also will be a one-day-only new flavor of the day: Blue Barn Brownie.

WoodGrain Brewing Co. is offering a traditional Kolsch service every Thursday at the downtown location. Sit at the bar, and let your coaster indicate if you want the bartender to bring you another German-style beer. Green side up: Keep the beers coming. Red side up: Bring the check.

In the off-season, The Country Apple Orchard now sells apple butter, Cowboy Candy Peppers, fudge and cans of sparkling apple cider at Makers Exchange in Tea.

DQ has a limited-time Breakfast Collection of three new frozen treats: Fruity Pebbles Shake, Choco Frosted Donut Blizzard Treat and Cinnamon Toast Crunch Dipped Cone.

Changes in hours, service

• Polar Bites has opened for the season. Hours are noon to 9 p.m. daily.
• Falls Overlook Cafe keeps expanding hours as the weather warms up: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, with a brunch buffet served that day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Good NAtured has reopened and is still remodeling so it can start serving food.
• Humble Hill Winery north of Garretson has opened its tasting room for the season. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.

Here are other food and drink headlines from the past week.

Union Social to bring pizzeria to former Boss’ space

Top Hat Bar & Lounge finds new downtown location