Snacks are my favorite meals. I picture heaven as an endless sea of passed appetizers.  I remember exactly when I realized snacks could be meals.  I was watching Mermaids (a movie with Cher, Winona Ryder, and Christina Ricci. You’re welcome.) and Cher played the mom.  Making dinner consisted of playing some music and a heapload of snacks on the table.  It struck me that when I grew up I could skip meals and just live on snacks, and it seemed glorious.

Having date night at a happy hour is kind of like that. You get to order all the things, instead of having to pick one big thing.  It’s expected that you will adventure a little–maybe order beets even though you think they taste like jelled dirt. When you’re only committing to a few bites you can give things a try.  I’m pretty certain this is how we all wound up eating roasted brussels sprouts.

So when AFBA sent out the invite to Happy Hour at III Forks, I was pretty motivated to get there, as you can imagine.  I even put on a dress! And real shoes! And I was glad I did.  III Forks is everything a traditional steakhouse should be. Lots of wood, dim lighting, quiet booths, large bar, great staff.  They’d set up several trays for us to sample: lamb meatballs, crab cakes, Blue Point oysters, caprese salad skewers, tenderloin skewers & stuffed mushrooms.  It was all lovely, with the perfectly cooked beef and the oysters being the stars of the show.  I haven’t had such great oysters in a long time!

How does this work as a Cheep date? Because you don’t have to be a food blogger to enjoy their usual happy hour, which is every Monday-Friday from 4-7pm.  $5 martinis, and $1 oysters are a nice way to while away an hour or so.

So pretty it makes you smile.

If you needed something more substantial, or with less gin, they also have half price glasses of select wines, champagnes, and sparkling wines, which you could pair with an Angus burger (half off as well, making it $8.50!). 

They also have sliders for $5 on the Bar Bites menu, but I didn’t get a look at them, so am not sure if they’re a good deal. Short rib on a blue cheese biscuit is intriguing, though.

Many thanks to III Forks for hosting, and the volunteers at AFBA who make these fun events happen.