How can you go wrong with a happy hour? We are thrilled Sarasota Herald-Tribune food editor Brian Ries put the Bijou Cafe on his list of the best "High-End Happy Hours" in Sarasota. We think our Happy Hour is pretty special as well!

We pride ourselves on delicious drinks and tasty bar bites (click the links to see more). And when you combine those with great company, it makes for the perfect evening.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

"For many people, happy hour is about 2-for-1 draft beers and cut-rate martinis, discount drinking during prime after-work hours, probably when you need it the most. Great for socializing with your co-workers or sloughing off stress, maybe, but there’s more to life than cheap drinks. Cheap food, for instance."

To read the complete article from Ticket Sarasota, click here.

Thank you to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for the great coverage! Come in today to try it for yourself.

We have been serving Hangar One Vodka at the Bijou Café for several years now. I love its smoothness and intense flavors.

There are two features that make Hangar One Vodka different from other popular premium vodkas. It is distilled from Viognier grapes and it is done in the old abandoned Alameda Naval Air Station aircraft hangar (thus the name). When you get a taste of it you will find out why it is becoming the call vodka of choice for many people. Ask for a taste the next time you are at the bar in the Bijou Café.

They make several flavors and each one has a unique story behind it. I will write about each flavor in following blogs but first let’s look at Buddha’s Hand.

We have a sample of a Buddha’s Hand fruit in a specimen jar and it is very unusual looking. The Buddha’s Hand isn’t just a funny-looking lemon. It’s actually the lemon’s great grandfather. And like all great lineage, its flavors and aromas run so much deeper — from jasmine to basil; apricot to fruitcake. Its acid bite is milder than a standard lemon, allowing these secondary flavors to take center stage, and dance a ballet on your palate. They start by distilling the whole fruit — seeds, skin, pits, juice, oils and all. The purified lemon extracts in other vodkas give you a single note. The Buddha’s Hand plays the whole symphony. (Maybe that’s what all the fingers are for.)

They have a blimp they fly around the country promoting their Vodka and I was fortunate to go for a fun filled flight on!