This Could Be the Best Happy Hour in Kirkland

Kirkland’s Heathman Hotel (220 Kirkland Ave.; 424.284.5800; heathmankirkland.com), a boutique property with 91 rooms and suites, couldn’t be better positioned: It’s in the middle of bustling downtown Kirkland with Google close enough to help keep a steady stream of overnight guests filling the beds of its recently, and tastefully, revamped rooms, the result of a multi-million-dollar renovation.

But the best deal for locals might be the happy hour in the intimate bar of the adjoining Trellis Restaurant. At Trellis, happy hour begins at 2 p.m. every day, and continues until close. In the bar, the Trellis team—helmed by Benjamin Closson, previously exec chef at Nordstrom’s downtown flagship—serves up a variety of $5 dishes, from a chicken Caesar salad to grilled andouille sausage and oysters on the half shell. Drinks are a bargain too: $4 for well drinks; $2 for draft beers.

If you do choose, instead, to enjoy a meal in the dining room—as I did during a recent hosted media event—consider starting with the “Trellis Signature Chambong Experience” ($7). It’s a little gimmicky—sparkling wine served in a “Chambong”—a type of shooter for Champagne that resembles, well, a bong. But it’s fun, and sure to get a little fizz up your nose, in the best way. Cheers.

Kirkland is having a moment. Read more on the growing suburb and its walkable downtown in this month’s cover story, “Best of the Burbs.”