Kask

Not really a happy hour, but the hour that I discovered this new bar was definitely happy.  It's located on the backside of Gruner, on SW Alder and 12th.  Very dark, chalkboard menus abound and delicious "hand-crafted" beverages.  Not much seating, so don't go with a group of twelve, but perfect for a late night date spot.  We had the Boot Strap Buck and the Wandering Aengus cider.  Both delicious.  Boot Strap Buck started out maple-y and ended up ginger-y.  The cider was light and refreshing.   The decor was great, the dark industrial look akin to the English retailer AllSaints.  I'll be back.  Maybe tonight.

Olympic Provisions- NW

Decided to try something new, and very local, for happy hour yesterday.  After much research in the Willamette Weekly restaurant guide, Portland Monthly's Best Restaurant edition, and Mix magazine we settled on Olympic Provisions.  Some in our party are (usually) vegetarians (minus the occasional bacon wrapped date) and according to the Willamette Week's restaurant guide they have some vegetable plates and has some options for the non-meat eater.  Plus we could ride our bikes there, in the typical Portland fashion.
The restaurant is fairly tiny, with two community tables.  The rest of the tables would be a tight squeeze for any more than 2 people.  Since we had 4 in our party we opted for an end at one of the community tables.  Their happy hour menu was somewhat limited with only 3 cocktail options, one of them being a hot toddy, and two wine options.  The menu was also a little limited with almost no vegetarian options (other than the salad).  We got the chef's special charcuterie plate ($14) and ordered all 3 cheese options from the cheese selection.  The wine was good, and the other's enjoyed their hot toddies.  The cheeses were delicious (all were cow) but the bread that came with the cheeses was over-seasoned (and we had to ask for more three times).  The pickled eggs were good and the mustard on the charcuterie plate was delicious.  We were a little turned off when the waitress told us one of the items was "pigs head", and clarified by saying it was the cheek.  That whole selection remained on the plate when it went back to the kitchen.  The rest of the food was good, but very small portions, not enough to fill up on.

In all it was a decent snack and not a meal.  Limited options, few cocktails and some scary food will prevent it from being a favorite spot.  The decor was fun, but the limited seating for any party greater than two makes it a challenging place to meet up with friends.  Fun to try something new, but I doubt we will be back.