Denver's five best happy hours

We're fans of happy hour, when we hurry to this city's watering holes to blow off steam and eat and drink for cheap. You'll frequently find us at Root Down, winner of our 2011 Best Happy Hour.

But Denver has many more good happy hours, and here are four more of our favorites:

5. Lola Come happy hour, Lola's covered patio fills up fast, and with good reason. The restaurant serves up a massive board of bar bites -- including tacos, ceviche and nachos smothered in goat cheese queso and barbecued pork -- paired with a beverage list ranging from margaritas to Mexican beer and shots of tequila, all at discounted prices. 4. Steuben's This perpetually packed Uptown restaurant doesn't exactly need to offer a deal to keep the crowds coming, but it still features one of the cheapest happy hour lists in town. On weekdays, from 2 until 6 p.m., you'll find $1 sliders, 50 cent deviled eggs and $1 Little Kings Cream Ales, among other options. And seven nights a week, from 10 p.m. until close, $5 buys you a cheeseburger, fries and a can of PBR, Olympia or Little Kings. 3. Interstate Kitchen & Bar Interstate landed our award for Best Happy Hour Deal this year, thanks to its stellar board of bar snacks and libations -- which all ring in at $4 or under (unless you take the five beers for $9 offer). We're especially enamored of the popcorn, studded with crispy bacon bits and spicy peanuts, though we usually supplement that with fried chicken livers and at least one deviled egg. And thankfully, we can get our fix twice a day: from 4 until 6 p.m. and again from midnight until 1:30 a.m. 2. The Park Tavern and Restaurant We're partial to the grimy ambiance in this dark, sprawling dive, and when we want to simply relax after work, there's no place better. During happy hour, the bar offers up two-for-one deals on wines, wells and drafts. And the best part? Those happy hour deals are offered at least twice daily; on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, they run thrice. (And on Tuesday, you get $2.50 you-call-its from 4 p.m. until the end of the night.) 1. Root Down Root Down's eclectic bar, housed in an old garage outfitted with round booths and plenty of funky vintage kitsch, where we put down sweet potato fries and lamb sliders while sipping concoctions like blood orange caipirinhas and mojitos.

The festive atmosphere and happy hour deals earned Root Down our Best Happy Hour award in the Best of Denver 2011.

Have another spot in mind? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

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- Denver's five best dive bars

- Denver's five best dinners under $10

- Denver's five best first-date restaurants

- Denver's five best nachos

- Denver's ten best french fries

- Denver's five best green chile fixes

- Denver's five best dishes of mac & cheese

- Denver's five best breakfast sandwiches

- Denver's five best wings

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