For years, White Plains has had a stranglehold on the Westchester County happy hour scene. Its strip of restaurants and bars along Mamaroneck Avenue within walking distance or a short drive from the county”™s top employers have long made it a desirable 5 p.m. destination.
Now its neighbor to the east is giving White Plains a run for its money. Port Chester”™s restaurant scene has exploded in recent years, and that means more happy hours spent in the seaside village.
Several restaurants have made Port Chester”™s location on the Byram River a destination for corporate workers looking for a post-work adult beverage and appetizer. Located mainly along the downtown corridor of Main Street and Abendroth Avenue, roughly 10 restaurants and bars offer happy hours.
Bartaco, has been a post-work staple since it opened in 2011. The chain with regional locations in Stamford and Westport has five cocktails on its Happy Hour menu that complement its selection of tacos, rice bowls and guacamole.
On a recent Tuesday evening, Bartaco”™s outdoor riverside patio was nearly entirely full with happy hour customers. The perpetually full Abendroth Avenue municipal parking lot was jammed with bar-goers taking advantage of the last days of summer.
Michelle Longo, assistant general manager of Port Chester Bartaco, said, although happy hour is not a focal point of the eatery, Fridays generally bring the biggest crowd of early evening patrons.
“It”™s very diverse, between families, business people and millennials,” she said. “It”™s a very busy crowd.”
Les Barnes, owner of neighboring Saltaire Oyster Bar and Restaurant, which opened Aug. 31, said he plans to eventually add outdoor seating overlooking the Byram River. A rear patio area along the river would lend itself to a thriving happy hour scene, he said during Saltaire”™s renovation of the former Willet House Building on Abendroth Avenue.
“We hope to build a deck by next summer,” Barnes said.
Port Chester”™s proximity to Metro-North, Interstates 95 and 287, the corporate parks of White Plains, Harrison, Rye Brook, Rye and Purchase as well as the region”™s larger firms have made it a target for restaurateurs looking to expand in the region.
The village”™s latest addition to the happy hour scene is the Port Chester Hall, a beer garden and eatery the village”™s renovated train station. The hall, an extension of Manhattan-based brewpub Heartland Brewery, features a happy hour from Monday to Friday during which cocktails, wine and appetizers are half-price. During the week, the beer hall opens at 4 p.m., ready for the corporate crowd. It offers them varieties of Heartland brews served from a stein as well as railroad-themed cocktails like the Running Late Margarita and the Platform Spritzer.
When visitors have had their fill, they can hop aboard the New Haven Line that roars past the hall”™s outdoor beer garden, which is outfitted with two 20-foot tall fireplaces and assorted televisions.
