

The Imperial’s “classic happy hour,” offered Wednesday through Friday, includes $2 oysters, $18 lobster rolls, $11 glasses of wine and a quartet of $12 cocktails, which, to be honest, is a little on the high side for happy hour drinks. Overall, the setting, with its views of the burgeoning Union Market district, corn hole games and the wide-open space, makes this a fun spot for a group outing - if your schedule allows. There are three food options, all $4 each: crispy fried chicken sliders drizzled with hot honey black bean burgers and “Italian sliders” that are more like slices off an upscale party sub, with capicola, mortadella and provolone on a focaccia crust brushed with basil aioli. Bring a picnic blanket or yoga mats and picnic in the fake turf atop Union Market, with specials including $5 canned beers $6 drafts $7 canned wine and an $8 “adult juice box,” which on a recent visit was a pouch containing a bright, crushable mix of vodka, elderflower, Kaffir lime syrup and lime juice. schedule three days a week and a more gracious 3 to 9 p.m. Anyone who works the once-standard 9-to-5 is going to struggle to take advantage of happy hour at Hi-Lawn, which runs an abbreviated 3 to 5 p.m. began shifting earlier and ending sooner, and people who don’t finish work until 5 or later find themselves scrambling to make it to the bar to take advantage of discounts.

After-work specials that once ran from 5 until 7 or 8 p.m. For years - probably a decade, at least - happy hours have been changing, and not for the better.
