Happy Hour in Salem Oregon

I searched through my email trying to remember when this Dames Happy Hour thing all began--November 2009. During these past months, I've met a great collection of enjoyable and admirable people. For me, that's the best part.

How to put the people part in a nutshell?  The feeling I get when meeting up with this group is like a cross between community and family. I'm not even sure that classifies as a feeling, but for now that's the best I can describe it. And it's all thanks to social media--mainly Salemite blogs and local Twitter.

What have the Dames learned? That if you enjoy happy hour, Salem has numerous choices: high end, low end, with most falling somewhere in between. We've had some amazing drinks, big drinks, so so drinks, strong drinks, weak drinks, colorful drinks, local infusions, etc. I'm learning that being a bartender requires skills similar to what a good cook needs. The main one being creativity.

The variety of eats we've shared runs a similar gamut, but we've noticed a trend weighing heavily toward bread, cheese, and deep-fried types of food. And frankly, we're tiring of that selection. I'd love to see some creativity with vegetables. I know it's deep-fried, but I LOVE the tempura asparagus at La Cap.  As silly as it may seem, we are thinking about what we're putting in our mouths when we indulge.  

Something else we've learned, is that it pays to communicate these desires to the owners.  Casey Lucas, of Jonathan's Restaurant, read Rebekah's happy hour review and made some appetizer changes as a result.  Restaurateurs, like Casey, who want to know what the locals are saying, visit Eatsalem.com.   This back and forth communication creates a partnership of sorts, that's good for both the owner and the customers.  Plus, there's a greater chance customers will return if they feel like their opinions matter.