10 Budget-Friendly Happy Hours in Louisville, Kentucky

Let’s face it, a well-priced happy hour is like having a coupon book to your favorite spots in the city. And if bingeing marathons of TLC’s Extreme Couponers has taught me anything, it’s that there is a genuine rush from paying less. Luckily there are no bar codes required for these best weekly specials and happy hours in Louisville.

We have diligently eaten, drank…en, and scoped out the most delicious happy hours in Louisville for your benefit. So let’s check out the best happy hours in Louisville – we’re talking discounts on sushi, pizza, cocktails, beer, charcuterie boards, and much more!

Check out a few of these other posts:

• The 16 Best Bars in Louisville, Kentucky
• The 45 Best Places to Eat in Louisville, Kentucky
• 9 Delicious Distilleries in Louisville, Kentucky: from Bourbon to Brandy

Happy Hours in Louisville

Louisville is such a great place for delicious food and drink. I love when my California friends come to visit. They’re always blown away by the quality of well-crafted dishes and thirst-quenching cocktails, but what really blows them away – the price of everything. Louisville offers such a great value that you might ask yourself, what could be better than this?

Well, how about an even BIGGER deal on our local favorites?! These are the best happy hours in Louisville for food and drink specials.

Dragon King’s Daughter

Dragon King’s Daughter (Or DKD as most call it) probably has the most popular happy hour in the city. With special pricing on both food and drink every day between 3pm and 6pm, it’s not hard to see why. 

The Bardstown Road Asian-fusion restaurant makes some of the best sushi in the city. Both the sushi and dining room are casual and comfortable. The enclosed booths and well-worn bar are so laid back, it’s one of my favorite places in the city. 

I love when a happy hour includes both food and drink options. With the wide 3-hour window, and the number of options available – every day can be a new meal. The DKD happy hour includes discounts on 19 different rolls, which include uncooked makizushi, cooked makizushi, and veggie makizushi. 

Even the signature Dragon King’s Daughter roll is included, which is a cooked roll, stuffed with tempura shrimp, and topped with avocado and unagi sauce drizzled on the outside for $12 (normally $15). My personal favorite The Kraken Attacks is also included, which has red tuna, avocado and hot sauce on the inside, and escolar and unagi on the outside for $12 (normally $15).   

Of course no sushi meal is complete with a complimenting Sake. During happy hour, large house sake is $4 off (smalls are $2 off), and there are specials on large and small bottles of sake. Sake not your thing? There’s also special pricing on wine and beer!

Louvino

Your go-to spot for wine and small plates, Louvino pours all the colors of the grape rainbow. The modern rustic room is surrounded by wood accents from the ceiling to the floor, creating a warm atmosphere for date night or even a night on the town with friends.

Happy hour starts Tuesday and goes through Sunday. For two hours from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, it’s an excellent spot to start your evening, and maybe even save a few dollars for an extra night cap!     

For the house speciality, glasses of wine are $2 off, as well as flights of wine. There is also $2 off all beer, and bourbon pours. And hey wanna turn that bourbon into a cocktail? Old Fashioneds are only $7! 

Along with all the other drink options available, what wine bar would be complete without a great sangria? Both white and red options are also only $7 a glass.

And when you build up an appetite from all those libations, Louvino also offers some delicious small plates. Classic southern snacks like the fried green tomatoes, are softly crisped with a maple mustard and shaved Parmesan for $6. Not to mention some of the best brussel sprouts in Louisville!

For the best deals of the week, also stop in on Wednesday and Sunday for half priced bottles of wine.

Sapporo Grill & Sushi

With a tight window of 5pm to 6:30pm everyday of the week, Sapporo offers some of the best discounts on their happy hour menu. The offerings include not only drink specials, but specials on starters as well as 10 sushi rolls.

Sapporo Grill & Sushi feels like a glamorous restaurant from Sex and the City, styled like an early 2000s hot spot. The sleek hanging pendant lights, blue lit glass panels, pulsating electronic music, and low-top open sushi bar make the space feel upscale and trendy. 

During happy hour, I love to start out with fried pork Gyoza dumplings for $5 (normally $8) and some sea salt Edamame soybeans for $3 (usually $6). 

But my favorite part of the Sapporo happy hour menu is that my all time favorite roll is included, for a pretty hefty discount! The V.I.P. roll is fresh and delicious and a bit of a showstopper. Stuffed with spicy crab and avocado, the roll is then topped with torched salmon and eel sauce, all served on a flaming plate. The roll is normally $16, but during happy hour is discounted to just $11!

That deep discount also rolls over to their hot sakes. Small hot sakes are $6 a glass, but during happy hour, the hot sake drops to just $2 a glass! Although I gotta say when at Sapporo Grill & Sushi, I’m a bit partial to the Sapporo Premium Beer (which is $2 off), because you know – it’s in the name!

Fork & Barrel

Morning Fork and Fork & Barrel are a real-life Hannah Montana transforming moment. Serving a full brunch menu, Morning Fork operates from 7am to 3pm (Wednesday – Sunday) while Fork & Barrel takes over from 3pm to 9pm (Tuesday – Saturday) with classic American cuisine for dinner.

While the restaurant gets flipped from brunch to dinner, Fork & Barrel offers a special happy hour and bar menu to their guests. Brunch, happy hour, and dinner all in one spot? That really is the best of both worlds. 

Happy hour goes from 3pm-6pm with $7 cocktails and special pricing on wines by the glass. Classics like the Cosmopolitan, Gimlet, and Sazerac are just some of the drinks included, as well as a small selection of both red and white wines.

Although the dinner menu isn’t officially served until 5pm, during the happy hour a bar menu is also offered. Packed with shareable starters, like the incredible southern charcuterie board with house-made sharp cheddar pimento cheese, Exum’s smoked country ham, pate, assortment of pickled vegetables and accompaniments, grilled baguette, and tortilla chips.

They also have pork belly, a diner style burger, as well as soup and salads the bar menu is fully stocked, so you won’t go hungry with all those discounted drinks!

Fork & Barrel is closed Sunday and Monday.

Kaiju

Tucked in between the Germantown and Highlands neighborhoods, Kaiju is a Japanese monster-themed sake bar. Kaiju is the sister bar to local sushi restaurant Dragon King’s Daughter, so fresh sushi is stocked daily. 

Lined with intimate red lantern-lit booths & neon signs, Kaiju is instantly enchanting. But what’s really special about the Kaiju happy hour, is there’s another super happy hour inside it! A true Leonardo DiCaprio Inception moment.

The happy hour goes everyday from 4pm to 7pm and includes $1 off well drinks and 20% off all sushi. But sandwiched within the 4-7 window is their Super Happy Hour – for the hour 5pm to 6pm Kaiju offers $1 sake, $2 Japanese Asahi beer, and $3 whiskey highballs.

Square Cut

The Roman-style pizzeria and Italian restaurant Square Cut offers full meal options during their happy hour, or aperitivo as it’s called in Italy. The weekday happy hour is offered Tuesday through Friday for a narrow window between 5pm and 6:30pm. But Square Cut also offers a slightly longer happy hour on Saturdays from 3pm to 5pm.

I love to start things off by glancing over the cocktail menu. Square Cut plays around with twists on beloved classics. Like the Italian Margarita, a beautiful rendition that pairs with all pizza and pasta. Tequila, burnt rosemary, and limoncello make this drink bright and citrusy, with just a hint of herbs. It’s great, and what’s even greater is all cocktails are $8 during happy hour, and all beer is $5. 

To kick things off, a variety of starters and charcuterie are available for $1 off. Items like the house made Ricotta, Spicy Soppressata, and Juniper Salumi are included. Perfect to whet your appetite for a Roman style pizza. 

The pizzas feed 1-2 and come in a thin rectangle shape and are cut into square slices. Similar to a flat Neapolitan, but with a brush of oil on the edges to give them a crispy texture at the ends. Roman style is a perfect size to split among two people, that is assuming you both can agree on just ONE of the delicious choices. During Happy hour, the Margherita pizza is $10 (normally $13) and the Sausage pizza is $13 (normally $15).

As an extra bonus, every Monday night is Service Industry Night where house cocktails are $5 and mocktails are $3.

Weekly Specials in Louisville

Happy hours can sometimes feel like such a small window. Whether it’s an hour or 3, the worst feeling in the world is when you’re down to the wire and just miss the cut off. Luckily these spots have the best all day weekly specials in Louisville.

Trouble Bar

While strolling through Shelby Park, just look for the black and white typography playful mural reading “Whiskey got me into Trouble” – and to be honest, isn’t that a sentiment we all can relate to? 

The whiskey-focused bar, Trouble Bar is serious about making whiskey drinking as approachable as possible. Providing lots of guidance and curation throughout the menu, Trouble Bar is the go-to spot for all your richly full-bodied cravings. 

You’re particularly lucky if your cravings fall on a Thursday, because from 5pm to 10pm these are the best specials of the week. $5 House Old Fashioneds, and shareable $25 Old Fashioned Pitchers! You read that right, a whole pitcher for you and 8-10 of your friends. 

No worries if whiskey’s not your thing, there’s also $5 House Margaritas, as well as $3 PBR and Coors Banquet. Also all bottles of wine are just $25. Although Trouble Bar does not serve food, you are more than welcome to bring in outside food. So when the pitcher starts kicking in, give Toasty’s Tavern, Red Top Gourmet Hot Dogs, or Square Cut Pizza a call.

Four Pegs

Right on the corner of Goss Ave and Sprat St is the beloved neighborhood bar, Four Pegs. The loveable logo of a dog with four peg legs resting a fresh pint of beer on his back, pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the vibe. 

A very well-worn interior makes it comfortably endearing with a hint of rustic quirk. This is a go-to spot for a casual drink any day of the week, but especially on Wednesdays. Wing Wednesday is by far the best deal for wing lovers, because this dine-in-only special is what smoked bbq dreams are made of.

The passion pit master Chris Williams has for smoked meats is obvious with every bite. The wings are hearty and juicy, and come with a giant list of sauce options – but honestly, they’re REALLY delicious on their own too.

On Wing Wednesday, smoked wings are $1.25 a piece and all draft beers are $4.50. However for the real balance of indulgence and savings, you can also have All-You-Can-Eat wings for $20 a person. Just note that sauces are not included, and can range from around $1 a sauce. 

Four Pegs also hosts a Late Night Happy Hour on Fridays and Saturdays from 9pm to 11pm, where PBRs are $2, select beer cans are $4, and speciality shots are $5.

Toasty’s Tavern

Toasty’s Tavern is a charming personality-filled diner nestled in Shelby Park. The narrow dining room is charming and dimly lit with walls of stacked exposed brick and lots of retro branding. 

Although closed on Mondays, Tuesdays are Industry night and provide specials on food, drinks, and specialty liquor shots. To really capitalize on all three, you can get a burger, with a shot and a beer for only $10. And ya’ll, these diner-style burgers are some of my favorite in the city. 

If Amari is your thing (bitter, Italian botanical liqueurs), you’ll be in good company with discounted pours on specialty liquors like Fernet, Malört, and Chartreuse.  

Tuesdays are a blast at Toasty’s, but Wednesdays are just as good with their Wednesdays with ‘Rita. From 5pm to close, Margaritas are the name of the game. Classic Margaritas are just $5 a glass and doubles are $9. You can even upgrade to a top-shelf marg (you know for when you’re feeling extra bougie) for $12. However we all know margs taste better with friends, which is perfect because marg pitchers are only $20.

Cultured

I was raised from a young age on Lunchables – my parents did their best, but cooking was not their strong suit. So my love for cheese and meat combos run DEEP. Now grown with a *much* more sophisticated palette, Cultured cheese and charcuterie shop is one of my favorite places in the city.  

Not only are their boards packed with unique local farmstead cheeses, but they are also beautifully laid out with colorful accouterments. You’re definitely gonna want to feed your camera first on this one. 

Cultured is open from Tuesday through Saturday, and everyday runs a different special. 

Tuesdays between 5pm and 7pm, margaritas are only $5 a glass. Wednesdays bottles of wine are 50% off – and what pairs better with charcuterie than wine?? Thursdays all cocktails are $2 off from 5pm to 7pm. 

And to kick the weekend off, on Fridays select beers are $2 off for the hours between 4pm and 6pm. And as the weekend is in full swing, from noon to 4pm you can pair your board with a $3 mimosa or a $5 bloody mary – or get both, we won’t judge!

What did you think of this post? What questions can we answer? Drop us a comment below!

Before you go, be sure to check out these other posts:

• The 16 Best Bars in Louisville, Kentucky
• The 45 Best Places to Eat in Louisville, Kentucky
• 9 Delicious Distilleries in Louisville, Kentucky: from Bourbon to Brandy

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