Fig Tree Café
416 University Ave. (Hillcrest)
619-298-2010
Happy Hour: 4 to 6 p.m., daily
Come On Get Happy! | Dr. Ink
There are no figs on Fig Tree Café’s happy hour menu. In fact, the only place the fruit shows up is in a regularly priced house pizza with arugula and prosciutto. But if sweet, sumptuous pickings are mandatory requirements when glugging beer and swirling wine, the café still has you covered.
On a recent stop at sunset, a few beers by the glass were priced at $3 each: Stone IPA, Moretti and the celebrated brew of Munich that is Spaten Lager. Choosing the latter in an advanced spirit of Christmas, the crisp semi-hoppy lager flies commonly around Germany’s holiday festivals along with stollen bread, spritz cookies and other seasonal treats. At Fig Tree, the sugar fix if you so choose is “man candy.”
The dish, which normally costs $6.95, is reduced to $4. What you get are four strips of thick bacon coated in brown sugar and paprika, with a dash of cayenne pepper thrown on for extra zip. The Germans would do well selling this dessert-like pork alongside their famous lagers.
Other food choices include bruschetta, stuffed jalapenos and a few different types of shareable wood-fired pizzas.
My cohort took to a flight of red wines for $6, pairing the lineup to truffle pommes frites served generously in a duo of metal mugs and selling for $4. The flight featured Spanish shiraz, an Argentinean malbec and a Chilean merlot. Although on this balmy Indian summer day, the vino was served so warm that it became difficult to distinguish one wine from the other. His bad for overlooking a flight of whites for the same price, which based on past dinner visits, arrive properly chilled.
Luck was on our side when landing the two-top table positioned cozily at the front of Fig Tree’s side patio, which keeps you in direct eyeshot of the cheerful pedestrian flow on University Avenue. A couple flower boxes filled with rosemary are perched along the railing, adding a pleasant fragrance to intimate conversation.
The main front patio is roomier, though San Diego’s anti-hedonist zoning department currently doesn’t allow alcohol to be served on it, at least not until Fig Tree’s license request is finally approved. Inside, the café brings together a relaxing mix of wood, brick and open windows, resulting in a warm, European-style atmosphere that can easily lure you into drinking and eating beyond happy hour or returning for a full California-style breakfast.
RATINGS:
Drinks: 3
The wine and beer offerings during happy hour are limited, but include decent choices from Europe and South America. On warm days, the red wines could withstand brief chill downs.
Food: 5
Well-executed appetizers include truffle French fries, Portobello bruschetta and plates of bacon cooked memorably in brown sugar and paprika. A few different wood-fired pizzas also appear on the happy hour list.
Value: 4
Drinks and food items are discounted by about 25 percent.
Service: 5
Fig Tree’s friendly and professional wait staff eagerly informs you of the current specials, which tend to change every so often.
Duration: 4
Two hours daily gives weekend revelers a chance to sample the discounted goods.
