{"id":225858,"date":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/delightful-dealings\/"},"modified":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1970-01-01T08:00:00","slug":"delightful-dealings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/delightful-dealings\/","title":{"rendered":"Delightful dealings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Por Dr. Ink<\/p>\n<p>The first time I sauntered into Park &amp; Rec, which was a few months after it opened some three years ago, I had to practically pull teeth to have someone give me the deets on happy hour. There were no signs or menus promoting it, nothing on the website, and the bartender on duty that day was uninformed.<!--more--><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36907\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36907\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36907 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Park-and-Rec-exterior-1.jpg\" alt=\"Delightful dealings\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36907\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An inviting facade leads to indoor-outdoor drinking spaces. <em>(Fotos por Dr. Ink)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Whether it was because of the constructive \u201cmedical\u201d advice I relayed to staffers for curing the problem at the time, or if patrons began increasingly requesting info about the specials, Park &amp; Rec\u2019s happy hour today is alive and well \u2014 and no longer a mystery.<\/p>\n<p>Happy hour menus are readily handed out at the attractive white marble-top bar, and the details are posted online.<\/p>\n<p>The offerings are clear cut: Tecate and Pabst Blue Ribbon are $4 each; select wines plus drinks such as spiced rum with grapefruit, blood orange margaritas, and mules made with a choice of liquors are all $6.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36908\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36908\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36908 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Park-and-Rec-blood-orange-margarita.jpg\" alt=\"Delightful dealings\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36908\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A spontaneous \u201cdealer\u2019s choice\u201d using gin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Or for $1 more \u2014 and if you\u2019re cool with unexpected outcomes \u2014 you can opt for the \u201cdealer\u2019s choice,\u201d which is the path I took to losing my soberness here recently. Simply pick your spirit, and the bar staff takes it from there.<\/p>\n<p>I chose gin, and within seconds the fast-moving bartender started loosely measuring in the booze along with house-made lemon syrup, aromatic Peychaud\u2019s bitters and almond-kissed orgeat.<\/p>\n<p>Served in a dainty tulip glass, the drink\u2019s citrus level was nicely quelled by the nutty-tasting orgeat, but just enough to still incite blissful puckers after every sip. Also, as gin always behaves in my bloodstream, there was enough of it in the glass to take fast effect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would you name this?\u201d I asked the bartender about my drink as she started making the blood orange margarita my drinking partner chose.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36909\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36909\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36909 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Park-and-Rec-gin-drink.jpg\" alt=\"Delightful dealings\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36909\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blood orange margarita<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not sure,\u201d she replied, with a tone of relief that I was ecstatic with the results.<\/p>\n<p>When I asked what liquor presents the biggest challenge, she cited scotch, adding that she gets most creative with tequila and vodka requests.<\/p>\n<p>My partner\u2019s blood orange margarita, which contained house-made blood orange syrup, was succulent and naturally a bit sweeter. But I liked my no-name gin cocktail much better.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36910 alignright lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Untitled-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Delightful dealings\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" \/>On warmer days, Park &amp; Rec\u2019s outdoor areas in the back and alongside the main bar feel as though you\u2019re attending a patio party at someone\u2019s nice house. There is homey furniture as well as giant Jenga, ping-pong and cornhole.<\/p>\n<p>Gone are the New Orleans-style vestiges from when this was the popular LGBT bar known as Bourbon Street. Yet the bartender said patrons from that establishment still regularly drop in as part of the University Heights neighborhood scene, which is arguably as diverse and welcoming as Hillcrest.<\/p>\n<p>Also, in the absence of a kitchen, customers are permitted to bring in food and plop down anywhere within the property to consume it.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0Dr. Ink The first time I sauntered into Park &amp; Rec, which was a few months after it opened some three years ago, I had to practically pull teeth to have someone give me the deets on happy hour. There were no signs or menus promoting it, nothing on the website, and the bartender on [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":225859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"Delightful dealings","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}