Random aside to start this post off with, I first remember hearing the term “Happy Hour” as a kid watching the movie Casper starring Christina Ricci. The “bad” ghosts chanted Happy Hour! Happy Hour! Happy Hour! before dragging the father off to his demise. So whenever I write a post about Happpppy Hourrrr! I say it in my head like the ghosts did . Hahahaha. Anywho, last week I caught up with one of my Mizzou friends who was in town for some wedding planning. We met up on Friday for Happy Hour at Trulucks! Trulucks is in the galleria area near some of my other favorite Happy Hour spots like West End and Willy G’s. I have always heard great things so I was excited to finally try it.
Setup: I was concerned about parking at Trulucks, because they are in a crowded shopping center and the entrance implies it is a valet only kind of set up. I was able to find parking near the Bank of America on my first swoop through, so points for them. I hate forced valet parking especially if it is not complimentary to customers. Once inside I was directed to the bar for Happy Hour. The bar area is larger than some competing Happy Hours like Eddie V’s. There are tables and adequate space at the traditional bar if that is what you prefer. It is pretttty dark in the entire restaurant though. I ate by the light of a spotlight. I personally would prefer more light but I guess that sets the mood!
In the bathrooms (which are SUPER far from the bar) they have a dispenser of mouthwash. I have never seen this in a restaurant before so that meant it deserved a picture.
Service: I thought the service was great and well staffed. I imagine Happy Hour is not the favorite time of waiters. You are inundated with customers who are paying half the price for items so that likely means half the tips. Sometimes all of that is clear in their attitude towards customers, but that was not the case here. Our waiter was just as nice as he could be and even allowed us to order a few minutes past the 6pm Happy Hour cut off.
Food: The presentation is what wins for Trulucks! I ordered calamari and meatballs. When my friend and her fiancé arrived they ordered shrimp cocktail that came out with dry ice. I didn’t even try the shrimp but the presentation alone had me in awe! Order it just for the social media posts :). The calamari was pretty good. Not gummy how some calamari can be. The meatballs had so much potential, but they just were not seasoned enough for me! I threw one of the calamari sauces on the meatballs and they came to life. So maybe I should just recommend that calamari sauce. You can put that ish on everything like the Frank’s Red Hot lady says.
See I was really eating by spotlight! Calamari and the Szechuan Tenderloin Meatballs.
Drinks: I ordered the sangria because my post cruise diet isn’t supposed to include alcohol. It is just wine and fruit right? Not the hard stuff! The sangria was pretty good. You can tell it is made in house with plenty of fresh fruit. Their happy hour menu is packed with plenty of cocktail options. Many more options for me to try on my next visit!
My biggest takeaway is that I just plain old liked the vibe of Trulucks. There was an older Caucasian man singing old classic R&B songs while playing the piano, which really set the tone for me. Then the food and drinks were decent too. A foodie friend of mine says the happy hour menu was better before a recent change. Since I have nothing to compare it to, it seemed pretty fab to me!
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