Food deals during happy hour are hard to beat at McCormick & Schmick’s
By Joe Holleman
Yes, it’s a seafood-restaurant chain and, yes, it is located in a suburban mall.
A quick look at the dinner menu for the restaurant, which opened about a month ago, shows that you can drop some serious coin on a meal. And the drinks, even during happy hour, are not cheap: $3.25 for the “special” - a pint of Bud draft. Well drinks start at $5.
There are only two TVs and the bar’s layout is more conducive to parties of two or three than to big groups.
But the food deals during happy hour - 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday - are hard to beat.
A half-pound cheeseburger and fries, $9.95 on the regular menu, is $1.95 during happy hour. Fried calamari, listed usually at $10.95, is just $4.95. About a dozen dishes are available, and the choices change daily.
If you are more hungry than thirsty, McCormick & Schmick’s is a prime happy-hour destination.
McCormick & Schmick’s • 17 West County Center (West County Mall) • 314-835-1300 • mccormickandschmicks.com • Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m, Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight, Friday-Saturday (Kitchen closes one hour earlier)
Karen Deer is a Lifestyle reporter covering daily and weekly sales, bargains, deals and one-of-a-kinds. She looks for the best sales in and around St. Louis. 
I went there about a week after the opening. I can say the food in general is great. I’d rate happy hour foods I tried (on a 1 to 10, with 10 being the best): 1/2 lb cheeseburger and fries, a 7, fried calamari, an 8, steamed mussels, an 8, and fish tacos, a 5.
There’s only enough seating for about 60 - 70 people in the bar area, and many people are there just before 5 and staying until it ends at 6:30pm, not 6pm as was stated in the article. At 5pm early in the week, it was already full and many people were standing and waiting for a seat. Seating for another 30 - 40 would have been ideal.
Oh, I am so happy to see M&S open in St. Louis! I used to enjoy wonderful meals there (during happy hour, of course!) when I was living in Portland, OR for law school - their Happy Hour was a cheap way to eat out at a nice place. Great food every time, you won’t regret it.