Midtown Happy Hour: Snag a Free Slice at Naples 45
If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.
Naples 45 has long been on the ML radar because of their $2.50 (previously $1.50) take out slices after 2pm until closing. In fact, I think Zach was still working for ‘the man’ back when he wrote about them. How’s that for a flashback! Well, I’m a woman of slender means so when commenters mentioned that they offer free pizza during happy hour I headed over to check out the deal.
I started out sitting on the patio and got a basket of excellent crusty Italian bread with a better-than-average dish of extra virgin olive oil. The patio is also a great place to have a full dinner, if you don’t mind the noise from the Grand Central area cabs and pedestrian traffic. There is plenty of people watching to be had and this seem to be the go-to spot for large corporate groups from the offices in the surrounding area.
All was fine and dandy until we asked what the happy hour specials were. We were told happy hour is only from 3pm-5pm with $3 beer. Gasp! But it was 6pm when we all arrived at Naples 45! Seriously, how many people do you know that get off work before 5pm? What kinda stunt were they pulling here? Nevertheless, we decided to make the best of it and ordered a few 12oz Peroni for $5.50.
Hell, the bread was really good and we’d be getting free pizza so this wasn’t a complete failure, right? The ‘freeloader’ special is only at the bar from 5pm to 7pm and here’s what you get.
It is your basic thin crust square slice of cheese pizza. Nothing that special but you’re talking to a girl that eats the free hot dogs from Rudy’s Bar and this is considerably more upscale establishment. So all things considered I guess it’s really not a bad deal.
THE + (what someone who likes this place will say)
- Free cheese pizza, and it’s not the cheap greasy slice you get at 99 cent Pizza
- If you get off early from work then the 3-5pm happy hour is a steal!
- Nice upscale dinning and from the looks of everyone I saw, this is popular with the corporate crowd
- The waitress said the $2.50 slices are available until closing!
THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)
- Lots of suits, this is popular with the corporate crowd
- I can’t imagine getting off early enough to hit the happy hour
- The pizza only comes out after happy hour is over. Lame!
- The dinning menu is expensive. Does anyone still have an expense account?
Naples 45, 200 Park Ave. (at 45th St.), (212) 972-7000
Photos and post by Mamacita
Posted by Zach Brooks at 2:30 pm, August 28th, 2009 under Midtown Happy Hour.
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FAIL