Goodbye small town, hello big city!: St. Francis

Oh St. Francis, St. Francis. How I love thee. Honestly, St. Francis is a restaurant that I frequent a couple of times a week because their happy hour is simply unbelievable. I haven't really ordered off the regular menu because their happy hour covers everything: drinks, appetizers and even entrees, so it'd be silly to go in any other time of day really. When the beau and I first went their we ordered essentially one of everything. Potato fingerlings, flatbread, meatballs, french onion burger, Lagunitas IPA beer and a goat cheese cheesecake. In our defense his brother was there too...so we weren't, like, heifers or anything....

The potato fingerlings are simply delishe...but there's a mound of them so after a while you sort of get starched out. Great for sharing and great for once in a while. Their flatbread was simple and tasty. Cheesy, anointed with fresh basil and a few seasonings on thin crispy yet fluffy bread. Their meatballs were so so. Very rustic and saucy, which was nice. Nothing insanely mind blowing, but worth trying once. The burger was cooked medium rare and was very flavorful and super filling. I was full off the fingerlings! I literally had to ignore the fact that I was full because the food looked too darn good to ignore and neglect. The cheesecake is was rocked our world. I've never heard of goat cheese cheesecake, but when I think about it now it doesn't seem like such a far-fetched concept. It was a perfect balance of sweet and savory. The crust was perfect where it'd fall apart in your mouth served with a strawberry compote. (I got that on the side as I am allergic to strawberries). Ah-mazing.

Needless to say we were hooked and been coming in to this restaurant ever since. Happy hour is from 3-6. The meals are so reasonably priced too it's ridiculous. Each item was roughly $6 and they are full portions and draft beers are $3 . I usually get their chicken salad sandwich which is a full, fresh, tasty sandwich with a side option for $6. Insane, I know!

Their items are seasonal, which is an intelligent concept as all ingredients are fresh. For autumn, they had this bombtastic pumpkin soup. It was a pumpkin and butternut squash puree soup with creme frache, pine nuts, chives and pomegranate seeds. I drool even know thinking about that soup. However, that soup is gone and is replaced with an average leek soup. I was disappointed, but it was worth trying. It wasn't terrible, I spooned up every bit, but my standards were high from the pumpkin soup.

Honestly, I feel they have one of the best happy hours around town. Believe me, we are happy hour scavengers. Plus the environment is so relaxing and fun. The inside during the day is very trendy industrial with the high beams and bridge-like cables and the exterior is very NYC brunch chic. At night the dimly lit interior creates a loungy feel and the exterior with the fireplace going is warm, relaxing and comforting. Oh...and kids eat free. Can I be a kid again?