The hours: Mon.-Fri., 3-6:30 p.m.
The deals: Specialty cocktails and select sparkling, white, and red wines by the glass $5 ($7 for a well-vodka martini); select bottled beers $3; hefty small plates $2-$5
The digs: Epic's upstairs Quiver Bar is the Nordstrom men's suit department of city drinking establishments. Expensive halogen makes the copper bar glow, the place is fastidiously accessorized with manly miscellania including chunky gears, and then, of course, there's the view; the money-shot panorama of Treasure Island and the burly undercarriage of the Bay Bridge. The communal table provides a decent view out or, if the weather's even reasonably good, take the elevator down to the ground-floor patio.
The verdict: The vibe might be manly, but the happy hour drinks can leave you craving a highball. Exhibit A: Paradise Lost ($5), a concoction of Ketel One Citroen, Luxardo, and Sprite, with citrus underpinnings. Not horrible, but not the kind of thing you necessarily want to be sipping during the Giants' rubber-game match against Pittsburgh, you know? Some of the noshes almost make up. Not the Soft Housemade Breadsticks with marinara ($3), a Crazy Bread copycat. But definitely the desperately-in-need-of-a-name-edit Wood Oven Smoked Honey Grain Mustard Glazed Chicken Drumettes ($5), which are meaty and doused with prodigious amounts of whole-grain Dijon, piled above a red smear of sweet piquillo pepper sauce and white-corn relish. So absorbing you occasionally forget about the view. Or the game.Overall grade: B
