The Spot: The Greene House 15024 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale 480-889-9494 www.foxrc.com/restaurants/the-green-house
See Also: North in Arcadia: Happy Hour Report Card
The Hours: Happy Hour is offered Monday through Friday from 3 until 6 p.m.
The Interior: Located in the middle of Kierland Commons, North Scottsdale's fresh, light California cuisine concept is a departure from heavy Italian and hearty new American cuisine found at other Sam Fox joints. The location makes it a nice stop between bouts of shopping at Kierland. The décor in general is simple, light, and earthy, likely to mimic the menu. The covered patio is great for this time of year, but you can also take advantage of bar or indoor dining room seating during happy hour.
The Food: With seven fancy food options $10 or under, this is definitely the kind of happy hour where you can take someone you want to impress. Truffle fries, spinach and artichoke fondue, herb hummus, and warm Brie are all good places to start, with the latter being our recommendation. The slice of gooey Brie spreads nicely on the buttery toasted bread and the added flavor of sour cherries, Marcona almonds, and roasted garlic makes the dish definitely noshable. On the lighter side, the kale salad is a delicious mix of roasted corn, Amish cheddar, grapefruit, pistachio, and a tart vinaigrette that likely would win over even staunch kale haters.
The star of the Greene House happy hour menu, though, is the $10 tuna tartare tacos. The trio of tacos with fresh tuna and crunchy, fried shells are light but still pack flavor in with wasabi, avocado, and aged soy. After all that, the only thing left on the happy hour menu is a meatloaf sandwich on a brioche bun. However, the kale salad, Brie, and tuna tacos far overshadow the meatloaf sandwich. Though the meatloaf was moist and the pickles gave it a good contrast, the tomato sauce was too sweet and overpowering.
The Drink: During happy hour, $4 drink specials are the name of the game at Greene House with your choice of any beer, house red or white wine, or the Napa Valley sangria. With the beer menu featuring both craft options and more typical brews like Guinness, $4 is a pretty good price for any of the offerings. The house sangria, which is a white sangria, was light, refreshing, and slightly citrusy. While not the most complex or interesting of sangrias in terms of flavor, it was simple and agreeable enough for $4.
The Conclusion: Despite some not-so-great service that involved a combination of close talking and walking away mid-sentence, the rest of the experience at Greene House won us over. Most of the food options are worth their price and $4 drinks is about the cheapest you'll find in the area. If you're in the Kierland area, Greene House is a satisfying happy hour stop.
Grade: A-
