Kona Grill

Probably not the best idea to review while buzzed, but let's see how this goes.

The new upscale shopping complex near my house, The Domain, includes the chain Asian fusion restaurant Kona Grill. For a chain restaurant, the atmosphere and decor are actually pretty decent. Sure, the "stone" tables on the patio are faux stone, but the chairs are nice and solid and likely where they focused their patio furniture budget.

If you're a beer drinker looking for a good happy hour spot, you're out of luck. Only Bud Light was on special. But the margarita selection is quite good and potent. It's $3.75 for regular, raspberry, or strawberry 'ritas, frozen or on the rocks, and women get an additional $1 discount. The half-price appetizers are well worth it as well. We split pot stickers and chicken satay. The pot stickers are not exactly what you'd get at a Chinese restaurant, but they're quite tasty. Flavorful crumbled chicken and vegetables with a nice sauce and just a touch of crispiness. The satay was good as well, though it's not really satay in the Indonesian or Thai sense. They use a teriyaki sauce to complement the chicken kabobs. Our waiter recommended substituting rice for the default cabbage slaw that came with the satay; that was definitely the right decision.

Happy hour itself ends at 7 pm, which would be hard for some people to make from work, but it starts up again at 9 pm (their "reverse happy hour"). Happy hour specials include half-price pizzas and sushi rolls; we didn't get to try either of those this time, but they sounded promising. And the 'ritas did their thing for a decent price. For splitting three appetizers and having three drinks, all at happy hour prices, I rang up an $18 tab including tax and tip. Not cheap like 219 West, but not too shabby.

So, if you can make it by 6:30 pm (or after 9 pm), Kona Grill is definitely a good happy hour spot, and a welcome addition to north Austin. It's only been open for 2 weeks, but from the looks of it, the nice covered patio already gets packed by 6 pm. Still, it's worth a look if you want to try out a new spot on the north side of town.