If You're Tired of the Usual Happy Hour . . .

When: Monday-Friday from 4:30 to 8.

Piola's international flavor is no accident: The Italian-based pizzeria chain has branches scattered from Buenos Aires to Treviso, Italy. The lounge's funky industrial design includes colorful glass light shades overhead, an assortment of modern furniture and rotating exhibitions by local artists on the wall. Loud (almost too loud) house and trance music sets the party vibe.

"Would you like to try some pizza?" A server carrying a pie covered with a variety of mushrooms has stopped next to my barstool, offering small samples of the house pies. Another guy seems incredulous that they're free, but if there's one thing Piola does well, it's deals. Happy hour means $3 bottles of Stella Artois, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell and $4 red or white wines, while bartenders make strawberry and raspberry caipiroskas, or caipirinhas made with vodka ($5).

One of those raspberry drinks is destined for Jacki Silvan, a designer who frequently meets her friend Jim Branch at Piola for drinks. At first, they came because of the convenient location, but they've kept coming back for the excellent bartenders and the happy hour's timing.

As we talk, another server wanders by with a four-cheese pizza for nibbling. "I got here an hour ago," Branch says, "and they've been giving out free pizza since I've been here -- and we're still going to order two more [personal pizzas]. It's that good."

The deals don't stop with the workweek, either: From 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, match any pizza on the menu with any beer for $12.95.

Vinoteca

1940 11th St. NW; 202-332-9463

The deals: About 20 wines by the glass for $5; sandwiches, soups and snacks $5-$7.

When: Sundays and Tuesday-Friday from 5 to 7. (The restaurant is closed Mondays.)

A flood of wine bars has opened in the Washington area in the past few years, but sunny Vinoteca has an advantage over all the places competing for your syrah-sipping budget: happy hour. Sunday through Friday, more than 20 wines by the glass are just $5, while the accompanying happy hour menu includes a quiche of the day, a filling panini-and-soup combo and a selection of upscale sliders (think venison topped with brie and roasted poblano chilies or lamb with feta and eggplant).

"This is the best happy hour in the U Street corridor," says Lance Marine, who works in commercial real estate and lives nearby.

The bar's ever-changing wine selection is interesting. On a recent visit, I found the 2005 Jean Luc Columbo La Violette Syrah, Loimer's 2006 Grüner Veltliner and the 2003 Chateau Greysac Medoc, a Bordeaux wine I've seen for much higher prices at other restaurants.

"The wine list is extensive, which I appreciate," says Lance's wife, Stephanie, a teacher at Georgetown Day School. "I've found that happy hour [at other bars] is mostly some house wine or beer. Here, I had a South African pinotage and a malbec."

The only problem can be finding a seat at the marble bar or the long island table down the center of the room. (I'd stake out the cozy group of window seats looking onto 11th Street.) Arrive early or at the tail end of happy hour for the best chance to score seats.