Found Treasure: Hindquarter Bar and Grille Happy Hour

March 14, 2025—Vital signs vary among real-deal neighborhood bars.

Maybe there’s a brisk billiards scene, underrated food, stiff drinks, personality-plus regulars or all of the above.

One key indicator ranks right up there, and proves mightiest for my money: Authentic connection between staff and audience.

That’s a major hallmark at The Hindquarter Bar and Grille, one of the very oldest institutions in the area, and one which can make a case for one of the region’s best happy hours.

Let’s hit those in order. 

The team at HQ enjoys a surreal amount of seniority for any business, let alone hospitality, and their bond with one another and their clientele translates to extensive retention.

Manager Ashley Byrd, for instance, has been there for 17 years, and she’s the short-timer compared to other managers.

“We treat our customers like family, and I know so many customers’ personal relatives, and go to events with them,” she says. “We’re really family oriented, and it shows in our service. We all get along well, and customers pick up on that.”

Co-owner Sam Yanez has been in the building—which according to my informal survey is only eclipsed in Santa Cruz staying power by Stagnaro Bros. on the Wharf and Shadowbrook by Soquel Creek—since the 80s (!), when he started as a dishwasher. 

“I just think it’s a great local story,” Byrd says. 

Yanez remains lead chef and pit boss, tending handpicked pork chops, baby back ribs and braised beef cuts he creates through a decades-long collaboration with his suppliers, his own brining and slow-cooking recipes, along with an artillery of in-house smokers.

Those dishes keep HQ known for its proteins, but I go for its quality happy hour, a phenomenon that proves increasingly truncated and elusive circa 2025. 

The deals drop for three hours (2:30-5:30pm) Monday-Saturday.

Well drinks, house wines and draft beers from the likes of Discretion and Humble Sea are $6, as are a rundown including a pulled pork slider, spicy barbecue meatballs, gorgonzola cheese bread, mini corn dogs, spicy green beans, mini burger, garlic fries and a daily surprise dish.

GM Kyle Greene—who’s been there for 18 years—calls HQ and its HH “a staple for the community.”

“We like to bring people in at a time of day when people want to relax and put their feet up and enjoy themselves,” he says. “It’s not quite time to go home, but to come by and have a quick pop and some snacks.”

HQ’s prodigious history gets a refresh at the end of the month, when it closes for a feverish March 30-April 10 overhaul designed to make it feel more contemporary without sacrificing charm.

“I find it to be comfy, but the updates on lighting, signage and color will make it more modern while keeping our rustic feel,” Byrd says. “Step up our game a little more, with new everything. Here the future is bright.” 

She can say that amid turbulent times because two things will not change with the remodel, namely the staff-customer chemistry and, yes, the house happy hour.

More at thehindquarter.com.