Gold Dust Meridian

Small bar off Hawthorne and such great food and service. The food is phenomenal and the drinks were great. We ordered at the bar and the bartender was great, answered questions. Tons of seating available for happy hour time. Great place to meet up with the friends. The vibe is very chill inside.

It's not just the fact that GDM has a pretty damn solid happy hour but they also manage to provide a killer aesthetic to accompany your well-priced drinks (though prices on said libations seem to have gone up since we were last there). Inside it's dark and cozy with a small bar upfront and lots of wood and leather in the back room, stuffed with vintage-y furniture that feels vaguely retro but not forced - a nice balancing act, IMO. It seems like Gold Dust recently (or at least finally?) upgraded/tweaked its food/drinks menu as well. I could be wrong but it feels that way, since the special verde fries we had (that day only) were so beyond what we've had in the past...like next level, with a perfectly crisped outside and served with a heap of addictively spicy jalapeño-pocked sauce. Chicken gyro wrap was also a hit, and the food in general is just a nice step up from the usual nachos-and-tots pub fare, so that's always a bonus in my book. The drinks are usually on point (but like anywhere, can vary) and service this time out was stellar as well, so bravo to the staff for making our evening drama free. As every happy hour should be, right?

Livery yummy food! Kind and quick bartender. Cool natural wood, leather vintage vibe inside. Bet it's poppin at night!

Still 4 stars, just wanted to make a suggestion. I can't have grapefruit but was interested in the Girl Talk cocktail. At the bartenders suggestion, we subbed in cranberry juice and it was great!

Met up with my ladies for Happy Hour at this fine establishment. My vegan friend was super happy upon entering due to a chalk board special of Vegan Mac. We ordered drinks from the lovely bartender (I think her name was Carrie) and sat down in a super comfy, round booth to wait on our joiners. Every table has a menu on it, so don't steal the one from the bar. I noticed their great selection of specialty cocktails, and almost immediately regreted ordering my usj (Hornitos Negroni). I eventually ordered the Ginger Snap, but with tequila. LOVED IT!!! The bar has a lot of options (including green and yellow Chartreuse) as well as great prices on their tequila. Let's talk about the food. Vegan Mac - MY HOMIE WAS OVER THE MOON!!! She absolutely loved the vegan mac. She has always said that macaroni and cheese is the one thing she misses as a vegan. I'm sooo glad that this did not disappoint. When the chef brought out our other food, we had to inquire on how he was able to achieve such a delicious vegan cheese sauce. (::whispers:: It's totally a secret.) Regular Mac, add bacon and tomatoes - My other homie was in absolute love with her mac as well. At first, she wanted the burger (it did look really good), but settled on the mac. Needless to say, she did not regret her decision. Beet Salad - The beet salad was full of beets, and my homegirl was definitely happy. I fully expected there to be big slices of beets, but there was a healthy serving of cubed purple beets and golden beets. I'm not a huge fan of beets, but I would totally consider order this salad. The Trio - I got the grilled cheese, tomato soup, and salad combo. The salad was delicious. I loved the added pepitas. The grilled cheese was meh... despite it being parmesan crusted. And the tomato soup was more like tomato paste. I sincerely do not think I would order it again. Fries with a side of cheese sauce - I've said it multiple times, but I'm gonna say it again: EVERY PLACE THAT SERVES FRIES SHOULD ALSO SERVE CHEESE SAUCE. Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way (one of my 4 "Jenn For President" platforms)... the fries are good. The cheese sauce makes them even better. (And no, the cheese sauce is not vegan, but I'm sure they could hook you up with some vegan goodness.) Would I return? For sure!!! Next time I want to try the Deviled Eggs and Wings. Oh, and their Happy Hour is from 5-8. Whhhaaaat???? LOVE IT.

The inside of the bar looks a lot better than the outside. We got in and the bartender was promptly attentive and told us to go to any seating and order through the counter. I got the girl talk which is a cocktail with the grapefruit and it was good. The grapefruit didn't come all the way through but the hint of it was there.We got the Korean barbecue wings, lemon pepper wings fries and the burger. The burger was pretty well done and didn't really have any juice left in it and the bacon on it was basically burnt to a Chris which I usually like but it was way too salty.The meat texture of the wings was slightly strange to me. Every time I was eating it for some reason I kept thinking of string cheese texture and taste. The lemon pepper was really salty and the Korean barbecue wings had a decent flavor. Overall it was bar food but the fries are really good.

Did a catch up HH here. Pretty darn good!!! We had not been here before, but the peeps who suggested it, had. I didn't know it had been there that long as it was. Lived and hung out a lot in lower SE 90's-00's. Very cool atmosphere w/ the midcentury modern. Seating was very comfortable, and staff very friendly. HH food was good!!! Nibbles to share, but I did more talking and drinking than eating!!! (like I said, CATCHING UP!) It looked like they had a bustling patio (hottest day of the year so far!) but lots of seating on the inside, which is where we wanted to be in some A/C, which felt very nice. So my only complaint was that, that after arriving at 4pm, they only had ordering from the bar, so there was a line, and so the cashier was taking the orders, then pouring beer. Then a food runner. It's probably hard to anticipate when a place is going to be busy. I will definitely go back.

Place felt like I was in a vortex of charm and the spirit world.. which I love. Love the way it's small but cozy.. and the food was bomb. I had a mock tail of some sort of lemonade and soda water and whatever it was it was delicious. My sandwich was delicious.. unfortunately my husband ate my other half before I could re enjoy it the next day. I would definitely come back to try their Mac and cheese. The one bite my gf gave to me was heaven!!

Great price for a delicious well made happy hour burger. Ordered from the bar, and the decoration and seating is cool and comfortable ( comfort is some thing I think a lot of places forget about, instead just trying to look cool.)

This is my favorite happy hour spot! Always the best champagne mixed drinks, great healthy and indulgent bites, love the variety of seating options, fast service, they play awesome music and have djs on the weekends. What more could you ask for?!