Tonic Happy Hour in Mt. Pleasant

This is the Thursday Thurst with Jackie Carl.

Unless you live under a rock you would have known that this week was the second largest drinkers holiday (first being St. Patty’s) – Mardi Gras. Known as “Fat Tuesday,” this colorful holiday is basically an excuse to do whatever you want, so you can justify your attempt at being pious for the next 40 days. I never attempt the pious part, but I do enjoy the “fat” part.

So when I think of eating badly, my mind immediately went to wings. And when my mind goes to wings, I think of two places: The Mighty Pint and Tonic. On this particular “fat Tuesday,” Tonic won out. It is, in fact, the birthplace of my wing eating delight. So I phone a friend, and head to Mt. Pleasant to indulge in my crispy-loving poultry limbs. (Please note that normally Mardi Gras would have encouraged more heathenistic acts than wing eating, but it was a school night, and I had to give event presentation early the next day. I do better bloated than hungover.)

Regular HH is from 5pm – 7pm, M-F and ½ price drafts, rail, and burgers. Wines are $5. Then each day of the week, they have another special going on – this Tuesday it was $.50 tacos from 8pm – 10pm. Like a big, hard shelled meaty taco. Luckily, to get us in the spirit, Tonic also had some Mardi Gras food and drink specials like Gumbo and Hurricanes. However, my heart was set on wings, so wings it was! My friend Abby, who is a self-professed Hurricane connoisseur and New Orleans fan was ready to taste Tonic’s take on the infamous brew. I settled for a doozie called the “Hand Grenade” which the waitress basically described to me as every liquor they have plus Midori.

Abby’s Hurricane was not New Orleans worthy… but it didn’t stop her from having a few refills. My Hand Grenade tasted like the cool Midori and went down quite smoothly… too smoothly perhaps….

Then came my wings! I opted for the BBQ, as did my cohort, and although meaty and crispy, they were a bit over-dressed which was a tad disappointing. I ended up scraping some of the sauce off (to only re-sauce in ranch) and enjoyed anyway. I think the Hand Grenade kept me cool.
That being said, I’ve been to Tonic a few times and have always enjoyed their food. They have great burgers, great hummus, and bottomless mimosas for brunch. I’m not giving up on them yet.

And for your information, I was up early and nailed my presentation.

Lessons learned: Don’t ever set a one-drink limit, you will just end up failing (anti-Charlie Sheen-like). Bars are not the best place to take pics of food/drinks. If you don’t like eating the tendon part on the ends of the wings, bring along a carnivorous boyfriend – they will ravage those bones until they are dry.