Best of 2001: Best Happy Hour Rib Deal

Gulf Coast Grill
4130 Park Boulevard, Hillcrest
619-295-2244

Trust KC Jones to create a fantasy. The guy was a budding lawyer who wrote scripts for Hollywood before he got to this point. Perfect combo! Walk into the planky, bollardy, pelicany, ropey, brassy, twinkly, jokey atmosphere and you feel a little transported. The table planks were taken from a Liberty ship's hatch cover. The bollards? "Okay. They cut up telephone poles for us," says KC. But you're here for Happy Hour. (5:00 to 6:30 p.m., seven nights.) Here's what you do. Order the pork riblets, a half dozen, with sourdough bread, butter, and coleslaw (around six bucks) and order a sweet Stone Brewing Smoked Porter ale with it (about $3). The riblets'll fill you, the porter will make you merry. Order a second porter and you leave on a Happy Hour high for 12 bucks. Or splurge and order KC's truly memorable $3 clam chowder (it's spicier, tangier, redder, and thicker than others) and you'll leave bloated as well. But remember: you gotta order before that 6:30 gong.