Movies + Bahama Breeze: the perfect combo

February 16, 2013

happy hour, late night happy hour, appetizers, drinks, Bahama Breeze

In case you didn't know, I have a spin-off blog called "Yes/No Dining" ... kidding. (but maybe someday!)

Bahama Breeze is a casual dining restaurant that specializes in Caribbean food. It's currently February in Michigan - yesterday it was 40 degrees and raining out, and today it was about 30 with wind gusts - so to recreate an island experience is no easy feat. When I was invited to try Bahama Breeze's new drinks and appetizers in honor of their new late night happy hour menu, therefore, I jumped at the opportunity.

Bahama Breeze is located all over the U.S. but in Michigan they have two locations:

Livonia (Haggerty Rd. between 6 and 7 Mile)
Troy (Big Beaver Rd. between Livernois and Rochester Rds.).

Two new happy hour drinks at
Bahama Breeze

The manager of the restaurant seated me and my guests and then our waitress came over to ask us what we'd like for drinks. She brought us the Yaka Hula Hickey Doola and the Daisy de Santiago, two of their new drinks, and also The Painkiller - that's actually the name of it.

The Yaka Hula is from Hawaii and has Myers Dark Rum, pineapple juice, grenadine, and a little Riesling in it, and the Daisy de Santiago is Chilean with Bacardi Superior rum, chartreuse, and lime juice.

My favorite ended up being The Painkiller, from the British Virgin Islands - it was delicious and didn't even taste like it had alcohol in it (those are the most dangerous drinks ...). It's made up of dark rum, cream of coconut, pineapple and orange juice, and our waitress added freshly ground nutmeg while at the table. It has a story behind it too: it originated at the aptly-named Soggy Dollar Bar, where people would swim to the bar to buy it, and their dollar bills would be, of course, wet when they arrived.

L-R: The Painkiller drink, cheeseburger
sliders, and beef empanadas

We then feasted on the five appetizers that are featured during the Late Night Happy Hour: crispy onion rings, coconut shrimp, beef empanadas, Jamaican chicken wings, and cheeseburger sliders. I'm not a fan of cheeseburgers or seafood, so I stuck to the onion rings, empanadas, and chicken wings. I normally don't order non-boneless wings, but the Jamaican wings at Bahama Breeze are an exception: they have a bit of a kick to them, as they're baked with jerk seasonings, and come with a spicy BBQ sauce.

Just as we thought we were done sampling these delicious dishes, our waitress brought out more food: desserts! Key lime pie, bread pudding, and the "chocolate island." I'm a bit of a chocoholic so of course I liked the chocolate island the best; Bahama Breeze's website describes it as "rich chocolate mousse on a fudge brownie island in milk chocolate sauce and vanilla bean anglaise."

I was very happy with our experience at Bahama Breeze, and I would definitely go back - you can't beat appetizers for half off and reduced-price drinks!

And the good news is, both Michigan locations are close to movie theaters, so you could go before or after you check out a movie. The AMC Livonia is actually in the same plaza as the Livonia location, and the Troy location is within 15 minutes from Emagine Rochester Hills and Royal Oak, as well as the Birmingham theaters (Palladium and Birmingham 8).

Bahama Breeze Happy Hour:
Monday - Friday, 4pm - 6pm

Bahama Breeze Late Night Happy Hour:
Sunday - Thursday, 9pm to close (usually 11pm or 12am)

*Disclosure: I was invited to partake in appetizers, drinks, and desserts at Bahama Breeze. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.