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| - Happy hour fans rejoice! This is a great little spot for indulging in some cheap post-work snacks and libations. Located above Diamond Market in Market Square, Las Velas is a fairly typical Mexican restaurant. Their happy hour runs weekdays from 4-6pm, and I was shocked at how few people were taking advantage of this on a recent Friday evening when I was there (come on, Pittsburghers, I know you like to drink!!)
Anyway, the happy hour specials are $2 off of house sangrias and margaritas, as well as half off appetizers (excluding chips and salsa or queso). My friend warned me how strong their margaritas are, and I didn't want the evening to turn into a dancing-with-a-lampshade-on-my-head kinda night....so I opted for a sangria. And it was delicious! For food, my friend and I shared some chips and queso/salsa, chicken flautas, and chicken quesadillas.
Considering the happy hour prices, I was quite pleased. It's not Mexican food that will blow your mind, but it's definitely decent for happy hour munchies. Their chips are homemade and perfectly thick and crispy. The salsa was typical Mexican restaurant-style salsa...thinner and more sauce-like as opposed to thick and chunky. There is a decent amount of cilantro in it though, so I'm a fan. Their queso was very rich and cheesy. It was good, but for my tastes, they could have ratcheted up the flavor and spiciness a bit. The flautas and quesadillas were both also decent...crispy without being greasy, and generously stuffed with fillings. Each also came with abundant guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, and pico on the side to dress them up as you like. The one thing I will say across all of the food is that it was all a little lukewarm. It wasn't lukewarm to the point of making it inedible, but I think in general the food could have been served at a higher temperature to make it more enjoyable.
As for the service, it was fast and friendly. All in all, my friend and I had a drink (she had two), and a ton of food that left us stuffed and happy, and we walked out of there each having paid like $12 or something. For the price, this is definitely a happy hour winner. Bottoms up, mis amigos!
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