Le Thai Happy Hour. Downtown

Le Thai's waterfall beef is the dish that built its downtown following, and the happy hour pricing makes it one of the cheaper ways to eat well on Fremont East. The kitchen cooks focused Thai street food rather than the sprawling forty-item menu you find in suburban strip malls, and that focus shows up on the plate.

The weekday happy hour runs Monday through Thursday, 4 to 6pm, and there is a separate Saturday window from 11:30am to 4pm. Asian beers like Chang, Singha, and Beer Lao run around $5, cocktails are $6 to $7, and wine comes 20% off. On the food side, the chicken satay is $10, the Thai and honey-garlic wings are $11, the pork jerky is $10, and the waterfall beef itself is $12. You can put together a real meal with a drink for not much money.

Get there right at 4pm if you want a table, because the room is small and fills fast. Lead with the waterfall beef and order it spicy if you can handle heat.

The space is tight, casual, and loud in a good way, drawing downtown locals, service-industry folks, and the occasional tourist who drifted over from the Fremont Street crowds. Service can slow when it is packed, but that is because the food is being cooked to order. Park downtown, which is easier than the Strip, and use Le Thai as an anchor at 523 E Fremont St before heading into the rest of the Fremont East bars.