We Found an Unsuspecting Happy Hour in Legacy West

One of Legacy West’s most interesting shops is putting the “lit” in literature.

Literally.

While there are many Barnes & Noble locations throughout Dallas-Fort Worth, there's only one Barnes & Noble Kitchen, which is far north of I-635. It's a smaller version of the still remaining bookstore, with a full-service restaurant attached.

By morning, Barnes & Noble Kitchen brews Starbucks coffee and serves cookies and other breakfast pastries. By early afternoon, the restaurant moves on to comfort food.

During regular hours, items such as the grilled cheese and tomato soup pairing ($14) and the B&N backyard burger ($16) may run you a pretty dollar. However, their daily happy hour allows guests to taste food items, beers and wines for nearly half the regular price.

Barnes & Noble Kitchen’s happy hour is from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays, when you'll find a menu offering tasty shareables, liked fried pickles with poblano ranch ($6) and loaded crispy potatoes with sour cream, cheddar, bacon and scallions.

Items that can also be shared, but are easily suited for individual meals are the shrimp tacos ($9), served with a blue cheese slaw, pico de gallo and lime, as well as the Margherita flatbread ($8), a flatbread topped with spicy marinara sauce, burrata cheese and fresh basil.

The Margherita flatbread is thin, yet filling, cooked to when the cheese gets to just the right gooeyness as you pull each slice apart. It pairs very well with the swashbuckler ($5), Barnes & Noble Kitchen’s signature red sangria. In addition to the swashbuckler, they offer other wines by the glass during happy hour for $5, $6 and $7. A couple of these wines include La Vielle Ferme rosé on tap and the Silver Palm cabernet sauvignon.

Guests can also purchase local beers on tap, including Armadillo Ale Works’ Honey Please blonde ale, Rahr and Sons’ Oktoberfest and Four Corners’ El Chingon, all of which are just $5.

If you’re not eating, you're free to peruse the store with glass of beer or wine in hand. While Barnes & Noble Kitchen’s in-store traffic may not match that of Legacy Hall or the surrounding restaurants in Legacy West, their happy hour is certainly worth a try.

Barnes and Noble Kitchen, 7700 Windrose Ave. #170, Plano (Legacy West).