A new martini bar is opening up in the old Ascada Bistro space at 621 1/2 Queen Anne Ave N (across from the MarQueen Hotel and the Uptown Caffe Ladro).

We first got wind that Oskar’s Kitchen would be taking over the space after former Seattle Supersonic Shawn Kemp and his wife Marvena applied for a liquor license at the location.

According to Skyline Properties managing broker Nathan Belo, Oskar’s is opening its doors at 2 p.m. today.

“They’re still fiddling around with the menu but they’ll have the usual stuff, sandwiches, etc.,” he wrote. “They’re still hiring kitchen help so I’d give them a couple of weeks to sort out the food situation, but libations should be excellent.”

The new restaurant/lounge/martini bar will also have a daily happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. with $4 beer, wine, and well drinks, Belo says.

Toulouse Petit has just announced its extended happy hour times and menu. After running $5 meals on weekday mornings through January in celebration of its new breakfast service, the New Orleans French Quarter restaurant decided to make what they call the “breakfast happy hour” a permanent fixture, offering almost anything on the menu for $6 between 9 and 11 a.m.

In addition, their two afternoon and evening happy hours, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., have been expanded to include drink specials, over 50 menu items, and the entire dessert menu for $5 or less.

For more info, check out Toulouse Petit’s Facebook page.

New “seasonally inspired, locally derived” restaurant emmer&rye, after having a “successful opening weekend” last week, according to chef Seth Caswell, will start serving weekend breakfast from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, beginning this week.

A glimpse at the menu includes farro fries, poached egg, wild mushrooms with hollandaise, emmer&rye biscuits, house-made sausage gravy, roasted potatoes and for those with a sweet tooth, vanilla rum french toast with strawberry compote.

emmer&rye will also be introducing a happy hour menu soon. They haven’t finalized the selection yet, but the times will from 4 to 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to midnight daily.

Read about check Caswell’s vision for the restaurant here.

After months of anticipation, Toulouse Petit Kitchen & Lounge will be opening at 4 p.m. this afternoon for lounge and dinner service.

The new restaurant, located at 601 Queen Anne Ave N in Uptown, is by the same owner of the popular Pesos’s Kitchen & Lounge next door. But don’t be fooled by its parallels in name or location – this eatery offers up entirely new choices for the palette. It’s theme for not only cuisine, but also decor, is the French Quarter and New Orleans.

I swung by this morning to chat with owner Brian Hutmacher and get a sneak peak of the inside. And I must say, for all the Queen Anne residents who, like myself, have walked by hoping to steal a glimpse through the boarded up windows these past few months, it’s beautiful.

Originally slated to open Labor Day weekend, Hutmacher says he’s excited to finally open the doors – the project has been in the works a long time. “We’ve been working on this for over a year now,” he said. Although the opening this afternoon will only be for the restaurant’s lounge and dinner service, Hutmacher says they plan on opening for breakfast in a couple of weeks.

For now, Toulouse Petit will be open seven days a week. The lounge opens at 4 p.m. and dinner service will be offered from 5 p.m. to midnight, when the kitchen closes. “We have a very talented, disciplined, focused staff back there,” Hutmacher said. “It’s very humbling.” And taking a look at the menu, it’s clear that Hutmacher, Chef Eric Donnelly, formerly of Oceanaire, and the staff have worked to create a varying and ambitious amount of daily offerings.

Yesterday’s mock-up, which is still being edited, is ten pages of delectable looking salads, raw and fresh seafood dishes, delicacies (foie gras, tartares and tongue dishes are all on the menu), poultry, steaks and charcuterie, which is described as “the art of curing meats, and especially of curing pork.” And I haven’t even gotten to the specials or the drinks! Like it’s brother next door, Toulouse Petit will have an extensive array of exotic cocktails (just take a look at their bar!), and two large and encompassing happy hours – an early happy hour from opening at 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and a late happy hour from 10 p.m. to midnight.

And now for some parting fast facts from the back of the menu, entitled “The Toulouse Petit by the Numbers.” Panes of glass in the restaurant’s windows and doors – 712. Mosaic tiles in the main floor – about 85,000. Glass tiles on their booth platforms – about 40,000. Pounds of plaster hand applied to the walls – about 5,000.

Not sure exactly where Toulouse Petit is? It’s the green stucco building on the corner of Queen Anne Ave N and Mercer. You honestly can’t miss it! For more information, call (206) 432-9069.

According to the Seattle Times, Queen Anne Ave is “one of the city’s best-kept secrets for happy hour.”

According to the Times, the top of the hill drag from Galer Street to Boston Street is no longer known just for the coffee shops – Upper Queen Anne is also one of the hippest places to be for cheap cocktails, good eats, and a great time.

Read the whole story here.