Bars and restaurants are getting toasted by happy hour

As the recession drags on, drinkers such as Luis Romero of Anaheim are gravitating to happy hour -- that late-afternoon period when bars and restaurants sell discounted drinks and food to attract customers during what otherwise would be a slow time. ‘You start watching your pennies a bit more,’ said Romero as he sipped a $3.75 pint of Honey Blond Ale one recent afternoon in the Yard House restaurant at Shoreline Village in Long Beach. Just a few hours later, the same beer would sell for $6.Typically, alcoholic beverages are recession-resistant, if not immune to economic downturns. This current recession, however, is hurting alcohol sales more than previous slumps have.