Guide CHEAP THRILLS

CHEAP TREATS

Happy hours were never so happy, or oh, so cheap.

● Two hours at Brio, 5500 Greenville Ave.in Old Town, set us back all of $5.75 ($2 wentfor cover), for which we received threemighty cold Miller Lites and unlimitedplates of hot and cold meats, miniaturechicken wings, cheeses, and more.

● One dollar at the door of Acapulco Bar.5111 Greenville Ave.. allows you to partakeof the smorgasbord happy hour buffet from5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.Drink prices: $2.25 for draft beer and wine.$2.75 for Michelob, well drinks, and premium wines, $3.25 for Corona. $3.50 for calldrinks, $3.75 for premium mixed drinks, and$4.25 for super-premium mixed drinks.Wednesday is Buck Night, when one dollarat the door entitles you to dollar draft beerand well drinks all night.

● You don’t have to be Czech to enjoy apolka at the Soko!. 7448 Greenville Ave., theSPJSYT Lodge. 2625 Floyd Street, or theCzech Club, 4930 Military Parkway. Covercharges may seem steep (usually $4-$5). butthe BYOB policy saves you bucks in the longrun. Saturday night dances are open to thegeneral public. Count on hearing one ormore live bands play polkas and waltzes thatdon’t dent the eardrums. Call ahead fordetails. Wear your dress-up duds: these clubsdo not admit bums. Czech it out.

CHEAP EATS

● Okay, so you like fast food and you like it big. . .at Judge Bean’s (three locations,8214 Park Lane, 14290 Midway, and 1251Northwest Highway), order up a four-poundhamburger. If you finish the whopper withinan hour, it’s yours for free. You can’t haveany outside help on this prodigious pig-out,so make sure you’re plenty hungry.

Another burger bargain is at The Feed Bag, with five locations (2987 West 15th and 2929 Custer Road in Piano. 7752 Forest Lane. 3030 North Josey. and 8674 Skillman) offering the “Weekend Movie Special.” Just $11.95 gets you two big cheeseburgers, an order of fries or onion rings, two large soft drinks, and two tickets to any General Cinema Theater, good at any performance.

● The Back Porch, a sandwich shop withtwo locations in Fort Worth, 3400-B CampBowie Blvd. and 2500 West Berry Street,charges 20 cents per ounce at its salad bar.Here’s the bonus: guess the weight of yoursalad, and if you are correct, you get yoursalad for half price.

● If Marty’s or Mirabelle is out of yourprice range, but you’re still hungry forfriends, bring in a tasty fiesta of frijoles and Bell Burgers courtesy of Taco Bell. Their elaborate mobile restaurant comes to you, prepared to serve up (on site) the usual Mexican fare. And don’t fear being stuck with the bill. The four-wheeler comes complete with a cash register so each of the party guests can handle his own tab. Currently, they operate only in Fort Worth. Arlington, Hurst, and Haltom City, but if all goes well, they’ll be coming soon to neighborhoods everywhere. Call (metro) 589-7545.

CHEAP SEATS

● The rodeo is alive and kicking at Mes-quite’s swanky new arena, a $6.5 millioncowboy’s high-riding paradise. For an evening full of bull, grandstand seating is $6 foradults, $3 for children, and $8 per person forreserved box seating. And no one walks awayempty-handed from the rodeo: there aregimme nights (buckle, tumbler, hat pin, andbandana) throughout the season. The rodeoalso offers the best buy in the city on skyboxes-$10,000 for the privileged spots. (Weanswered a newspaper ad about an ArlingtonStadium box and were quoted a bottom lineof $250,000. And that’s a bargain comparedto boxes at Texas Stadium: they average$300,000.)

● The Mavericks’ bargain buy is “Get Your Picture Taken With A Team Player Night.” You’ll pay no more than the cost of admittance to walk away with a sna, shot of you with Rolando Blackman. Tickets go for $5-$20.

● The Dallas Sidekicks sponsor a numberof super-saver deals. First, they offer Ultra-Saver Coupon Books, discounts for thosewho can’t afford season tickets. Decide onhow many games you want to attend and save50 cents per ticket. You can use all the ticketcoupons at one time (invite the boss, if youstill have one) or spread them out over theseason. “Family Night” means tickets andfood for four at a discounted price. Call361-KICK for details. Tickets are $4.50,S6.50, $8, and $10.

● Feed some of Dallas’s many starving actors. Attend live theater, TKTS KVIL in theCorner Shopping Center (Walnut Hill Laneat Central Expressway) and at Hulen Mallin Fort Worth (4800 South Hulen Street atI-20) takes some of the pain out of the priceby selling tickets for half price on the day ofthe show, subject to availability. Area venuesthat sell tickets through this service include:Dallas Repertory Theatre. New Arts Theatre, Plaza Theatre. Majestic Broadwayseries. Stage West. Circle Theater. TheDallas Opera, and Casa Mariana Playhouse.TKTS KVIL office hours are noon to 6 p.m.for evening performances, 9 a.m. to noon formatinees. TKTS KVIL accepts only cash.They add S1.50 service charge per ticket.

● Sunday night is two-for-one night at theHip Pocket Theatre. Performances varyfrom mystery to comedy to romance. During the spring, you’ll find the troupe on stageupstairs at The White Elephant Saloon inFort Worth, 108 East Exchange Ave.. and inthe summer outdoors in the amphitheater atOak Acres, 1620 Las Vegas Trail North andLoop 820 North, also in Fort Worth.

● Can’t stand paying $5 a head to see amovie? Could you go for a cool $5 a carload?The Linda Kay Drive-In. 175 east of LBJ atSilverado. once notorious for showing XXX-rated movies, now features first-run moviesevery night of the week for $5 a car. Toohigh? On Tuesday nights, Collin Creek 2,1201 North Central in Collin Creek Mall.and Arlington 4, 801 East Pioneer Parkway.show first-run flicks for 50 cents.

● For those of you still employed in the oilbusiness, The Improv in the Corner Shopping Center, the premier comedy club withroots in New York and Las Vegas, is theplace to be. The club offers free admissionSunday through Thursday to those who canprove with a business card or employee IDcard that oil is still their game.