Stix Billiards & Brewhouse‘s bland decor and businessy clientele clash with the venue’s choice of music—an eyebrow-raising mix of A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, and a series of unidentifiable pop songs. Contradictions aside, Stix’s happy hour is satisfying. From 4 to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Sundays, customers get $3 well drinks, $3 house brews (choose from five in-house drafts), and $4 appetizers (smaller portions only; appetizers come in two sizes). For pool lovers, tables are $7 per hour before 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and $12–$15 per hour at other times. The eight appetizer choices include Asian-inspired fare like hoisin-marinated ribs and Vietnamese beef skewers, alongside spicy onion rings and bruschetta. The food we ordered was surprisingly delicious and well portioned. Drinks were also good but came with a hitch: The tonic water used in one companion’s vodka tonic tasted like soda water. Our waitress explained that Stix uses a different variety of tonic water, while the bartender said the well might be running low on quinine. It seems Stix needs to start giving some straight answers and hammer out an image before it can build a rock-star following. TIFFANY WAN