Fall-themed drinks pour into Purple Place Bar & Grill

Though The Purple Place is closed on Thanksgiving, they will see a lot of action surrounding that holiday."We close on Thanksgiving because Mike and I, we have 52 local residents that we hire," said Denise Hountalas, owner of The Purple Place. "We give them that day off so that they can be with their families, and so we can be with our families, as well."The Purple Place has eight HD plasma screen TVs which play all of the week's games. "We're really popular for people bringing their guests from out of town," said Hountalas. "The night before, Wednesday night, The Purple Place is known as the reunion place."The fall season also features a variety of specialty created drink specials only offered for a limited time, including a Fresh Cranberry Margarita."We're featuring those drinks on our new fall drinks menu until the week of Thanksgiving," said Lauren Churchill, general manager. "After that we'll switch it to more of a Christmassy theme." Along with a full food menu, the sports bar is also popular with families, children being welcome with their parents until 9 p.m."Our sports bar is real popular (the week of Thanksgiving), and we usually are packed with all the football games," Hountalas said. "The college games are going on, and the NFL games. … People come in jerseys and it's really festive."As a special treat during night games, if patrons wear the winning team's jersey, they get a free appetizer at their next visit."After Thanksgiving is packed here as well," Hountalas said. "As I said, a lot of the locals bring out-of-town-guests for our fresh breakfast. We make everything from scratch. We specialize in eggs benedict and have breakfast specials, as well."No reservations are necessary, just show up and join the fun. "I have pictures of hundreds of people in our parking lot, I mean it's that packed," Hountalas said. "We're a good place to go the day before Thanksgiving."To learn more, visit them online at thepurp.com.* * *THE PURPLE PLACEWhen: Restaurant 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Special bar hours the night before Thanksgiving.Where: 363 Green Valley Road, El Dorado HillsWebsite: thepurp.com* * *Special fall drinks menu:Fresh Cranberry Margarita. Fresh brandy-soaked cranberries shaken with El Jimador Silver Tequila, Cointreau and fresh lime, then topped with Sweet and Sour. Caramel Apple Martini. Apple Pucker, butterscotch liqueur and vodka served chilled in a caramel-drizzled Martini glass.Frangeli-Café. Served hot or cold. Patron XO coffee liqueur and Frangelico mixed with our own "Black Pearl" special roast coffee, topped with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle.Red Stag Manhattan. Jim Beam Red Stag bourbon, sweet vermouth, cherry juice and a dash of bitters. Served "up" or "on the rocks."Hot Apple Pie. Hot spiced cider with Grand Marnier and cinnamon liqueur, topped with whipped cream and ground cinnamon.