Word is getting out about Rain, a cozy new-ish restaurant at the corner of Fort Street Mall and Pauahi Street that opened to the public in December. Date-night couples, pau hana office workers, Hawaii Pacific University students and Downtown residents often fill the spot, but you’re not too late to be ahead of the curve. Check Rain out during pau hana for a break on the restaurant’s generous cocktails. The “classic American” bistro fare created by a talented chef is a bonus.

The experience

Enter the restaurant from Fort Street Mall. Inside, bold wall treatments and intimate table arrangements provide a chill vibe and original look.

One of the first things you’re likely to see is the trademark image of a chic woman carrying a yellow umbrella, filling the far wall adjacent to the dining area. That expresses the ethic: Rain or shine, this spot seeks to keep moving with style.

The restaurant is small but lively, with a bar toward the back of the room that tends to attract drop-in customers. Even on a quiet day, or as happy hour is just beginning, the close arrangement of tables will keep you from feeling marooned or lonely.

Rain takes reservations, including for happy hour, and you may want to make one, since it is not a big spot. Reservations may especially come in handy on Thursdays, when the offer is even more enticing, with half-off Rain’s signature martinis and ice cocktails (regularly $12), and its drinks in copper mugs (regularly $10), all night long.

The food

There are no happy-hour specials on food, but the menu is built for sharing, and is pleasingly substantial. Manager/co-owner/mixologist Joey Luna says two people often split the brick-pressed chicken ($23), a house favorite that’s homey and filling, made with buttermilk dumplings and lightly spiced chunks of chicken.

The food here has panache, thanks to the involvement of partners Lanai Tabura, who won the Food Network’s “Great Food Truck Race” in 2013, and Chicago chef Brooks Hart, who also appeared on the Food Network.

Bar-friendly menu offerings aren’t all fried, thankfully. They include avocado toast, $10, a healthy and satisfying asparagus hummus that is hard to stop eating, $12, and crowd-pleasing Duck Fat Tater Tots served with horseradish aioli, $8, which are simply hard to deny.

Note: Rain opens and happy hour begins at 4:30, but food is not served until 5 p.m.

The drink

The happy hour menu features Rain’s classic martinis, including a Sidecar and Lemon Drop that highlight the restaurant’s hand-crafted “cellos” — limoncello and orangecello liqueurs.

The “martinis” — shorthand for a variety of custom-designed cocktails served in Rain’s oversize martini glass — are a prime reason to get yourself here. They’re tempting at any price, served with a “sidecar” of extra chilled drink in a bowl of ice. Drink one and you’re on your way.

Also on special during happy hour: a Manhattan, Gimlet, Cosmopolitan and French Martini, all $8 (regularly $10).

On my visit, the beer offered was limited — Bud Light, Heineken and Corona — but the price was right, at just $3 (half off the normal price). That menu may expand; keep an eye out.

The verdict

Rain is well worth a splash.