1435 e university drive tempe, az 85281 (480) 652-3600 http://www.salutkitchenbar.com/ i have been wanting to drop by salut kitchen bar since they opened and i spotted the "grand opening" sign on my drive home from work. that was two years, which may speak to the location. the restaurant recently celebrated its two year anniversary with great deals and i was wooed in by a $2 bottle of wine coupon (do read the very fine print on the wine specials, usually these deals require purchase of one bottle at full price--$28-$49). as a wine bar, i expected something pretensions from salut, but the atmosphere is warm and inviting--more rustic villa than sleek wine bar. the patio is spacious and charming. the eclectic menu features small plates and sandwiches with most options in the $10-12 range. the wine list is fairly standard with the usual varieties from the popular spots with glasses ranging from $7.50-$14. the menu is broken down into "tapas," "bruschetta," "salads," "sandwiches," and "entrees" and is much heavier on lighter fare. we went for a happy hour and ordered from the special menu the quinoa fritters ($9.50, $7 during hh) and the hummus nachos ($9.00, $6.50 during hh). my partner ordered the malbec burger ($13) off the regular menu. the wine special was for the house chardonney, which was blessedly non-oaked though nothing particularly interesting as is usually the case with house wine. i was pleasantly surprised by the quinoa fritters. i'm not always thrilled with the texture of quinoa, but the fritters were similar to falafel in texture. the crimini mushrooms and dill havarti were the dominant flavors. the red pepper sauce was a nice compliment and added a sweeter note. i felt like the fritter could have been fried a bit more crisply to stand up to the sauce, but the fritters were good on the whole. at our servers insistence, we tried the hummus nachos. i said they didn't sound like my thing, but our server promised to comp them if we didn't like