What makes a great restaurant greater? Half-off regular prices.

Scotch 80 Prime at Palms just started offering two happy hours with deals so good, we can’t imagine it will last. The happy hours (they call them “Social Hours”) run 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

If you’ve been there before, visit again. If you haven’t made the trek to Palms, now could be the time. Let’s dive headlong into the deals, shan’t we?

We’ve had some ups and downs with Scotch 80 Prime Steakhouse. And Palms (long story, we blocked them on Twitter because they refuse to use upper case letters).

Following our first visit, we learned the restaurant’s butter bread is excellent, but hadn’t been served any. Cue the sad trombone. We are a bread person, so this was disappointing.

When we heard about the new happy hour, we visited and were informed the restaurant had run out of bread. This time, it was more of a sad tuba.

Undaunted, we went back and got the Prime 80 experience the way Mother Nature intended, bread service and all. Heads up: It’s “by request only” if you dine at the bar.

The complimentary butter bread was very good, although, not “destination” bread, as is found at other restaurants in town. Quite good, though. Destination bread locations: Oscar’s at Plaza, One at Virgin, Bugsy & Meyer’s at Flamingo, Harlo in Summerlin and others.

Even better was another complimentary item, an “amuse bouche” (French for mouth amuser), the truffle chips. Definitely a destination mouth amuser.

Before we go any further, here’s a look at the happy hour menu.

There’s a Social Hour drink menu (served 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.), too.

Find out more on the Scotch 80 Prime Steakhouse Web page.

Why do restaurants offer happy hours? To drive business during slower periods. Happy hours can be an indication a restaurant is struggling, but Scotch 80 seems to be doing reasonably well, despite being off-Strip.

Unlike many restaurants, Scotch 80 isn’t discounting things nobody orders. It’s actually discounting some of its most popular items.

We had the Caesar salad, and it was superb. You know, for a salad, a natural enemy of steak in the wild.

The filet mignon (usually $65, just $32.50 for happy hour) was perfection. In your hometown, a $65 eight-ounce filet would cause diners to go into cardiogenic shock, but that’s fairly typical for Las Vegas.

The steak at Scotch 80 has a distinctive flavor, probably due to a marinade or rub of some kind (beyond the typical salt and pepper). Unlike Cut at Palazzo, where the rub completely overwhelms and ruins the steak, Scotch 80’s preparation gives the meat a hearty, almost masculine, vibe. (Men, preferably with corporate credit cards, are the target demo for Las Vegas steakhouses. Just a fact.)

The garlic potato puree was delicious as well.

The only disappointment, if you can call it that, is there were no desserts on the happy hour menu. Hey, they have to make money with something (in addition to beverages).

Service at the bar was exceptional. It shouldn’t need to be said, but if you hit a happy hour, tip based upon the full prices of the menu items, not the discounted amounts. If you don’t do this, please don’t visit Las Vegas and, better yet, don’t leave your house, thanks.

Oh, and another thing we shouldn’t have to say: No shorts in steakhouses, dumbasses.

While we’re singing the praises of Scotch 80 Prime, we’d like to give props to the DJ and whoever has their hand on the volume button, presumably restaurant management. The music was the perfect level, and other venues in town should take note. Music should be in the background, and guests should be able to comfortably hold a conversation whether music is played on the P.A., by a DJ or live musicians. Kudos, Scotch 80. Multiple kudos. Because “kudos” is a mass noun or something, and you apparently can’t give someone an individual “kudo.” We’ve never really figured all that out. We would laud Scotch 80, but that would be even more confusing because we’re complimenting them on not being loud. And we can’t talk about homophones because we’ll get canceled. Blogging isn’t as easy as it looks.

Like we said, it’s unclear how long Scotch 80 can run these deals, as they carve into already thin restaurant margins, but this is our favorite happy hour at the moment, so let us know if you check it out.