Budget Crunch: 10 delicious dishes and sweet deals to try right now

Welcome to Budget Crunch, wherein intrepid reporter Byron Kerman offers 10 tips on delicious menu items and sweet deals happening now. Got $10? Grab a friend and sample, split and stuff yourselves with these steals.  

1. Soulard’s Epic Pizza & Subs has fun creating wild flavors for pies like the Toasted Ravioli Pizza. It starts with pizza crust and an egg wash, topped with toasted-ravioli meat filling, Provel and mozzarella. After a final sprinkle of bread crumbs, it’s baked and served with a side of marinara. You can order it anytime, by the slice for $3.75 or whole for $17 to $20.

2. Speaking of T-ravs, in honor of National Ravioli Day on March 20, all three Charlie Gitto’s locations will offer half-priced toasted ravioli for $5. Its version of the cute little fried pasta pockets is tasty as heck and a window into the Italian St. Louis of old; Charlie Gitto’s claims to have invented the app in 1947.

3. The Saint Louis University’s School of Law’s restaurant, The Docket, is offering a real bargain for those who like to load up at lunchtime. The Chef’s Table is an all-you-care-to-eat buffet available weekdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A recent spread included beef stew, fried chicken, various salads, couscous, mac-n-cheese and veggies. The buffet, which changes daily, is just $10.

4. When a kitchen of Truffles‘ caliber puts out a scrumptious lunch for just $5 Tuesday through Friday, it’s worth taking note. Recent blue-plate specials have included a barbecue burger with Parmesan fries, a braised beef short-rib burrito with salad, and chicken and white bean chili with crispy tortillas, sour cream, and shredded white cheddar. All meals include a draft beer, too. You’ll have to hit Truffles’ Facebook page for the magic daily password, though.

5. At the CWE’s Crepes Etc., the weekly Waffle Wednesday deal means all waffles are $5. That includes menu selections like the malted waffle with fresh seasonal berries and cream, the buttermilk-pecan waffle, and the occasional off-menu special waffle du jour.

6. Kids adore the make-your-own-pizza experience Tuesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. at the O’Fallon, Mo., location of Stefanina’s Pizzeria. The kitchen brings the ingredients to the table, where kids 12 and younger are invited to adorn their mini-pizzas with up to three toppings for $5. Then, their creations are baked and brought back to be served to the grateful artists.

7. The revamped brunch menu at Mangia Italiano includes goodies like a chicken and waffle sandwich, an egg sandwich starring prosciutto and blue cheese, smoked salmon hash with poached eggs and bacon, a mixed-green salad with roasted duck and fried eggs, and a build-your-own frittata dish. The bloody mary crowd has not been ignored; a new 65-item build-your-own-bloody buffet is $11 (and $8 for a non-alcoholic version).

8. If you’ve not yet tried new Italian hot spot Cucina Pazzo (or if you have), consider the deals to be had during the restaurant’s weekday happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. Half-priced appetizers and drinks means that appetizers like the “ricconi,” fried ricotta with crispy pepperoni, basil blossom and tomato confit, or the mortadella corndogs with Moretti beer cheese, jalapeño honey mustard and basil-fennel salad, both go for just $4.50.   9. If you’re the sort of human who balks at Buffalo sauce, reconsider your predilections and try the pulled-chicken Buffalo sandwich for $8.75 at the Gobble Stop Smokehouse. The Creve Coeur barbecue hut has crafted a mild Buffalo sauce that, when tossed with pulled chicken and served on a bun with onion and pickle, sits astride the border between tangy and spicy just so.

10. There are 32 seats at the 801 Chophouse bar, and those are the only seats where you can order $1 oysters on the half-shell during the restaurant’s weekday happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. The little guys normally go for $3 to $6 each, so grab a seat early and get to slurping.

This article appears in Guide to Beer 2014.