It’s time for 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. Someone at Brasserie really likes bratwurst. That would be executive chef Nick Blue, who has inaugurated Brasserie Brats. Every Tuesday through March, the CWE restaurant opens for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and offers house-made sausages in intriguing sandwiches. The changing selection includes three original creations each week. Today’s offerings include the Avec Brat, a chorizo brat with tomato sauce, date puree and bacon; Brat in a Blanket, a cheddar beer brat wrapped in a croissant and served with Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions beer mustard; and the Lao Brat, which is topped with green papaya slaw and peanuts. All brats are served with a side of fries for $7.
2. Give winter a kick in the nards with the Bottomless Soup Bowl ($6) at Corvid’s Cafe. The from-scratch soup du jour may include tomato basil bisque, white bean-chicken chili, lentil mushroom, corn chowder, vegetarian chili, chunky peasant-style borscht or other hot concoctions. Soups are often served with crunchy Companion breadsticks. How many bowls can one diner with a bottomless stomach slurp down? “The most I’ve seen one person eat in one day was six bowls, but he did sit here for a long time,” said Corvid chef-owner Cindy Panian.
3. The holidays haven’t ended at Jilly’s Ice Cream Bar. The flavors-of-the-month include December holdovers like a RumChata Eggnog Creme Brulee ice cream with plenty of nog. Ginger-Doodle is loaded with chunks of gingerbread-snickerdoodle cake in molasses-gingerbread ice cream with a ribbon of cinnamon-caramel. Scoop up your favorite for $3 to $6. Next door at Jilly’s Cupcake Bar and Cafe, the resolution busting continues with monthly cupcake offerings like Double Chocolate Chip with a dense gooey butter cake for $6, or for 50 cents more, try flavors like Butterscotch, German chocolate, Cookies ‘n Mousse crowned with an Oreo hand-dipped in chocolate and a Fireball whiskey cupcake topped with dramatic Fireball frosting flames.
4. One of the best deals in town on draft craft beers isn’t at a bar – it’s at a supermarket. Buy a $2 pint at Lucky’s Market in Ellisville and enjoy it in the store’s adjacent cafe or attach a cupholder to your cart and sip while you shop. The half-dozen daily draft choices have recently included brews like Deschutes Chain Breaker White IPA, Kona Longboard Lager, Urban Chestnut Schnickelfritz and O’Fallon King Louie Toffee Stout.
5. How hard is it to part with two bucks? Unless you’re some sort of deranged paperboy, it’s nothing. Maybe that’s why $2 Tuesdays has been a success for Mad Tomato. From 5 to 10 p.m. every Tuesday, all charcuterie, cheese and conserves in the joint are $2. Choose from goodies like prosciutto, sopressata, marinated olives, white bean hummus, sausage-stuffed fried olives, soft Morbier cheese and creamy dolce gorgonzola.
6. Felix’s Pizza Pub recently moved just across the street from their old Dogtown home. The much-expanded space features a generous happy hour deal from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Friday stars its criminally underrated New York-style pizza. The Pint and a Slice includes a pint of a Schlafly beer and a one-topping slice for $6. The Sweet Deal is a slice, a garden salad and a soda for $9.50. Finally, the Buddy System includes two slices, an appetizer and two sodas for $15.
7. What do you do when you hear the word of the day? You hop over to Southwest Diner and collect your reward. Dedicated followers of the New Mexico-style diner’s Facebook page already know that the word of the day can score you goodies like free coffee, a dollar off cherry pancakes (an off-menu special), or a free side of guacamole, amongst other recent freebies. To the vigilant go the spoils.
8. The drink that’s flying from the bar at The Scottish Arms these days is hot wassail ($5). They make it by boiling local apple cider, Strongbow English cider, orange brandy liqueur, nutmeg, cinnamon, honey and citrus fruits into a warm, fortifying winter cocktail. The alcohol boils out, so most patrons choose to add a shot of Kraken spiced rum, a bourbon or rye for another $2 to $3.
9. If you like it sweet, consider the chocolaty warm happiness of the Cinnamon Toast Cocoa Cocktail ($7.50) at Big Chief Roadhouse in Wildwood. The drink is made quite simply from RumChata, Captain Morgan spiced rum and hot chocolate. It’s boozy, hot and puts a big ol’ child’s grin on your adult face.
10. The Charlie Gitto’s locations in Chesterfield and inside Hollywood Casino have introduced a new Happy Hour Menu. For $4, you can choose from meatballs in pomodoro sauce, arancini or toasted ravioli and sauce. For $6, choose from fried calamari and peppers (served with a citrus mayo dipping sauce), chicken speidini lollipops or tortellini alla panna. For $8, choose from mussels in a lobster-tomato broth, a sausage-pepperoni Sicilian flatbread or a vegetarian flatbread. Happy hour is every day from 3 to 6 p.m. in the bar area; keep an eye out for similarly priced drink selections soon.
This article appears in January 2015.