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. The mad scientists at 5 Star Burgers give you The Potsticker ($9.50), a melding of Vietnamese and American comfort foods. A Geisert Farms pork patty, Vietnamese slaw and peanut-hoisin sauce are sandwiched together between a bun is a returning favorite for 5 Star BOTM (Burger of the Month) fans. It’s available through June at the Clayton and Kirkwood locations.
2. Mike Shannon turns 75 in 2014, and fans of the Cards broadcaster and his eateries can celebrate during the Cardinals season. Busch on draft is just 75 cents a pint on Thursday nights at Mike Shannon’s Grill in Edwardsville and two hours before first pitch at every home opener at The Outfield downtown. It’s a nod to one of Shannon’s famous catchphrases about the pleasures of “ice-cold frosty Busch.”
3. You can bring your kids to all manner of story times around town, but we particularly dig the one with the free sweet stuff. At all three area locations of The Cup, Cupcake Story Time includes a cupcake-themed story read to the kiddos, complimentary Kaldi’s coffee for the parents, and a “buttercup,” a one-ounce cup of frosting for the little ones. This month’s Cupcake Story Times take place June 18 at 10 a.m. in Chesterfield, June 24 at 10 a.m. in Edwardsville and June 24 at 10:30 a.m. in the Central West End location.
4. Complimentary samples of Belgian beer are part of the deal at a special free book signing this month at Left Bank Books. Author Joe Stange signs the seventh edition of “Good Beer Guide Belgium” at 6 p.m. June 20. The book is a complete guide to of Belgian beer, with information on breweries, beers and bars from around the country, with advice on traveling, where to stay, what to eat and what to bring home. The beer tasting is courtesy of the just-opened Craft Beer Cellar in Clayton.
5. Mission Taco’s new Summer Cocktail Menu is sweet, fruity, fresh and adventurous. Consider the Raspberry Caipirinha, made with cachaca (distilled sugar cane), raspberry agua fresca, lime and simple syrup ($7). The La Flor de Borracha (“the flower of the drunkard”) is mixed up with London dry gin, hibiscus agua fresca, Big O ginger liqueur and lemon juice ($7). The Delmar Boulevardier joins bourbon, Aperol, sweet vermouth and bitters ($8). Look for these boozy refreshers and 10 more intriguing elixirs on the new drink menu.
6. The ink has barely dried on the inaugural Breakfast Menu for the recently relocated The Shack, and everything looks so fun. The Three Little Pigs omelet is filled with ham, bacon, pork belly, onions and bell peppers, smothered in “Shack cheese,” and served with hashbrowns and an English muffin ($8.50). The Shack’s Big Crunch is Texas french toast encrusted with Corn Flakes ($8). The New Yorker Skillet features smoked pastrami, Swiss cheese and spicy mustard over hashbrowns, topped with eggs ($8.50). The drink menu includes hangover stoppers like the Meaty Mary, a bloody mary made with cucumber vodka, bacon, a cheese cube, house seasonings on the rim, and a beef jerky straw ($9). Breakfast is served daily 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
7. The new Free Lunch @ SLCL program works with Operation Food Search to give complimentary lunches to kids ages 2 to 18 at three St. Louis County Library branches. Children can enjoy nutritious lunches and fun activities at the Florissant Valley, Rock Road and Weber Road Branches, weekdays from noon to 1 p.m. through Aug. 15. There’s no need to call ahead; just show up.
8. It’s not often that Ted Drewes introduces a new concrete flavor, and frankly, any excuse to dump dessert into our custard-hole works for us. The newest excuse is Brennan’s Blend, an “Abaco mocha” and hazelnut concrete named after KMOX radio host Charlie Brennan. Abaco mocha is Drewes’ coffee-rum flavor, and when mixed with hazelnut and finished with a drizzle of caramel, it’s a winner. Depending on the size, it runs $3.40 to $6.20.
9. The new lineup of Foot-Long Hot Dogs at Wentzville’s Tattooed Dog is formidable. The all-beef dogs come in varieties like the Big Kahuna Dog, with teriyaki mustard, grilled pineapple and fresh cilantro; the Bacon Bleu Dog, with bacon, blue cheese crumbles, roasted apple and spicy honey mustard; and the eponymous Tattooed Dog, with chili, onion, shredded cheese, jalapeno and “twisted” (read “spicy”) sour cream (All foot-long dogs are $10.75.).
10. It’s tart, it’s refreshing, and we want to marry it. It’s Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Ice Cream, available this Wednesday at Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream in Webster Groves. Ice cream flavors, like mild summer nights, are fleeting. Get this one while you can for $3 a scoop.
This article appears in June 2014.