Absolut Vodka

Vin de Set Hosts Fifth Annual Oysters Five Ways Festival Sunday, March 10

Vin de Set (2017 Chouteau Avenue; 314-241-8989) hosts its fifth annual Oysters Five Ways Festival at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 10. The restaurant has flown in 1,400 Penn Cove Pacific oysters, and head chef and general manager Ivy Magruder tells Gut Check he and his kitchen staff are armed and ready to ... More >>

Happy Hour at the Side Bar: Drink Deals Go On Trial

The Side Bar (1317 Washington Avenue; 314-621-7376) The Hours: Weekdays, 4 to 7 p.m. The Deal: Monday: $1 domestic beers; Tuesday: Two for one domestic beer and well drinks; Wednesday through Friday: $2 domestic beers, $3 well drinks, $4 house wines and $4 Skyy vodka drinks.

Ten Best Irish Dishes in St. Louis: Guinness-Battered Fish and Chips at Molly Darcys

Though generally considered to be the premier British take-away meal, fish and chips is a popular dish in Ireland as well. At Molly Darcys Irish Pub at Seven Gables Inn (26 North Meramac Avenue, 314-863-8400) in Clayton, the Guinness-Battered Fish and Chips melds together two Emerald Isle favorites ... More >>

100 St. Louis Bands, 100 Drink Pairings: A Comprehensive Guide

It's like having Tom Crusie at your beck and call at every St. Louis show. ​Oh, the interwebz. You give us so many awesome gifts. You even take things that are already awesome, and then you put a kitten on them and make them even awesomer. For that we thank you. Today we celebrate Drinkify.or ... More >>

Mosaic Debuts Des Peres Location

Sarah Baraba​The Mosaic family has expanded yet again. On Friday, October 7, Mosaic opened its third location at 11925 Manchester Road in Des Peres. The new spot follows the original downtown restaurant and an outpost at Lambert. "Des Peres is a terrific community," says general manager Gregg Doy ... More >>

Swedish Fish Vodka, Farmhaus

Alicia Lohmar​First, a quick retraction. We wrote in this very column, just a little over a year ago, "...don't sully the time-honored occupation of respectable drinking by concocting all sorts of foolishness that ends in '-tini' and isn't 'gin martini' or that contains the words 'nipple' or 'bomb ... More >>

Eight Awful Uses for Terrible Flavored Vodkas

Hey vodka makers? You're out of control. It was cute and interesting many, many years ago when the likes of Absolut, Stoli, and Smirnoff got the bright idea to make flavored vodkas. Vodka with pepper flavor for bloody Marys? Great! Citrusy vodkas with tonic? Perfection. But come on. With the annou ... More >>

Ten Best Food Events this Weekend: May 13-15

Image viaBring your pooch to Yappy Hour at the Bleeding Deacon this Sunday!​ Friday, May 13: Grand opening week @ I Scream Cakes During Cherokee Street's Cinco de Mayo celebration last Saturday, a new kid on the block opened its doors for the first time. I Scream Cakes debuted its custard sty ... More >>

The 34 Club's Sean Brennan: Featured Bartender of the Week

Welcome to Girl Walks into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week Katie Moulton profiles the 34 Club's Sean Brennan. Below is a Q&A with Brennan, followed by his recipe for the ManSquirt. Katie MoultonSean Brennan of the 34 Club: service with a (wry) ... More >>

Hurricane Recipes? Try a Gulf Spill! Top 10 Natural Disaster Cocktails

Given that Saturday's Mardi Gras celebration is the proverbial bad-taste storm before the calm, it's only fitting that the big party's signature drink is sweet, lethal and named after an actual storm. That's right: the Hurricane. If you're in the mood for something different this weekend, Gut Check ... More >>

Busch Family Mishaps: The Cocktail Pairings

​When we tumbled off the ol' king-size Posturpedic after yet another post-holiday bender and scanned the local headlines yesterday morn, our peepers opened wide at the sight of Deb Peterson's EXCLUSIVE interview with bad-boy beer baron August A. Busch IV. Having read said EXCLUSIVE -- and its ... More >>

Sanctuaria's Matt Seiter: Featured Bartender of the Week

Welcome to Girl Walks into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week Alissa Nelson profiles Sanctuaria bartender Matt Seiter. Below is a Q&A with Seiter, followed by a video of him mixing a Rum Fire cocktail. Alissa Nelson​Bottles cover this corner ... More >>

Silver Ballroom Bartender Justin Deming Mixes...A Slutbucket!

Welcome to Girl Walks into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This is part one of Alissa Nelson's two-part profile of Silver Ballroom bartender Justin Deming. Part two, a Q&A with Deming, will be posted tomorrow. Alissa NelsonBehold the Slutbucket!​Th ... More >>

Ted Kilgore Claims Heirloom-Tomato Cocktail Throne

Alissa NelsonEvan Benn of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch evaluates cocktails from (left to right) Nate Selsor, Matt Seiter and Kilgore.​On Saturday, a robust crowd descended upon the event space at Orlando's Catering to watch three of our region's preeminent mixologists -- Ted Kilgore, Nate Selsor&nb ... More >>

Backstreet Jazz & Blues' Nikki Llewellyn: Featured Bartender of the Week

Welcome to Girl Walks into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week Alissa Nelson profiles Backstreet Jazz & Blues bartender Nikki Llewellyn. Alissa Nelson​Every drink Nikki Llewellyn makes is a unique, boozy snowflake. "Girls come in and they wan ... More >>

Perfect patios for al fresco boozing on sweaty summer days

The Dive Bomber's Worlds Collide at Stan's Bar

"When are you going to Keith's? Keith's is perfect for 'Dive Bomber!'" Except it's no longer Keith's. Now it's Stan's Bar, as of January 1, anyhow, when bartender Stan took over ownership. Such is the nature of neighborhood bars, being bought by patrons or employees to continue the lineage when the ... More >>

A Stiff Drink (or Ten) for Bush's Last Day

I just can't envision myself, you know, the big straw hat and a Hawaiian shirt sitting on some beach. Particularly since I quit drinking.- President George W. Bush at his final press conference, 1.12.09This is the most self-aware statement our soon-to-be former president has ever uttered. Not only ... More >>

The Wedge Grand Opening: Saturday, November 29, featuring LoFreq, Holy Python's Last Show

Though it's been open for business for about a month now, the Wedge is celebrating its official grand opening this Saturday, November 29. Besides drink specials (Jagermeister, Absolut Vodka and Jameson's Whiskey are sponsors, so you know they'll be potent) and free food samples, the venue ... More >>

Hold the Moustache: Fumanchu, the prodigious Mike Johnson's latest offering, is all over the Asian map

Bar of the Week: Urban

Sot in the City: It's time to hit the bottle — not the beach!

Dial Uno for English

Chocolate Raspberry Martini

Tumo's Ristorante
6419 Hampton Avenue
314-351-4400

Pearberry

Del Pietro's Ristorante, 5625 Hampton Avenue; 314-351-1700.

Absolut Stress

The Red Bar, 70 Hotz Avenue, Grayton Beach, Florida
850-231-1008

Rock Startini and a glass of Benton-Lane 2004 pinot noir

Roxane, 12 North Meramec, Clayton; 314-721-7700.

Café DiSaronno

Brio Tuscan Grille, 1601 South Lindbergh Boulevard, Frontenac; 314-432-4410.

Peach cosmopolitan

Busch's Grove, 9160 Clayton Road, Ladue;
314-993-0011.

Purple Rain

Urban, 3216 South Grand Boulevard, 314-772-3308

Critical Fatwa

Week of February 2, 2006

Arnold Palmer Sr.

Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester Avenue, 314-775-0775.

Red Lantern

Mélange, 512 North Euclid Avenue, 314-361-8883

Singapore Sling

Savor, 4356 Lindell Boulevard; 314-531-0220

What Dreams May Come Martini

Moolah Theatre and Lounge, 3821 Lindell Boulevard, 314-446-6868

Romana Black Sambuca

Trattoria Strada Nova, 21 North Ninth Street, Columbia, 573-442-8992

Proof It!

A local bottler supplies the free booze, we supply the lushes -- er, tasting panel

Black Martini

Moxy, 4584 Laclede Avenue, 314-361-4848

Up From the Gutter

The Pin-Up Bowl brings new meaning to drinkin' in the alley

How Green Was My Refrigerator

If the food at Felix's was anywhere near as intriguing as the decor, it'd be worth a return visit

Ragged Blade Cuts Back

Week of April 30, 2003

Oasis Martini

Café Eau, Chase Park Plaza, 212 North Kingshighway, 314-454-9000

Piece of Cake

Atomic Cowboy, 7336 Manchester, 314-645-0608

Hall of Flame

Football Cardinal great Jackie Smith promises diners a hot time at his new West County restaurant

Side Dish

How to make an apple martini that's fit for dessert

Window Dressing

Linda Edwards discusses her 200 windows at Blueberry Hill

Short Cut