Bacardi Ltd.

Seven Great Summer Cocktails Available at St. Louis Bars, Restaurants

There's a certain kind of understated pleasure that can come from cracking open a twelve-pack in your own back yard as the Cardinals game buzzes in the background. But as we dive headlong into summer, lots of local restaurants and bars are celebrating the warmer temps with carefully curated cocktail ... More >>

Gut Check's Guide to Drinko Cinco de Mayo in St. Louis: 26 Food and Drink Specials

Whether you observe Drinko de Mayo, or its less quippy counterpart Cinco de Drinko, we all unite this Sunday, May 5, to drink fishbowl margaritas in the streets of St. Louis. It might not be a real national holiday in Mexico or America, but that doesn't halt our revelry, and in the spirit of al past ... More >>

We Hang Out With Some Crazy Marines Drinking Their Asses Off at Coachella

The following comes from Nate Jackson, of the RFT's sister paper, the OC Weekly.In full grips of the dry desert heat, the fine art of day drinking at Coachella becomes a game of survival of the fittest. Sweltering temperatures in the high 90s aren't necessarily ideal conditions to bombard your liver ... More >>

Maplewood: An Updated Guide to Restaurants on Manchester, from Big Bend to the City Limits

St. Louis' neighborhoods are gems in their own right: full of history, great people and, as far as Gut Check is concerned, fantastic food. Each week we'll take you into a specific neighborhood and point you in the direction of the best places to grab some bites. Maplewood crams a lot of life into a ... More >>

Dave Spence Watch Party: At Least the Spread Was Top-Notch

It was never so much a victory party as it was a wake. A good wake, mind you. The kind with lots of drinks and a few hearty laughs. Still, the hint of death permeated the hotel ballroom at Dave Spence's watch party last night.

Gut Check's Guide to Cinco de Mayo

Tomorrow, Saturday, May 5, is Cinco de Drinko Mayo. Though at best a regional holiday in Mexico, we here in the U.S. of A. can't get enough reveling on Sabado 5 de Mayo. Don't get us wrong, we at Gut Check also enjoy indulging in margaritas on the rocks and Mexican food, and thus have compiled a lis ... More >>

New Year's Revolution: If you had the power to make one change that would improve life for St. Louisans in 2012, what would that change be?

First Look: Diablito's Cantina

Kaylen WissengerThe "Cucuy's Coffee" at Diablito's​"I HATE tequila," says Ami Grimes, co-owner of the brand-new Diablito's Cantina (3761 Laclede Avenue; 314-644-4430). "But when Angie [Cornish, head bartender] started creating the infused tequilas, I was all for it." Which is a good thing, as ... More >>

Cafe Ventana's Lucas Prize: Featured Bartender of the Week, Barista Edition

Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Sarah Baraba profiles Café Ventana's Lucas Prize. Below is a Q&A with Prize, followed by the recipe for a Spanish Coffee. Sarah Baraba​OK, so we cheated a smidge. Lucas Prize is ... More >>

Hurricane, Café Ventana

Alicia Lohmar ​On our way out the door the other afternoon, we spied a squirrel taking a nap, sprawled on a low, fat tree branch in the backyard. Arms and legs hanging, belly stuffed with black walnuts, he was suspended directly above a woefully underused hammock. We felt a sharp pang of jealo ... More >>

Helen Fitzgerald's Steve Buncher: 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 Helen Fitzgerald's bar manager Steve Buncher. Below is a Q&A with Buncher, followed by the recipe for his "Triple S" shot. Katie Moulton​ When Girl Walks In ... More >>

Helen Fitzgerald's Steve Buncher: 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 Helen Fitzgerald's bar manager Steve Buncher. Below is a Q&A with Buncher, followed by the recipe for his "Triple S" shot. Katie Moulton​When Girl Walks int ... 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 >>

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 >>

City Museum's New Box-A-Robot Toy: PR Fail, or Best Marketing Ever?

Been on the City Museum website lately? Seen the rotating ad for the new robot thingie? www.citymuseum.org​Such a tease!Now here's a timely question: Having been rolled out roughly two weeks ago, right about the moment that City Museum and its founder Bob Cassilly were settling a lawsuit in which ... More >>

Show Review Photos: MSTRKRFT, Santigold, Trouble Andrew and Amanda Blank at the Pageant, Saturday, June 13

Around 1:10 a.m. or so, MSTRKRFT dropped bits of Daft Punk's "Da Funk" into its DJ set. The crowd - or what was left of it - at the Pageant naturally went apeshit, fueled as much by free Bacardi drinks as it was by the French techno-funk. And sure, at that hour, nothing is better than hearing an awe ... More >>

Classic Cocktails from Rachel Maddow

Turns out MSNBC's Rachel Maddow knows a thing or two about classic cocktails. Here's an extended clip, via Gawker, from her radio show in which she offers recipes for some of the all-time greats. And, yes, she's right: Bacardi white rum is foul.

In This Week's Issue: The Top Ten Dishes of 2008 and Bacardi Raz Silver

This week's issue is now available online.If you still haven't checked out my Top Ten Dishes of 2008 -- what's wrong with you? -- now you can read 'em in one place. The list takes the place of my usual review.Also in this week's issue: Kristie laces up her skates and takes Drink of the Week to the ... More >>

Go! St. Louis Halloween Weekend Edition, October 31, 2008

Paint the Earth

The Sky Music Lounge
930 Kehrs Mill Road, Ballwin
636-527-6909.

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

New Year's Eve Guide

Week of December 28, 2006

New Year's Eve Guide

Week of December 21, 2006

Café DiSaronno

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

Halloween Listings

Week of October 26, 2006

Bloodsuckahz

They get off on vampires and horror movies and brutal deaths. It's all part of the hell-hop scene.

Home Away from Home

Gonna miss Rossino’s when it closes up shop? Failoni’s will get you through.

Ace of Spaides

This St. Louis rapper thinks he's got a winning hand to play

Hot Plates

Boogaloo is so sexy and fun, it practically leaves lipstick on your collar

Plantation Old Reserve, Barbados

Provisions Market, 11615 Olive Boulevard, Creve Coeur; 314-989-0020

Behold the Forty

A paean to the big bad bottle

Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Booze

Chill out at these St. Louis watering holes

Romana Black Sambuca

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

Drinks of the Year

Mirasol, 6144 Delmar Boulevard, 314-721-6909; Arthur Clay's, 7266 Manchester Road, Maplewood, 314-645-0300; Meshuggah, 6269 Delmar Boulevard, University City, 314-726-5662

Proof It!

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

Lemongrass Mojito

Mirasol, 6144 Delmar Boulevard, 314-721-6909

The Leaning Bellini

Romano's Macaroni Grill, 8590 Eager Road, Brentwood, 314-918-8264.

You Must Remember This

Mirasol makes its unforgettable debut

Drink of the Year

The Drinks We Have Known and Loved in 2003

Brown Squirrel

Venice Café, 1901 Pestalozzi Street, 314-772-5994

Jade

Zoë's Pan-Asian Café, 4753 McPherson, 314-361-0013

Letters

Week of October 10, 2001