Consumer Non-Cyclicals

St. Louis Fast-Food Workers Protest for Better Pay, Right to Organize

Rasheen Aldridge had just finished working the lunch rush at the Jimmy John's in Soulard when he says his manager handed him a hand-written sign and asked that he hold it while he snapped a photo. The sign's message? "I made three wrong sandwiches."

It's Not Delivery, It's Plastic Fragments: DiGiorno, California Pizza Kitchen Pizzas Recalled

Gut Check was just talking to ourselves the other day: "Self," we said, "it's been a while since we reported on any foods being recalled because of plastic contamination." So we ambled on over (virtually speaking) to the FDA's recall, withdrawal and safety alert website and, lo and behold!, there's ... More >>

Deschutes Brewery Brings Weeklong Craft Beer Campaign to St. Louis Beginning Today

Our beer mugs runneth over here in St. Louis. Bend, Oregon-based Deschutes Brewery, the nation's fifth-largest craft brewery, is set to commence Base Camp for Fanatics, its week-long campaign to introduce new and specialty beers through tasting events, food pairings and a chance to engage with Woody ... More >>

Farmhaus Hosting Shane Wine Cellars Dinner on May 8

Seats remain for the first wine dinner at Kevin Willmann's acclaimed Farmhaus (3257 Ivanhoe Avenue; 314-647-3800) next Wednesday, May 8. The dinner will pair four courses with wines from Shane Wine Cellars. Shane owner and winemaker Shane Finley will attend the event. In an e-mail to Gut Check, Far ... More >>

Today is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's!

With temperatures predicted to crest 80 degrees today in St. Louis, Gut Check could use some ice cream -- but then, couldn't we always? Today is Ben & Jerry's annual Free Cone Day, with area locations slinging free scoops of ice cream from Noon to 8 p.m. Find out where to get your free sugar fix af ... More >>

The Six Best Craft Beer Makers in St. Louis

Gut Check has been looking back on the Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis 2012, but we're also keeping an eye on the Best of St. Louis 2013 by nominating finalists for our awards this fall. With the craft beer scene exploding across the Midwest and the recent opening of the beer emporium Flying Sauc ... More >>

Hardee's Fish Slutburger to Arrive Just in Time for Lent

Long known for pressing thick, squishy burgers into the hands of famous females who are neither thick nor squishy, St. Louis-based Hardee's (a.k.a. Carl's Jr.) is mixing it up a little bit for this year's Super Bowl commercial. Fret not: It's still porn-y.

Missouri Chocolate Makers Patric and Askinosie Clean Up at Good Food Awards

The Good Food Awards celebrate food that's good in all senses of the word: tasty and ethical and responsible. That is to say, food that's all natural, made by actual people who respect animals and the environment and the seasons and the culture of the people who produce it. It's food that costs a li ... More >>

21 Holiday Food and Restaurant Specials, Deals and Freebies

For Gut Check there's no better way to say "Season's Eatings" than with restaurant specials and deals. Much is made about overeating and weight gain during the holiday season, but really you'd be a fool not to eat free food when it's shoveled at you in the form of restaurant gift cards, BOGO special ... More >>

10 Veterans Day Food Freebies and Specials Happening Today

Yep, yesterday was Veterans Day. Many restaurants offered food freebies and specials to celebrate this national holiday, and a few are today, too. Members of the military can score a meal special at these ten restaurants by brandishing any of the following forms of ID: Active, former or retired mil ... More >>

Wine and Dine and Wind Around

Anheuser-Busch InBev Gets Free Advertising -- Twice -- from the Movie Flight

Oh, those devilishly clever execs at Anheuser-Busch InBev. First, they discover that Robert Zemeckis' brand-new film Flight contains scenes where Denzel Washington's character -- an alcoholic airline captain -- swills bottles of Budweiser. Let's put that another way: They figure out that millions of ... More >>

Poll: Should Anheuser-Busch InBev Keep Funding Lance Armstrong's Cancer "Charity"?

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is now considered so toxic in the wake of recent doping accusations that big sponsors such as Nike and Trek are running for the hills. So too is Anheuser-Busch InBev. The beer giant used to pay Armstrong to promote Mic Ultra, but n ... More >>

Let them Drink Beer

St. Louis-Based American Patriot Beer Makes Its Local Debut

Lifelong St. Louisan John Beal's favorite beer growing up was Budweiser. "I always wanted the Budweiser car to win," he says. When its parent company Anheuser-Busch was purchased by Belgian brewing behemoths InBev in 2008, the career roofer was "bothered" by the takeover, and decided to take matters ... More >>

University of Corporate Greed: America's for-profit colleges leave taxpayers and students high and dry

Lawsuit Settled Alleging Mouse in Mountain Dew

As bizarre lawsuits go, it was the case that kept on giving. In 2009, Ronald Ball of Granite City sued PepsiCo, claiming he'd gotten sick from drinking a can of Mountain Dew.It wasn't the soft drink, though, that caused him to vomit up the neon green beverage. It was the mouse he says he found insid ... More >>

This Week in Anheuser-Busch InBev World Domination

Oh, yawn, just another week in Anheuser-Busch InBev's Borg-like growth across the world. First came news that A-B has agreed with the St. Louis Cardinals and developer Cordish Companies to be a tenant for the first phase of the long-delayed Ballpark Village project. A-B will open a restaurant feat ... More >>

Bagged Salad Recall Expands Nationwide

OK, so maybe you shrugged your shoulders at yesterday's news about the FDA's warning on Korean shellfish. Fair enough. Not exactly an everyday purchase around these parts. Bagged salad, on the other hand... The FDA has announced that River Ranch Fresh Foods of Salinas, California, has expanded its ... More >>

Carl's Jr., the Hardee's of the West Coast, Test Markets Ice Cream "Brrrger"

Questionable dessert interpretations of the burger aren't new. Japanese company Happy Kitchen sells a candy hamburger kit to meet the high demand of making fast-food-inspired confections at home, while stateside sweets seller Efrutti produces weirdly adorable novelty gummy candy mini-hamburgers, hot ... More >>

Tour de Pours

The Seven Best Brewpubs in St. Louis

Gut Check has been looking back on the Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis 2011, but we're also keeping an eye on the Best of St. Louis 2012 by nominating finalists for our awards this fall. To see hundreds more winners and finalists, suggest your own contenders and download the Riverfront Times Best ... More >>

It's Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's!

Today marks Ben & Jerry's annual Free Cone Day, with area locations slinging free scoops of ice cream from Noon to 8 p.m. Though many of its St. Louis stores have shuttered in the last few years, three shops still stand, and two are participating in Free Cone Day: Ben & Jerry's U. City (6380 Delmar ... More >>

The Big (Tobacco-Related) Threat to Missouri's Budget You've Probably Never Heard Of

​Is anybody in America more hospitable to small tobacco companies than the Show-Me State? Not only do we levy the lowest cigarette tax in the entire nation (a paltry 17 cents per pack).  Our legislature is the only one that forces Big Tobacco to cough up payments for smoking-related health co ... More >>

Mayor Alvin Parks Rethinks ESL's Late-Night Liquor Sales in Wake of Shootings

​East St. Louis native and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin last month urged Mayor Alvin Parks to end the city's late-night liquor sales in the hopes that it would cut down on violent crime. As he had done in the past, Parks rejected the notion. But after two separate shootings long after midnight thi ... More >>

Write a Kate Upton and Hardee's Haiku, Win a Kate Upton Poster and Hardee's Gift Certificate!

We told you last month how model Kate Upton is the latest female celebrity to get all hot 'n' heavy with a Hardee's burger. Now the fine folks at CKE Restaurants, Inc., the parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr., have sent us a poster of Kate posing with the chain's new Southwest Patty Melt Thick ... More >>

Anheuser-Busch Test Markets Margarita-Flavored Beer

​You'd think that the brain trust at Anheuser-Busch InBev would have considered the margarita earlier. After all, the blend of tequila, lime juice and orange-flavored liqueur is one of the most popular mixed drinks in America. But, no. When the brewery first looked south of the border for inspirat ... More >>

Was a Mouse Really Found in a Mountain Dew Can? Local Lawsuit Goes Viral

​Remember Ronald Ball, the Illinois man who's been suing PepsiCo on a claim that he opened a can of Mountain Dew and found a dead mouse inside? The Madison Record broke the story a year and a half ago, followed by the Daily RFT (here and here). But yesterday, websites from the Daily Mail in Great ... More >>

Five Suggestions to Help a Struggling Olive Garden

sogoodblog.comShould this be the new face of Olive Garden?​This week, the Wall Street Journal reported some downer news regarding Olive Garden's business woes. Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden, has expressed a dismal prediction of Olive Garden's sales continuing to plummet for the u ... More >>

CDC Identifies Source of E. Coli Outbreak

​Romaine lettuce sold at an area grocery chain and sourced from a specific farm was the source of the E. coli outbreak that sickened dozens in Missouri and several other states earlier this fall, according to a report published yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The report ... More >>

Wolfbräu House of Beer to Open in St. Peters

Image via​With the rapid growth of craft beer in St. Louis, it was only a matter of time before someone opened a retail store like Wolfbräu House of Beer (286 Mid Rivers Center, St. Peters; 636-242-1040). Founder Ryan Wolf describes Wolfbräu, scheduled to open the second week of December, as a " ... More >>

William K Busch Brewing Company Launches Kräftig Lager and Kräftig Light

​Last week, the World Series trophy came back to St. Louis. This week sees the return of another tradition in the Gateway City: the Busch family brewing lager beer.William K. Busch, son of August A. "Gussie" Busch Jr. and great-grandson of Adolphus Busch, this summer announced the founding of the ... More >>

Report: Shooting in Wellston Leaves One Dead, Six Injured

Wellston Food Market in the 6200 block of Page.​KTVI reports that one person is dead and six other people injured this afternoon in a mass shooting, at least part of which occurred at the Wellston Food Market on Page Avenue. Developing...

1,050-Calorie "Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo"? Michelle Obama Says Yes, We Can!

​Gut Check ain't exactly nostalgic for the good ol' days of the George W. Bush administration. Still, a phrase that Dubya once used has stuck with us over the years: "the soft bigotry of low expectations." He was talking about education, but you can apply it to all sorts of things.Like, say, the h ... More >>

Budweiser Hopes "Bow Tie" Can Boosts Sales

New can: Does it Bud for you? ​We'd always heard that the beer industry was pretty much recession-proof. In good economic times, people drank because they were happy. In bad economic times, people drank perhaps even more because they were depressed. Well, so much for that, at least according to An ... More >>

Marketing Trends Miller Lite Should Jump on to Sell More Brew

Image via​Ad Age reported that Miller Lite's sales have steadily decreased, and the company cites the same factors we all blame for our everyday problems and bad moods: the stupid economy and the shitty weather. But not all beer makers are faring poorly, and bad marketing strategies might be ... More >>

Formerly AB-Owned Purus Vodka Expands Distribution

Image viaThis sexy bottle is "designed to emulate the shape of a water droplet off of the Italian Alps!" Recognize!​In 2008, InBev bought Anheuser-Busch, creating ABInBev, now the world's largest brewer. Of course, you know that! The story dominated the news for a large chunk of that summer. ... More >>

Anheuser-Busch Wants to Trademark Your Area Code

Image viaAnheuser-Busch may not want to use this trademark -- but they definitely want to own it.​If brewing giant Anheuser-Busch gets its way, we won't just be living in the 314.We'll be living in the 314 (TM).The St. Louis-based brewery, now owned by Belgian conglomerate InBev, has applied for a ... More >>

August Busch IV Saga Tackled by BusinessWeek

August Busch IV gets the BusinessWeek treatment.​Cocaine! Oxycodone! A former Hooters waitress, dead in a darkened bedroom!A very bad beer baron!A BusinessWeek feature story that hit the Internets today, "Fall of the House of Busch," details the 2010 death of the girlfriend of August Busch IV, Adr ... More >>

What's Brewing? St. Louis.

Beyond Schlafly: Three microbreweries for the St. Louis summer

Hospitals Lose in Big Tobacco Money Grab in St. Louis Court

Just because you light up doesn't mean Big Tobacco has to share the cost of your subsequent hospital care, a St. Louis jury decided today.​After thirteen years of litigation, three months of trial and just over six days of jury deliberations, a group of 37 area hospitals have struck out in their a ... More >>

Get Ready, Arrogant Bastards! Stone Week Starts Tomorrow.

Stone Brewing Co.​ Few craft brewers have arrived in St. Louis with the anticipation and fanfare of Escondido, California's Stone Brewing. But they're here this week, bringing all the Arrogant Bastard Ale and Stone Ruination IPA we've been longing for. The beer hits store shelves and bar tap ... More >>

Six-Pack City: Six Row Brewing Company adds food to the equation

Six Row Brewing Company: Review Slideshow

Jennifer SilverbergA pint of the "Whale" beer at Six Row Brewing Company​One of the many new craft brewers gracing the St. Louis scene over the past couple of years. My review of Six Row Brewing Company (3690 Forest Park Avenue; 314-531-5600) is now available online, and be sure to check out Jenni ... More >>

Review Preview: Six Row Brewing Company

Jennifer SilverbergBeer flights at Six Row Brewing Company​I took a break from writing reviews last week. What did I do instead? I drank beer. Specifically, I drank beer at Six Row Brewing Company (3690 Forest Park Avenue; 314-531-5600). I also tried some of the fare from the brewpub's relatively ... More >>

The Olive Garden's Tuscan Cooking "School" Is Real -- And So Is This Review

​Credit Eater with digging up this gem, a Reddit Q & A with an ex-manager at the Olive Garden. In it, the ex-manager reveals that there truly is an Olive Garden Culinary Institute of Tuscany, the existence of which has been the target of  much disbelief and derision.If you have a very gen ... More >>

Goose Island Sells Out to Anheuser-Busch

​ Sorry Chicago, but your craft beer star now belongs to St. Louis. Well, technically, it belongs to Belgium. It was announced this morning that Anheuser-Busch is buying Goose Island, the 23-year-old Chicago miccrobrew stalwart. (A-B has distributed Goose Island since 2006.) After the jump: ... More >>

Fermenting Ferguson: Cork Wine Bar and Hill Brewing Company are the new kids on Ferguson's block

Brew, Baby, Brew: The ranks of St. Louis' craft brewers are swelling as we swill