Consumer Products and Services

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Beer Book War! Updated Anheuser-Busch Biography Available as E-Edition

Last week Riverfront Times told you about Bitter Brew, the new biography of the Busch family that comes out this month from publisher HaperCollins. But Bitter Brew isn't the first book to examine St. Louis' first family of beer, nor is it the only book about the brewer to go on sale this fall. Under ... More >>

8-Bit Pale Ale and Wreck-It Ralph

Finally, Walt Disney Animation Studios is taking a page from Pixar's illustrious animation board. On Friday, November 2, it released Wreck-It Ralph in theaters nationwide, spurring Gut Check to make a trip to Ronnies 20 Cine (5320 South Lindbergh Boulevard; 314-843-4336) in south county to catch the ... More >>

Let them Drink Beer

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 >>

Heat Wave has Missouri Winemakers Sweating

St. Louis Public Radio reported this week that heat-ocalypse 2012 is "good news for Missouri winemakers." Not so, says Jon Held, vice president of Stone Hill Winery (1110 Stone Hill Highway, Hermann; 800-909-9463). Those precious booze-making grapes aren't exempt from the sweltering heat that has sh ... More >>

Ben & Jerry's "Chocolate Nougat Crunch" Ice Cream Voluntarily Recalled

The important thing to do as you hear the news in this blog post is to remain calm. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and picture puppies frolicking in a field. Take another deep breath. Do you practice yoga? Go over into the corner and assume whatever position puts you in touch with your inne ... More >>

City Alderman Wants to End Booze Sales at Gas Stations

"One for you. One for me!" That was Homer Simpson's fantasy of an alcohol-fueled car, and according to 24th Ward Alderman Scott Ogilvie, the city's current laws allowing liquor sales at gas stations is providing a similar temptation. "Right now, you can walk into a gas station, you can buy prepack ... 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 >>

The Nasty Details of the Tuna Scrape Recall

Since last month Gut Check has been following Moon Marine's voluntary recall of frozen Nakaochi Scrape, which is tuna backmeat that has been scraped from the bone. In the United States, consumers are most likely to encounter this product as the tuna inside spicy tuna rolls. In response to last week ... More >>

Tour de Pours

American Craft Brewing Closed?

Another mystery for your Tuesday afternoon -- though the solution to this one seems far more obvious. Our friends at STL Hops report that American Craft Brewing & Distilling Co. (1821 Cherokee Street; 314-932-1222), the brewpub and microdistillery formerly known as The Stable before a change in own ... 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 >>

How to Make a Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Without a Strawberry

Rick Jordan has one word of advice for Valentine's Day shoppers: "Stop asking for chocolate covered strawberries when they're out of season!" Jordan proclaims wearily from his west county chocolate store, RJ Chocolatier (14882 Clayton Road, Chesterfield; 636-230-9300). Jordan, in chocolate-making c ... More >>

Cold? Snuggle Up to a Local Brew

If you haven't had the chance to become acquainted with the craft-brewing scene in St. Louis yet, don't fret. Plenty of opportunities exist on the horizon to get a taste of what's brewing in your own back yard. On Thursday, January 12, at 6:30 p.m., PW Pizza (2017 Chouteau Avenue; 314-241-7799) pre ... 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 >>

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 >>

The Ideal Gift for the Couch Potato Who Has Everything

What more can we say, besides to add that it is Cyber Monday so it would be practically un-American not to take a few minutes out of your workday and purchase a case of genuine Dunder Mifflin copy paper for your Office-loving loved one? It also happens to be the cheapest brand of paper Quill is offe ... More >>

Missouri Supreme Court to Strip Club Owners: "Tough Titties!"

Justices uphold Missouri's nudity ban for strip clubs.​The Missouri Supreme Court yesterday handed strip club owners yet another loss in their legal fight to overturn a sweeping law regulating "adult-oriented businesses." The law passed in 2010 prohibits exotic dancers from displaying their genita ... More >>

Report: AB-InBev Outraged Over World Series Bet Excluding Budweiser

Cardinals and Budweiser: Nothing to make light of.​St. Louis gossipmeister Jerry Berger writes this week that Anheuser-Busch InBev "is pissed" with a friendly wager that Mayor Francis Slay made with Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck over the World Series. The bet would have Slay winning some Texas stea ... More >>

Bobby Flay's Spicy Mango Six Other Diet Pepsis No One Wants

Thanks, Bobby Flay. The Spicy Mango Diet Pepsi and Pineapple Chipotle Diet Pepsi you commissioned for your "Tacos & Tequila" event last weekend most certainly increased the Patron consumption. At least PepsiCo had the good sense to not put these flavors on the mass market. They already have enough ... More >>

Just How Does a Dead Body Go Unnoticed for 12 Days in a Casino Parking Garage?

In its defense, Ameristar says its parking garages are big ones. Well, yeah, but...​A casino patron leaving the Ameristar St. Charles made a grisly discovery early today in the casino's parking garage.Hattie Bradley, 62, lay dead inside a white Ford Mustang. Authorities say surveillance footage sh ... 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 >>

Borders: The Fallout

image via​Borders has finally decided to put itself out of its misery and allow itself to be liquidated. By the end of September, all the remaining 299 Borders stores (including the six in the St. Louis area) will be gone, leaving 11,700 booksellers, baristas, store managers and corporate empl ... More >>

James Brown Is a Sex Noodle Machine

From the Department of Awesome Stuff People Send Me Apropos of Nothing, here are two ads for a Japanese noodle company featuring James Brown:

Biz Journal's "30 Under 30" Features St. Louis Food Folk [UPDATED]

The St. Louis Business Journal released its annual "30 Under 30" list of local business up-and-comers. Five honorees are from the food-business sector, ranging from small-business entrepreneurs to rising bigwigs at huge local corporations. Anthony Bommarito Jr. is poised to operate A. Bommarito Wi ... More >>

What's Brewing? St. Louis.

Eat at Hardee's -- Help Joplin

Hardee'sEat this at Hardee's to help the victims of the Joplin tornado. ​ If you're searching for ways to donate to disaster relief efforts following the deadly tornado that ripped through Joplin on May 22, Hardee's has a couple of options -- and one involves biscuits. On Thursday, June 2, s ... More >>

$1.5 Million to Settle Wrongful-Death Suit? Busch IV Has Paid Bigger Bar Tabs

...and death, too!​The Post-Dispatch reports this morning that August Busch IV will pay $1.5 million to settle a wrongful-death suit brought on behalf of the son of his deceased girlfriend, Adrienne Martin. Martin died of a drug overdose at Busch IV's suburban St. Louis home in December. Prosecuto ... More >>

Gluten-Free Summit Planned, and Not a Moment Too Soon

freakingfitness.com​One person in 133 is gluten intolerant, and they're joining forces to hold the first Gluten Free Food Labeling Summit. The group 1in133.org will host the May 4 event in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to get legislators and food producers to follow the 2007 Food Allergen La ... 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 >>

Yeah, Pomplamoose sold out to Hyundai, but this indie duo just might revolutionize the music business

YouTube Removes Pro-Palestinian/Anti-Motorola Video

Two weeks ago, we told you about the local activists who busted out an anti-Motorola song-and-dance routine at the Best Buy and AT&T stores in suburban Brentwood -- and we posted a video of the performance. That video quickly drew more than 35,000 hits.Last week, however, YouTube unceremoniousl ... More >>

AG Chris Koster: 'Tis the Season for Online Scamming

Don't let this guy steal your Christmas.​Hacktivists! Gawker Attacks! Operation Payback! It's a scary cyberworld out there, and you, too, could be a victim of Internet crime. Especially during this season of light, joy and online credit card information. Luckily, we Missourians have an attorney ... More >>

Unwrap This

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Circulation Plummets

The latest circulation numbers aren't miraculous at all.​Across the country, the rate of decline at America's largest newspapers has begun to slow. For the last six months, they averaged a drop of 4.99 percent Monday through Friday, and 4.46 percent on Sunday, according to a report just out today ... More >>

Attorney General Chris Koster: Fighting Hard for That Extra 48 Cents

ago.mo.govThis just in from Chris Koster. The state's attorney general is pleased to announce that his office received payments of $155,768,810.48 in tobacco-settlement money in April. What most impresses me is not the $155 million. It's that we have an attorney general who's willing to fight for th ... More >>

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The five biggest attention-getters at E3.

$12 Wine Flight

The Crossing, 7823 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton, 314-721-7375