Groupon Inc.

Report: La Dolce Via Closing at End of Year [Updated]

Updated with comments from owner Marcia Sindel after the jump. Per St. Louis Magazine, the restaurant and bakery La Dolce Via (4470 Arco Avenue; 314-534-1699) has announced via its email newsletter that it will close after a final service on January 1, 2013.

Chez Leon Closes

Rumors started swirling online yesterday, and now Gut Check can cofirm that Chez Leon (7927 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-361-1589) has closed. "Times aren't the best," owner Leon Birnbaum tells Gut Check.

St. Louis Daily Deals Collapses; Coupon Company Leaves Businesses in Lurch

​St. Louis Daily Deals has gone out of business. The company, owned by husband and wife Lorilee and Bill Cummings of Warson Woods, shut down sometime this month. Now area businesses that contracted with the online coupon service say St. Louis Daily Deals has left them on the hook. According t ... More >>

British Baker Tries Groupon, Sells Cupcakes, Loses Shirt

M​eet Rachel Brown. She owns a bakery called Need a Cake in Great Britain. In the average month, reports the Daily Mail, she sells about 100 cupcakes. Recently she offered a deal on her cupcakes through Groupon.Some 8,500 customers bought the deal. Need a Cake was on the hook for 102,000 cupcakes. ... More >>

Sleep-deprived readers discuss Paul Shaw, Groupon

Groupon Fail: St. Louis business owners are souring on the once-mighty coupon startup

Ask a Mexican: Why do Mexicans want to redistrict political boundaries in their favor?

"Dead" Dining Trends: How Does St. Louis Rate?

Trendy pie? No, thanks. We're still eating our trendy cupcakes.​Earlier this week, the New York branch of Eater published an article titled "10 NYC Food & Dining Trends That Are Officially Dead." Since St. Louis tends to be at least a few years behind the capital of the world when it comes to ... More >>

Shrewsbury Man Owns Tony's After Groupon Mix-Up

Mitchell Backman, the new Tony's owner, outside his Shrewsbury home​Mitchell Backman thought the Groupon deal in his email inbox must be too good to be true: a $50,000 gift certificate to the crown jewel of St. Louis restaurants, Tony's (410 Market Street; 314-231-4740), for only $25.It wasn't.Now ... More >>

Ichigo Modern Japanese Restaurant Closed

​Ichigo Modern Japanese Restaurant (7443 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-726-0033) has closed, it appears. The phone number is no longer in service, and those who purchased a recent Groupon offer from the restaurant have received the following message via email:We are writing to inform you tha ... More >>

Tip on the Real Total, Not the Discounted Total, Ya Jerk!

Photo by Nicholas PhillipsMadame Mystery sez "Groupon schmoupon, show me the $$$"​In this series, food and drink professionals dish to Gut Check about their pet peeves -- anonymously, but honestly.Gut Check Code Name: Madame MysteryPosition: Manager, casual fine dining restaurant in South St. Lou ... More >>

Chipotle Offers Facebook Users Buy One, Get One Free Deal

...or without eating a few burritos.​Have you seen The Social Network? You should. It's a great movie. One of my favorite parts is a brief moment when Mark Zuckerberg (as played by Jesse Eisenberg) is brainstorming what will become Facebook. On a dry-erase board he's made three columns to compare ... More >>

Groupon Offers College Scholarships for "Grouspawn"

Blame Groupon.​Some people love Groupon for the deals it offers at local restaurants and other businesses. Others love Groupon for the crazed copy that advertises those deals. I'm pretty confident that Groupon's latest endeavor falls into the latter category.Via Eater comes word that Groupon has l ... More >>

Groupon Wants You to Go See Todd Rundgren and the Fixx

​So, Todd Rundgren is playing the Roberts Orpheum Theater next Friday, September 10, and doing the albums Healing and Todd in their entirety. The other day, The Fixx was added to the show, as if to up the bizarro-synth tone of the night. This morning when I checked my email, today's side deal ... More >>

St. Louis Food Blog Digest, 4.2-4.8

​Gut Check dishes on our favorite St. Louis food blogs. Beer Wine and Whiskey: Dave is in search of "natural" wine in metro St. Louis. One Hot Stove: Nupur made saffron cardamom lemonade. St. Louis Eats and Drinks: The Pollacks brunched at Yia Yia's Euro Cafe.