Memorial Day

The Eight Best Memorial Day Picnic Spots in St. Louis

For Gut Check, Memorial Day will always be associated with American flag T-shirts, pork steaks and family picnics, all of which suggest the need for a great outdoor spot to enjoy the holiday. To help you out, Gut Check has assembled a list of some of the most pastoral of locations throughout the reg ... More >>

Out Every Night: The Best Shows in St. Louis from May 20 to 26

Next weekend looks pretty awesome, though anything does when an extended weekend awaits most of us thanks to Memorial Day. Keep that extra sleep time in mind while slogging through the work week and affording yourself some time to enjoy visits from acts like Andrew W.K., Soundgarden and El Ten Eleve ... More >>

Missouri Seersucker Caucus Is Most Powerful, Bipartisan Force At The Capitol (PHOTOS)

Last month, we reported on Missouri State Senator Ryan McKenna's handwritten proposal to ban seersucker suits for anyone over the age of eight. His disdain for the fashion trend -- inspired by a growing love of seersucker at the Missouri State Capitol -- has apparently backfired. Big time. The so- ... More >>

Big Boi, Danny Brown, Moe and More Show Flyers

Big Boi of Outkast is headlining the first annual Memorial Day BBQ at Atomic Cowboy on May 27th. Danny Brown stops at Old Rock House on April 29th. Moe will headline the Summer Camp Music Festival May 24-26 in Chillicothe along with fellow jam bands, Umphrey's McGee and Trey Anastasio Band. More sho ... More >>

The 20 Best Concerts That Happened in St. Louis in 2012, According to Us

It's been another steller year for live music in St. Louis, whether you were looking for the most legendary living pop artist or the quiet birth of a powerful local band. We've racked our brans and come up with our twenty favorite shows (they're listed below), but what tops your list? Was it The Ur ... More >>

William Sackman's Recipe for Trouble: Liquor, Ribs, Baby Formula

William B. Sackman was apparently planning an epic Memorial Day barbecue. The Oakville man drove to a Dierbergs in Shiloh, Illinois, last Sunday and allegedly gathered prodigious quantities of the staples: Eighteen bottles of liquor, ten cases of infant formula and an unspecified amount of ribs. Acc ... More >>

Putting the "P" in Pool: That Water Could be Tainted

The brutal onset of summer heat and the Memorial Day weekend brought just about everyone to the newly-opened pools and aquatic centers of St. Louis. And according to the latest survey from the Water Quality & Health Council, just about everybody failed to shower before taking a dip, thereby foul ... More >>

Sweat, Hot Food and Blazing Guitars: The Big Muddy Chili Cookoff in Photos

Big Muddy Records has always postured itself as more of a family than a profit-driven business venture, so when Big Muddy daddy Chris Baricevic rounded up label kinfolk and friends for a music-packed cookout over Memorial Day weekend, it seemed more like a family reunion (especially with all the act ... More >>

Rhythm is a Dancer

New Summer, New You

Gypsy Bazaar

RFT Spring Arts Guide 2012: Dance

Happy Labor Day from Gut Check (Enjoy Your Hot Dog!)

Image via​Did you know that between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans eat roughly 818 hot dogs per second? That's what the Hot Dog and Sausage Council tells the New York Times. We're a nation of Joey "Jaws" Chestnuts!This weekend, of course, marks the unofficial end of summer and, with it, the ... More >>

Stupid People Tricks: The raw crawfish conundrum

Wounded Marines to Gather on Field Before Tonight's First Pitch

​Last night's Cards game was a lesson in humility. Perhaps the bullpen can take notes on how to make a comeback during tonight's pregame ceremony, which honors a few local Marines who've battled back from war injuries that led to amputation and paralysis. The ceremony is part of the Marine Wee ... More >>

Billy Goat Chip Company Kicks Off Spicy Potato Chip Line

Theresa Rein, one of Billy Goat Chip Company's owners, wants to be very clear on the following fact: the new, spicy Kicker Chips are not barbecue chips, in spite of their color and texture. "People think the red color means barbecue, but there's no smoke, no tomato [in the Kicker Chips]. Instead, we ... More >>

Portabella in Clayton Closing [Updated]

Image via​Word started circulating this morning that...something...was happening with Portabella (15 North Central Avenue, Clayton; 314-725-6588). George Mahe of St. Louis Magazine tweeted a photo of a sign outside the restaurant announcing that it was closed for remodeling. "Emphasis on remodelin ... More >>

The Blow and Buddy Guy Lead This Week's Show Announcements

​The Memorial Day hangover hasn't quite lifted (it's never going to), but we've got a feew gems for ya this week: remember precious pop duo The Blow? It's a solo act now, since Jona Bechtolt left to pursue YACHT, but Khaela Maricich is keeping the cute alive; she'll be at the Old Rock House in ... More >>

Your Weekly St. Louis Bestseller List

The perfect Memorial Day gift for your favorite vet!​Here's your weekly St. Louis bestseller list for the week ending May 22, as compiled by the St. Louis Independent Booksellers Alliance and based on sales at Left Bank Books, Main Street Books, Pudd'nhead Books, Subterranean Books and Sue's N ... More >>

Elephant Aids Joplin Tornado Cleanup (Video)

The Piccadilly Circus was scheduled to perform in Joplin over the Memorial Day weekend. But that was before the May 22nd tornado destroyed the town. Still, the circus arrived in Joplin over the weekend, not to perform -- but to help with the cleanup. In this clip below, an elephant from the circus p ... More >>

Have a Summer Music Festival Pro Tip/Great Story? We Want to Hear It

wikimedia commons​The forecast is calling for 90 degrees this weekend, which is appropriate for Memorial Day. Summer is here, folks, and that is a heady thing for music fans: BBQs with boomboxes, block parties, the touring high season and, naturally, festivals. We are working on a guide for ... More >>

Eat at Houlihan's, Bristol Seafood Grill -- Help Joplin

Courtesy of http://www.bristolseafoodgrill.comHoulihan's and Bristol Seafood Grill will donate to the Joplin relief Memorial Day weekend.​As death toll from the tornado that struck Joplin on May 22 reached 132 people Friday, one restaurant chain announced plans to help. All five St. Louis Hou ... More >>

Ten Best Food Events this Weekend: May 27-30

Photo by Steve Mitchell/Festival Partners LLC​Summer's so close, we can taste it. Find out exactly what flavors lead into the season at events such as Rib America Festival and the Third Annual Rib-Off at Iron Barley during the extended holiday weekend. Friday (May 27): Rib America Festival @ ... More >>

This Week's Tip of the Tongue Newsletter

​Gut Check not providing enough dining tidbits for you? Consider subscribing to Tip of the Tongue, the Riverfront Times' weekly e-mail dining newsletter. In this week's newsletter, we help you plan out your Memorial Day weekend with Rib America Fest, the Brew and Q Pork Steak Championships ... More >>

Brother, Can You Spare A Rib?

Patriotic Foods Invade Dierbergs

It's mid-May, but to shop in Dierbergs last weekend, it looked more like late June, judging from the end caps and displays filled with red, white, and blue foods that normally aren't red, white, and/or blue. We have no idea why, but have some theories: 1. It's almost Memorial Day, which someone rem ... More >>

The Civil War by Boat

Missouri's E. coli problems are not confined to the Lake of the Ozarks

Dog people bear their teeth while others call for Jay Nixon's ouster

This Week in Gut Check, Regurgitated

Kerry Soraci ​This week, Gut Check decided to ease back into the swing of things after a sun- and fun-filled Memorial Day. And what better way to kick things off than watching a little TV? I Scream Cakes' Kerry Soraci made an appearance on the new Cooking Channel's "Foodogra ... More >>

Holiday Travel Horror Stories -- Or, How A Complete Stranger Vomited On Me on an Airplane Last Night

Wikimedia Commons​According to AAA, travel during this Memorial Day weekend is slated to be up five percent over last year. Personally, I decided to get out of town this weekend - in fact, I'm already in Cleveland visiting my parents and my boyfriend, while tying up loose ends for my RFT work ... More >>

Tommy Sowers Celebrates Memorial Day Power-Walking Through "100 Mile Yard Sale"

Sowers: Road Marchin'​Tommy Sowers would argue with our description of him "power-walking." The former Green Beret -- and Democratic candidate for Missouri's 8th Congressional District -- calls his hundred mile journey down Highway 25 this weekend a "road march." As in the kind of military hikes i ... More >>

Perfect Weather Forest Park No Admission Fee = Go See Hamlet

Image viaGet you some culture this Memorial Day Weekend, you heathens!​Gorgeous weather this weekend, kids! Combine that with world-class park grounds, timeless verse, and NO admission fee and you have a solution for all those who grumble that they're broke and that St. Louis has no culture: rende ... More >>

Black Diamond Heavies, Bob Reuter, Rum Drum Ramblers Kicking Off Memorial Day Right With a BYOB Show

Leave it to the south-side to help the Lou kick off its Memorial Day weekend right. On Friday night, May 28, Black Diamond Heavies is doing a show at Tom Huck's Evil Prints Studio (814 Vandeventer). Just $7 nets you a set from BDH, performances by Rum Drum Ramblers and Bob Reuter's Alley Ghost and ( ... More >>

Rib America Festival

5 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday and Sunday and 12:15 p.m. Monday, May 28-31. Soldiers Memorial, 1315 Chestnut Street.

Caravan for Deals

The Runway March

Ahoy, Beach Heads

Mid-Rivers: Latest Shopping Center to Crack Down on Teen Mall Rats

​They were running and jumping and throwing food and being loud and, well, now they're being punished. Mid-Rivers Mall in St. Charles yesterday announced that it will begin turning away teenagers after 6 p.m. on weekend nights unless they're accompanied by an adult. The curfew goes into effect Mem ... More >>

Spaced Out

Talkin' Chalk -- And Parties

Talkin' Chalk -- And Parties

I See Bargains In Your Future

We (Still) Got the Beat

Lakeside Lemonade

The Boathouse
6101 Government Drive (in Forest Park)
314-367-2224.

Make It a Weekend Adventure

Banking the Coals

Getting fired up for the summer's last look at local barbecue joints

'Cue, Part II

Following the smoke signals to more of this town's best barbecue

Smoke Signals

Touring area 'cue joints proves to be a saucy experience

'Cue Tips