Robin Wheeler

Spring is slowly easing into St. Louis summer, and 7-Eleven wants to be on your mind during those 102 degree days. Alas, Free Slurpee Day is back! It's that magical time of year when every customer to set foot in a 7-Eleven convenience store is rewarded with a free cup of sugary slush. The deal starts at 11 a.m. today and, naturally, continues until 7 p.m.

To claim your free Slurpee:

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Win these!

Don't say Gut Check never gave you anything -- at least, the winner of these baseball tickets can't say that, anyway. We have a set of tickets to tomorrow's (May 15) Cardinals day game at 12:45 p.m. against the Cubs. The seats are in section 137, row 21, seats fourteen and fifteen in the first base field box. Entry rules are after the jump.

Update: Congrats to commenter Will Fru, who answered: "Chili cheese dog from Steve's on the Hill!"

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Now through May 15 Whole Foods Market (1601 South Brentwood Boulevard, Brentwood; 314-968-7744) is offering a sale on Spanish wines, featuring twelve wines from eleven different regions of Spain.

To further hype promote the sale, the Whole Foods location in Brentwood will be hosting a Taste and Tweet Spanish wine tasting event this Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m., when three Spanish wines will be available for tastings: Castell de Raimat Albariño from Costers del Segre in Catalonia, Faustino Rioja from Rioja in northern Spain and Más de Leda Tempranillo from Castilla and León in northwest Spain. This week, Gut Check met with Whole Foods specialty team leader Beth Hadican to get the lowdown on the Spanish wines and find out why this special is worth buying into.

Hadican informed us that all twelve wines are new to Whole Foods and exclusive to the Whole Foods chain. While the Taste and Tweet event is only being held at the Brentwood location, all Whole Foods locations nationwide (including the other St. Louis Whole Foods location at Town & Country Crossing) offer the Spanish wine promotion through May 15.

During our small preview we tasted five of the twelve wines that are currently available. Each wine had a pleasant flavor and lingering appeal, but we won't bore you with wino jargon. Instead, we'll leave it to you to taste for yourself. Suffice to say we were suitably impressed by our sampling and prepared to fund further research out of pocket. If you're interested in attending the Taste and Tweet event contact the store to reserve your spot. If you can't make it out to the event, it's still worth a stop by Whole Foods to pick up a bottle or two of Spanish vino -- seriously, some of these bottles are on sale for as low as $7.99.

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Today is tax day. Normally it's April 15, but because it fell on a Sunday this year, Americans have an additional two days to get their shit together. If you're responsible and not scrambling a la the people of Springfield, then you have one more reason to be happy today: As usual, in honor of tax day, restaurants across the country and throughout the St. Louis area are offering food specials, discounts and freebies in honor of a job well taxed done. To take the guesswork out of stuffing free foodstuffs down your gullet, Gut Check has compiled a list of local restaurants offering conciliatory swag. Take that Internal Revenue Service...you might get our money, but you can never take away our free curly fries.

Arby's: Though its slogan was once "I'm thinking Arby's," we usually forget the burger roast beef sandwich chain exists -- which is especially impressive considering its more than 40 locations in the St. Louis area. Not so on tax day, though, when the restaurant slings free curly fries from open till close.

Boston Market: Unlike Arby's, it's a bit harder to find a Boston Market location in St. Louis, with only two left in the metro area (Clayton and Fairview Heights, Illinois) For tax day the Market is offering one free individual meal with the purchase of an individual meal and a foundation drink with this coupon.

Cinnabon: Home of counterintuitive spelling and mall cinnamon buns, Cinnabon is offering two free Cinnabon bites on April 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. Head to one of the chain's three St. Louis locations to indulge in the deal (two locations are inside malls, West County Center (I-270 & Manchester Road; 314-288-2020) and Mid Rivers Mall (1236 Mid Rivers Mall Drive, St. Peters; 636-970-2130), and the third is inside Lambert St. Louis International Airport (10701 Lambert International Boulevard; 314-426-8000).

Chili's: Fresh Mex! Oh wait, that's Chevy's. Well fuck Chevy's because its "Tax Relief Weekend" (which includes tax-free food and discounted margaritas) isn't happening in Missouri. What's the next best thing, then, if not Chili's. Head to the home of baby back ribs for a free appetizer or dessert with an entree April 16 to April 18.

Hooters: How many Hooters boneless wings can you eat in one day? Learn the answer today at any of its metro area locations, where twenty boneless wings cost only $9.99 -- for dine-in competitive eaters only, please.

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Yesterday Gut Check told you that IHOP restaurants will be giving away free Scary Face Pancakes for dinner tonight. Since the pancake is on the menu throughout October, last night Gut Check Jr. gave it a try.

Scary doesn't even begin to describe it.

Robin Wheeler

IHOP's Scary Face Pancake.

Happy Carboween, Kiddies! That's a plate-sized buttermilk pancake, decorated with whipped cream, mini Oreo eyes, candy corn teeth, and a Maraschino cherry nose.

"Mmm! Hot cherry!" Junior declared, plucking the "fruit" from the face before the server had fully set her plate on the table. Although "hot cherry" is a term a parent never, ever wants to hear her daughter utter, at least she's eating her "fruit" first. And that's important. The IHOP kids menu says so:

Robin Wheeler

Helpful nutrition information on the IHOP kids menu.

In reality, the Scary Face Pancake is 72% refined flour, 15% CANDY!!!!!!!, 12% aerosol petro-dairy, and 1% "fruit".

Junior believed it to be THE MOST AWESOMEST DINNER EVER!!!!!

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In recent years, coupons have made a huge comeback for the dining industry, invading every corner of the Internet and encouraging budget-conscious diners to eat out more often. The advent of these lunch and dinner deals has only become a commodity recently, but Saint Louis Originals, a collaborative effort of independently owned and operated restaurants, has been offering discounted gift certificates and rewards since 2002 on a local and original level.

"Saint Louis Originals started out as a part of a national organization," says current Saint Louis Originals president and restaurateur Paul Hamilton. "We banded together to compete and stand up to chain restaurants and also to get a group of culinary professionals together to collaborate on problems of the industry and solutions for our community."

The organization now operates independently as a nonprofit entity, elevating the importance of dining at independently owned restaurants and businesses while promoting and showcasing the current generation of small businesses in the St. Louis area community and abroad.

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Robin Wheeler

Slurpees are best served cold.

Oh thank heaven! Free Slurpee Day lands on what might be the hottest day of 2011!

In St. Louis, does 7-11 cross anyone's mind on any day other than July 11? (Get it? 7-11?) Not really. The granddaddy of all convenience stores -- the first one opened on July 11, 1927 -- operates 39,000 stores worldwide. While they're huge elsewhere, in the U.S. they've been overshadowed by QuikTrip, MotoMart and Circle K.

Except on July 11, when 7-11 gives away free Slurpees to celebrate its birthday and get people into its perpetually beige, dingy stores.

Gut Check likes a free frozen Coke as much as the next guy, so we visited a South City 7-11 (2607 Gravois Avenue; 314-771-8905), where free Slurpee pandemonium was in full swing.

When we arrived, a steady stream of customers was leaving the store, tiny Slurpees in hand. The freebies come in 7.11-ounce cups that can be obtained from the cashier. Otherwise, all hell would break loose.

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We at Gut Check International Headquarters are all in favor of Halloween, provided the candy isn't lame. So when we heard that Chipotle Mexican Grill is offering $2 burritos to patrons who arrive dressed as a processed-food item, well, we headed straight for the wardrobe department.

Then we realized there is no wardrobe department at Gut Check International Headquarters. Boy, was our face red!

No matter, there's always the Internets!

Anyhoo, the deal's this: Dress up, hie to Chipotle after 6 p.m. and snarf your $2 burrito -- or, if you prefer, bowl, salad or order of tacos. Too lazy? Consider that Chipotle will donate all those $2 burrito proceeds to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution fund.

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When it comes to bargain hunting and coupon clipping, Gut Check's mother-in-law is nearly as obsessive as Gut Check.

The two best Mike Shannon imitations win a prize!

On the other hand, she's a little scattered.

So it is that Gut Check finds ourself in possession of two $25 gift certificates to Mike Shannon's Steaks and Seafood. The catch: Mom Dearest scored these babies a year ago from restaurant.com, and they're about to expire. They have to be redeemed by tomorrow night, and Gut Check's eating itinerary is stuffed to the rafters.

Our loss can be your gain!

All you have to do is call 314-754-6417 and leave us a voicemail message with your name, daytime phone number and e-mail address and your best Mike Shannon imitation.

We'll pick the top two entrants tomorrow morning and e-mail them a gift certificate apiece.

Remember: The coupon must be redeemed by tomorrow night at Mike Shannon's.

Important: Click through for some fine print from the gift certificates, and a disclaimer from Gut Check...

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Roaming Revelry

"Lolli-cobs" with chili-honey butter, served at a supper club last year.

​Monday night is generally to restaurant people what Sunday night is to 9-to-5ers: a time to relax and recharge for the week ahead.

So why would two young St. Louis cooks choose Monday -- their night off -- to hold a supper club? To bring their kitchen-slave friends out to share a table with regular Joes. But of course!

Lauren Pusczek, a cook at the Shaved Duck, and Amanda Jerauld, of Eclipse, launched the Monday-night "Roaming Revelry" seasonal supper club on the rooftop of the Paul Brown building late last summer. After a winter's hiatus, the new season starts up again on April 19. 

The concept is simple -- and affordable.
 
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