​Earlier this week, Gut Check told you about Rouge 24, a new Washington, D.C., restaurant that was mandating customers sign a contract to land the reservation. Among the stipulations in this contract? A ban on cameras and cell phones in the restaurant and a full charge of the cost of the meal to your credit card if you canceled after 3 p.m. on the day of the reservation. 

​It's that time of year again -- in preparation for our annual "Best of St. Louis" issue, we ask you, the reader to cast your vote.

This year's theme? The rapture. You know, that thing that was supposed to happen a couple of months back where all the God-fearing folks fly up into heaven and us sinners are left behind to think about what we've done.

Well it didn't happen, and the date's been pushed back to mid-October. Thankfully, this buys us just enough time to plan for the best end times ever. With the Best Of issue in hand, St. Louisans will have a carefully-crafted guide to the rapture. After all, "Where should we go for dinner tonight?" becomes a much more serious question when your nights are numbered. So, please, take a few minutes to make your voice heard.

The Washington, D.C., branch of Eater today looks at Rouge 24, a new restaurant that requires diners to sign a contract as part of their reservation. It's a pretty remarkable document.

The contract stipulates that diners who cancel their reservations after 3 p.m. on the day of the meal or who show up more than 30 minutes late will have their credit cards charged for the full price of the meal. What happens if you cancel your reservation before 3 p.m. on the day of the meal? Well, from 72 hours before the meal to 3 p.m. the day of, you're still on the hook for 50 percent of the cost.

The contract also asks you to choose whether you want the sixteen- or twenty-four-course tasting menu (the only options available at Rouge 24), to list any food allergies and to refrain from using a cell phone or camera.

Although I can understand some of the reasoning behind this contract -- a complicated tasting menu demands a level of precision and an outlay of time and money on the restaurant's part that late or no-show diners can disrupt -- the contract itself seems likely to generate nothing besides terrible p.r.

Our question is simple: If the only way you could score a reservation at a restaurant where you wanted to eat would be to sign a contract like this one, would you?

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This week's hot temperatures nearly drove Gut Check International HQ to fry an egg on the sidewalk. Before cracking, we decided to get a little creative and ask our readers: What food would you like to see Gut Check fry on the sidewalk? Cast your vote below.

The poll closes at the end of Tuesday. If you're too hungry to wait for the results, check out this how-to video on street-fried eggs after the jump.

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We asked you which food trends should leave ASAP, and you told us. The vote was close, but in the end, sorry, cupcakes, you're all sweet and adorable, but you're also played.

Today's post about a shop with a sign forbidding frozen yogurt was yet another reminder of how many frozen-yogurt joints have cropped up in St. Louis over the past few years. Yet as I thought about it, I couldn't conclude that frozen yogurt is the local food trend that is closest to reaching the saturation point -- not when there are several other possibilities.

Which of the following five local food trends do you think needs to stop immediately? You can enter your own choice if you don't agree with one of the five below.



The poll closes at the end of Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Gut Check asked whether you would heat your cold cuts to avoid the risk of food poisoning. Not a single one of you who responded -- all thirteen of you! -- said you would.​

Image via

Listeria monocytogenes: Goes well with honey ham, yellow American.

​Do you enjoy cold cuts, in sandwich form or, perhaps, eaten directly from the wrapped deli package while standing in front of the fridge 'round midnight? Are you over the age of 50?

THEN PUT THOSE COLD CUTS DOWN, MY FRIEND.

Or, rather, put those cold cuts in the microwave.

The CDC recently reiterated a recommendation that those over the age of 50 should (and those over the age of 65 really should) heat cold cuts to 165 degrees to eliminate the possibility of food poisoning, reports USA Today:

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​It was a photo finish between three establishments in Gut Check's survey to discover the most iconic mall restaurant. In the end, Orange Julius nipped Panda Express by one vote and Sbarro -- whose bankruptcy inspired the poll -- by two.

This surprises me only because I can't remember the last time I saw an Orange Julius. It wasn't around here. According to the Orange Julius website, most area locations are paired with or have been subsumed by Dairy Queens -- or DQ Grill & Chill Restaurants, as some of them are now called.

At any rate, participants in our survey weren't restricted by geography or, as the case may be, nostalgia.

Yesterday's post about Sbarro filing for bankruptcy and its status among the iconic shopping mall restaurants prompted plenty of great suggestions from Gut Check readers. With those in mind, I've put together a poll to determine which is the most iconic shopping mall eatery. Don't see your preferred restaurant? Include it as an "Other" option. Results next week!