St. Louis Originals

So we all know how I feel about local restaurants vs. chain slop houses ( See my post about The Hill ).

Well I have been a member of this St. Louis Originals rewards program for a few years now. I'll admit, I tend to opt into things, use them religiously, and have absolutely no clue how to benefit from them... so I don't. This held true for this card until yesterday.

Listen to this long, drawn out and difficult process. I had to go to the website, enter my card number... okay, that was it. And it generated an unexpected surprise. I have earned $40 in rewards. That's cash money, player.

This is how it works. If you flash your St. Louis Originals card at any of the participating restaurants, you earn a point per every dollar you spend. So to beat a dead horse, a $10 check means 10 points, and a $200 check means 200 points. For every 150 points you acquire, you earn $10 towards your purchase at any of the St. Louis Originals restaurants.

Aside from that, your membership gets you drink, appetizer and meal specials at many of the restaurants as well. Here's a good example from Bailey's Chocolate Bar – widely regarded as the best dessert spot in STL:

Come in to Baileys' Chocolate Bar on Mondays and Thursdays to receive any of our martinis at HALF PRICE with your food purchase. What better way to spend a cool spring evening in St Louis than with a delicious (half price) martini and a light snack followed by a decadent dessert!

And last but not least is something that I can't quite wrap my head around. St. Louis Originals offers gift certificates for all the restaurants on their list. That part I understand. However, they offer them at discounted rates. So a $50 gift certificate only costs $35. A $25 gift card will only set you back $17.50.

What!?!

That is by far the coolest offer I have ever heard. I don't know how long they will have this offer, or if there is some legal copy I am missing, but you can check it out for yourself here.



I am pumped, and excited that I have another excuse to go to these great culinary establishments and splurge.

Another round, "Hell yeah!"

Dessert, "Why not!"

Truffles, "What the hell is a truffle? Who cares?"

Here are the list of establishments that St. Louis Originals lists as their members ( I'll !!! my faves):

Baileys' Chocolate Bar !!!
Bryan Young Catering Plus
Cafe Provencal
Companion
Cravings Rest. & Bakery
Dierdorf & Harts
Duff's
Eau
Eleven Eleven Mississippi !!!
Harry's Restaurant & Bar
Harvest
Herbie's
LoRusso's Cucina
Massa's
Mike Shannon's
Monarch
Ricardo's Italian Cafe
Riddle's Penultimate Cafe !!!
Rooster !!!
Schlafly Tap Room/Bottleworks !!!
Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream
Soda Fountain Square
Square One Brewery & Distillery !!!
SqWires Restaurant and Market
Sunset 44 Bistro
Tenderloin Room
Terrene
The Delmar Restaurant & Lounge
The Gardens at Malmaison
The Scottish Arms
The Shaved Duck
Three Monkeys
Trattoria Marcella
Vin de Set !!!
Vito's Sicilian Pizzeria & Ristorante
Wapango
Wild Horse Grill

Bon Appetit!