[Reblog:] Eats It Up

Note: This post originally appeared on Girls Guide to the Galaxy. The site has since gone under, and I'm not sure how much longer these posts will still exist. But they were good. And I don't want to loose them. To see the original, click here. 

I love food. I mean, who doesn’t?

And it’s no secret that I love a special food deal. If you follow me on Twitter (which you should, by the way), you see me tweeting about Foursquare deals, happy hours, and Groupons (I’m currently sitting on seven groupons… kind of obsessed). I just can’t get enough.

Blame it on me being cheap. Blame it on me being hungry. Personally, I blame it on this newly acquired passion for the great city of St. Louis and all the cool restaurants it has to offer me. Take that.

Anyway, based on my love of food and a bargain, I was obviously psyched to take on Yelp Eats! this week. Starting Monday, and running through this Sunday, participating restaurants are offering a special 3-course dinner menu- that means appetizer, entree, and, yum, dessert- all for the cool price of $25 (plus tax and tip).

I found out about it about a month or so ago, and immediately added it to my calendar. Then I started scoping out which restaurant I would chose, which was no easy task. Yelp gave me twelve (yes, twelve) amazing choices. After narrowing it down to five three two one, I headed out to Kota Wood Fire Grill on Tuesday night for dinner.

I called ahead of time (because Yelp told me to, and I follow the rules), but they said I didn’t need to worry about making a reservation, just to come on in and tell my server we were doing the Yelp Eats! menu. So I headed down that way, drove around looking for parking, and settled on a 90 minute meter (which worked out- we made it out of there with just a few minutes to spare!). As we walked in to Kota, there was a sign in the window advertising Yelp Eats! and when I told the hostess we were there for that she handed us the special printed menu.

And here is why Yelp Eats! is perfect for a date or a small group- each restaurant offers two or three choices for your app, dinner, and dessert, making it really easy to share. Here is what we split:

Appetizers: Garlic Barbeque Delta Shrimp with smoked chile grits and sweet potato straws AND Stuffed Mushrooms with goat cheese and herbs, flash fried with creamy garlic parmesan sauce

Entree: Jerk Painted Salmon grilled with mango salsa, black beans & rice, sweet plantains and coconut creamed spinach AND Espresso Rubbed Beef Filet Medallions with blue cheese cream, buttermilk mashed potatoes, fresh asparagus, and crisped onion straws

Dessert: Devil’s Food Cup Cake (it is literally, in a cup) AND Apple Pie with praline sauce

The. Food. Was. Amazing.

If I had to pick one two favorite things it would have been the beef entree and the cup cake dessert. I sort of felt like a pig eating all this food, but I couldn’t help it. Oh, and a lot of people on Twitter were asking me if I tried their milk shake cocktails…. I did not. I went with their house sangria instead (hey, it was hot on Tuesday!) and it was delish. But I’ll drink almost anything garnished with a cherry.

Now that I’ve made you really hungry (I’m starving just thinking about it), I have to give a big thanks to Yelp for putting on this event and kudos to Kota for following through with a great meal! If you are out and about in Saint Louis this weekend, you should definitely take advantage Yelp Eats!

This messsge has been approved by me, Danielle Hohmeier.