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"I don't like to pay full price," says Tony Malik, "and I don't know anyone who does." So, four years ago he established TasteCard—a Groupon-like buy-in that includes 57 restaurants in the area. It's a deck of cards that costs $20 and gives the user $10 off with the minimum spend of $30 at the restaurant named on that card. You can only use it once per venue, and that's what makes his newest venture—myTasteCard—so much different.
myTasteCard kicked off in February of this year with the tagline of "Dine. Present. Save." It costs $49 and works like a credit card in its look and ease, and can be used over again at the same restaurant, saving 25% each time. As long as there is one person at the table with the card, your entire party (up to 4 people) receives the discount on food AND alcohol. There are currently 27 eligible restaurants, including several of our favorites: Hiro Asian Kitchen, Quincy Street Bistro, Ruth's Chris (downtown), Three Kings Public House, Trattoria Toscana, Vernon's BBQ, and Water Street.
Malik's intention with the card is to attract new customers to restaurants on the list as well as encourage them to keep visiting a place they like.
Ruth's Chris downtown has seen the most card traffic thus far. Manager Scott Phares says a lot of people use the card at his restaurant, and for an expensive place like a steakhouse, he says, 25% off is a pretty good deal.
Malik is optimistic about the growth of the card, wanting to branch out more into St. Louis' smaller markets and provide something that doesn't currently exist here. His goal is to have 100 restaurants on board soon. He also intends to keep up with donating part of his profits to local food banks and charities.
So where to after he's captured this market? "Maybe Chicago," Malik says.
myTasteCard is offering a 50% discount to the first 50 people who purchase a card by using the code STLMAG. A link to their website is here.
