Courtesy Mission Taco
A trio of Bacon Cheeseburger Tacos from Mission Taco Joint
INSIDER TIP
Mission Taco Joint Steps Up
Throughout September, all five of Mission Taco Joint’s St. Louis locations are donating a portion of the popular limited-time Bacon Cheeseburger Taco to the local nonprofit It’s Your Birthday, Inc., an organization that provides memorable birthday experiences for children in homeless and domestic violence shelters. The Bacon Cheeseburger Taco (with "bacon burger" meat, American cheese, “surfer” sauce, shredded lettuce, and “pickle” de Gallo), originally a collaboration with Hi-Pointe Drive-In, the dish “was such a big hit that we knew it would be great as a giveback taco,” says Mission Taco Joint co-owner Jason Tilford. “The more popular the taco, the more money that we can raise for important organizations. I can’t think of a better reason to bring it back than to ensure kids can celebrate their birthdays.” It’s Your Birthday, Inc. has celebrated more than 1,400 birthdays since 2014.
HOTSPOT
Honey Dinners at Eleven Eleven Mississippi
Courtesy 1111 Mississippi
Chef and beekeeper Bob Colosimo
This month, Eleven Eleven Mississippi chef/general manager Bob Colosimo (a.k.a. Bob the Beekeeper) will host two multi-course dinners with dishes featuring honey harvested at Hamilton Hospitality’s apiary. On September 22, featured dishes include a goat cheese-and-honey tart and honey-glazed swordfish with lemon-rosemary orzo, roasted butternut squash, and chile-honey vinaigrette. On September 29, the entrée is a garlic, ginger, and honey-marinated flat iron steak. Each night’s menu is designed to compare the flavors of spring and fall honey. For complete menu details, visit the event website. Tickets for the three-course dinner are $41.99 plus tax and gratuity. (A wine pairing and/or featured cocktail is optional.) Call 314-241-9999 for reservations. 1111 Mississippi.
MICRORANT
Poor “On-Hold” Practices
AntonioGuillem / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Originally a blessing to modern telephony, on-hold music and messages have lately become just the opposite. Today’s callers are plagued with inferior quality music, annoying choices of tunes, muddy tonal quality, and often ear-piercing volume. It’s the obnoxious voice messages, however, that drive us to the brink. On-hold customers represent a captive audience for businesses and it's a shame so many of them squander the opportunity to make a positive impression. A recent call to a restaurant immediately clicked over to this: “We are busy helping other customers. We will be with you shortly. Please stay on the line”—which would not have been so off-putting had it not repeated for the next 2 minutes and 50 seconds, at which point the call disconnected, leaving us with a dial tone (which, truth be told, was less annoying than the message). Did we call back? No way.
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