Calling all Daves…and Davids and Davys

Tomorrow (August 1) is Dave’s Day at Famous Dave’s.

If your name is Dave, David or Davy, you’ll get a free entre worth up to $15.

If your middle name is one of those, you’ll get half off your entre, up to $7.50.

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David, however, is out of luck, since the barbecue restaurant isn’t offering anything for last names.

Both Inland Empire Famous Dave’s locations (in Rancho Cucamonga and Redlands) are participating in the Dave’s Day promotion.

Click here for more information.

Happy National Lasagna Day!

Another day, another food holiday! This time it’s lasagna.

If you haven’t yet made dinner plans tonight, you might want to think about heading over to the sole Inland Empire Buca di Beppo at 505 W. Foothill Blvd. in Claremont, where you can get a free lunch-sized portion of lasagna when you purchase any Buca Small or Buca Large pasta or entre.

Details? The offer is only good on dine-in orders, but the free lasagna may be boxed and taken home by dine-in guests.

Last year, Buca di Beppo gave away 18,000 pounds of lasagna, the equivalent of nine Fiats.

Thatsa lotsa pasta!

Golden Corral to open in the High Desert

High Desert Dine 909ers, be prepared to loosen your belt a notch!

Buffet restaurant Golden Corral, which at one time had locations in Riverside and Temecula, is making another foray into the Inland Empire with a new location in Hesperia.

The new restaurant will be at 12845 Main Street, just west of the 15 and next to the Super Target.

Golden Corral will have some pretty tough competition with the excellent Wood Grill Buffet just down the street, but from what I’ve heard, Golden Corral is pretty good, too.

The restaurant is scheduled to open in early September.

Highland Wienerschnitzel nearly complete

As I was driving to get blood work done this morning, something caught my eye as I zipped past the Highland Avenue off-ramp of the 210…a Wienerschnitzel sign!

Of course I had to stop on my way back to work and check it out.

Turns out that the building that I was 90% sure was destined to be a Starbucks is going to be turning out double chili cheeseburgers and Freezees as a Wienerschnitzel/Tastee Freez combo.

The place was swarming with construction workers, but it looked about 80% complete from the outside.

It’s at 2565 E. Highland Ave., just east of the westbound 210 Highland Avenue off-ramp, behind the combo Taco Bell/Pizza Hut.

And I could’ve sworn it was gonna be a Starbucks!

Update: According to this tweet via their Facebook page, the grand opening is this weekend, and the first 100 people in line will get a free chili dog. Whoo-hoo!

Another update: The official press release finally arrived in the Dine 909 inbox today. The grand opening is Sunday (August 1). Good news for night owls: The restaurant will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. daily.

Free pint of Baskin-Robbins, but there’s a catch…

How much would you be willing to part with for a free pint of Baskin-Robbins ice cream?

How about a pint of your blood?

LifeStream is offering donors a coupon good for a pint of Baskin-Robbins ice-cream in exchange for a life-saving pint of their blood.

The “Pint for a Pint” offer is good through August 21 at all LifeStream donor centers and mobile drives.

To make an appointment, call 800-879-4484, or visit LifeStream’s website.

The locations of mobile drives can be found on LifeStream’s website and on their Facebook page.

Just don’t go to Baskin-Robbins expecting to get a pint of Superfudge Truffle.

Friday is National Cheesecake Day!

Readers of the newspaper edition of Dine 909 have already been tipped off on this one, but National Cheesecake Day is Friday (July 30).

The Cheesecake Factory will be offering half-price slices any of their cheesecakes.

However, if you’re on Facebook, you can become their Facebook fan and get a $1.50 slice of cheesecake on Thursday (July 29), their “preview day.”

Now comes the tough part…you’ve only got a couple of days to decide which cheesecake you want to order. That Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake looks really tempting, and as a bonus, 25 will go to Feeding America, of which Second Harvest Food Bank, which provides services here in the Inland Empire, is a part!

For more information on Cheesecake Factory’s National Cheesecake Day half-price deal, click here. To become their Facebook fan for the $1.50 deal, click here.

Inland Empire Cheesecake Factory locations are in Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside and Rancho Mirage.

Baskin-Robbins turns 65, kicks French Vanilla to the curb

Baskin-Robbins is celebrating its 65th anniversary by “retiring” five flavors, including French Vanilla, one of the first flavors launched by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins way back in 1945.

Wow.

The four other flavors being sent to the “deep freeze” are:

  • Caramel Praline Cheesecake, from 1970
  • Campfire S’mores, from 1975
  • Apple Pie a La Mode, from 1976
  • Superfudge Truffle, from 2007

The retiring flavors are available while supplies last.

Obviously, it’s the announcement that French Vanilla is being retired that is giving some people conniptions.
Continue reading “Baskin-Robbins turns 65, kicks French Vanilla to the curb” »

Polycot on tap at Hangar 24 beginning Sunday

Redlands’ Hangar 24 Craft Brewery is almost ready to unleash this year’s batch of Polycot, their wheat beer brewed with locally-grown organic apricots.

They’re tapping the first keg on Sunday (July 25) and hosting a release party from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the brewery, 1710 Sessums Drive.

Polycot will be among their most potent offerings, clocking in at 7.2% alcohol by volume.
Eureka!Burger will have pulled-pork sandwiches for sale and the outdoor area will be open for seating, so bring chairs!

Also, since it’s Sunday, they should have brewery tours on the hour from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more info, click here to visit the brewery’s website.