At last, dining and drinking discounts across St. Petersburg have been organized in one place. No, really. Residents and out-of-towners who’d like to give their wallets a break without forgoing the act of indulging in local beverages and bites around town need to meet EatCheap.co.
Created and marketed by a small team based in St. Pete, this new, aptly named website gloriously maps out a number of food and drink deals the ’Burg has to offer — for free.
Here’s how it works: Users visit the site, then select the day of the week whose discounts they’d like to peruse. Next, they must pick their desired occasion — choosing from breakfast/brunch, lunch, dinner or drinks — and boom! A full list of the site’s cataloged deals pop up. Eat Cheap also provides visitors with the address of every bar and restaurant on the site, in addition to a description of the deal and other helpful details.
Better yet? Each discount is verified. The minds behind Eat Cheap — Michael Testa, Jordan Hearin, Phil Cyr, Mark Lombardi Nelson and Adrian Trzaskus — have either phoned or paid an in-person visit to the featured restaurants and bars, confirming the deal archived is the deal provided.
The site even welcomes users to interact with its easy-to-navigate platform in a couple of additional ways, by 1) submitting food and drink discounts that haven’t been recorded yet, or 2) recommending updates to an existing deal.
According to co-creator Trzaskus, his background in marketing and loyalty programs over the past decade inspired the site’s recent genesis. He says millennials are “intelligent buyers” who have a good grip on the real value of a deal. Gift cards expire, discount programs that require a monthly membership are limiting, and it’s hard to remember all of the daily specials served at your favorite bar or restaurant.
“We saw Eat Cheap as a better alternative to all these options,” Trzaskus told CL. “It gives you all the best deals, on any day, that is accessible at no cost in real-time.”
Eat Cheap, launched a little less than two weeks ago, lists everything from St. Pete’s fast-casual spots to pricier eateries on Beach Drive, which means there’s something for everyone. Visitors can look forward to scooping discounts from places like Asie, Parkshore Grill, Better Byrd, Locale Market, Red Mesa Cantina, Rollbotto Sushi and The Canopy.
The site exclusively covers the ’Burg at the moment, but Trzaskus says he and the gang plan to launch similar platforms in other cities in the future (think Tampa, Denver and Philadelphia).
“Of all the feedback we’ve received, I’ve not heard one negative thing,” he said.
