I am one cheap S.O.B., this fact is not secret. But what I really like is getting an awesome deal. I will shop around for weeks or even months to find the best deal on whatever I’m buying. And then, because I am an arrogant ass, I will tell EVERYONE I know how smart I am because I saved $4 on a cheese grater. “Oh you, paid full price for your cheese grater? SUCKER!” God, that feels so awesome.

There is also something to be said for getting a good deal that’s no work whatsoever, and that’s why I like the Cleveland restaurant deals site idineDeals Cleveland. Every day they have a new restaurant deal for restaurants in Cleveland and the surrounding areas. For example, as I’m writing this they have a deal running for Chester’s Legacy Tavern (OMG ITS SO CLOSE TO MY HOUSE) where you can buy a $35 gift certificate for $15. I pretty much suck at math, but even I know that’s too awesome to pass up.

And that’s all this site is: great deals on Cleveland restaurants. No more hunting around for coupons or waiting for specials, this is a new deal every day. You’ll be leveraging group buying power to get these big discounts. But you have to act fast when you see a deal that catches your eye though – there is only a limited number of each available.

idineDeals is also great way to try new restaurants all over Cleveland and those certificates would make some mighty fine gifts (especially for your favorite fat blogger). If you want to keep an eye on idineDeals Cleveland for Cleveland restaurant discounts you can follow them on Twitter, become their fan on Facebook or do what I do and add them your your RSS reader.

idineDeals Cleveland

idineDeals Cleveland is sponsoring this post by providing compensation to the author.

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Nice Setup

Aroundme.com has a very good looking setup and have all the information you’ll ever need to find good recommendations for your area. Type in what you’re looking for and the city you need it in and the site will provide you with an ordered list of the best locations available. It will show each location on a map and you can click down a level and get the address and phone number. Also in each listing are the user reviews and a quick to read ratings section.

Another nice feature of the site is the ability to log-in with Facebook connect. I freaking hate having a 100 log-ins, so if I can log in with Facebook info, I’m all for it. Once you’re logged in you can share any of the locations with your friends on Facebook.

I also really like the fact that this isn’t just restaurant focused. There are a lot of similar websites out there that are only restaurant focused and quite frankly, how many do you need? People need to earn my trust and I often have a hard time going to a new mechanic or having someone I don’t know fix my stove, so Aroundme.com’s expansion into those service industries is welcomed by me. I’d love to see what mechanics my friends use, that would be so helpful to see who they trust.

Too New To Tell

While it appears that Aroundme.com has a lot of promise, it’s a little difficult to tell how useful it will really be considering it’s so sparsely populated. In the Cleveland area there are only a handful of reviews, so things like rankings provide little value. That being said, it has a lot of nice features that could attract a big user base, so I’d expect this to be a much more useful site as time goes on. If you’re anything like me, I’d recommend heading over there and signing up so you can share your opinions.

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@eatingcleveland – Eating Cleveland
@jamie_oliver – Jamie Oliver
@catcora – Cat Cora
@cpkimball – Christopher Kimball (America’s Test Kitchen)
@bittman – Mark Bittman
@notmartha – Notmartha.com
@amateurgourmet – Amateaurgourmet.com
@thesmitten – Smittenkitchen.com
@ruthreichl – Ruth Reichl
@anthonybourdain – Anthony Bourdain
@101cookbooks – 101 Cookbooks.com
@jsteingarten – Jeffery Steingarten
@beardfoundation – James Beard Foundation
@roccodispirto – Rocco Dispirto
@steamykitchen – SteamyKitchen.com
@ruhlman – Michael Ruhlman
@mario_batali – Mario Batali
@edlevine – Ed Levine – seriouseats.com
@simplyrecipes – Simplyrecipes.com
@davidlebovitz – David Lebovitz
@chezpim – Chezpim.com
@amandahesser – Amanda Hesser
@mattarmendariz – Mattbites.com
@cheftramonto – Chef Rick Tramonto
@chefmendez – Mark Mendez
@emeril – Emeril Lagasse

Leave your favorite Twitter chefs, foodies and food writers in the comments.

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Pretty simple.

Check out her site for more great deals.

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A book I’ve used for many years is the Our Town and All Around book that is published locally for the Cleveland area.  I can’t count the number of restaurants I’ve reviewed on this site that I’ve used the Our Town book.  Most of the restaurant deals offer buy one get one free meals where you can easily save upwards of $20 per meal.

The thing I like about the Our Town book is that they are a local company so many of the deals it offers are those that you are going to use.  I’ve just gotten my copy of the 2009 book and I can’t believe all of the great coupons for spectacular restaurants.  They’ve added this year new sections featuring Northeastern Ohio’s Wineries and East 4th St.  Here are some of my favorite restaurant deals featured this year:

• Bubba Q’s
• Grovewood Tavern & Wine Bar
• House of Blues
• Fat Fish Blue
• Bar Louie
• Saffron Patch
• Hoggy’s
• Loco Leprechaun
• Burgers and Beer
• Shula’s 2

I also love the golf and Westside Market sections, you can’t beat buy one get one free greens fees or free chorizo. 

This is the biggest book they’ve ever had and I highly recommend that you go over to their website and order one now.  They make great Christmas presents and if you know someone that’s going through a rough patch, the book is a great way to help them save some money.  Now is the time to order.

Eatingcleveland.com has teamed up with Our Town and All Around, so we’re going to be giving away a bunch of these books over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for giveaways and contests so you can win a book of your own.

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With gas prices at all-time highs, nearing $4.50 in some locations, any way you can save some money at the pump has to be a good thing.  Most everyone in Northeastern Ohio is probably familiar with Giant Eagle’s fuelperks program.  It’s pretty straightforward: You spend $50 at Giant Eagle, you get 10¢ off per gallon when you fill up at the Giant Eagle Get-Go gas station.

The problem is at $4 a gallon you have to spend $2,000 for a free tank of gas.  That’s a lot of groceries.  I’m sure there are families with 4 kids that can spend that much in a couple of months, but I want to find a way to get things done sooner.

I want to find a way to beat the Giant Eagle Fuelperks system and get free gas.

I don’t know of any full proof method right now, but here are some things you can do to increase your savings:

• Bring an extra gas can with you when you go to fill up.  Giant Eagle will allow you to use your discounts on up to 30 gallons of gas.  Considering that most cars only have 15 gallon tank, you’re leaving some of your discount in the pump.  Put a 5 or 10 gallon gas tank in your trunk and fill it up when you use your discount.  Just don’t store it in your closet.
• Buy gift cards for places you will be shopping.  You earn fuelperks even when you buy gift cards, so if you know you’re going to Home Depot, why not buy the gift card at Giant Eagle and get the fuelperks too?
• Buy gift cards and then get rid of them.  This is a big money saver.  Buy gift cards at Giant Eagle.  Then do one of three things with them: Sell them online, use them for something very inexpensive and get cash back or return the card to the issuing retailer for cash. 
• Buy your prescriptions at full price.  This takes more work, but you’ll have a free tank of gas in no time.  Take your prescriptions to Giant Eagle, but tell them you don’t have insurance. Pay the full price on your credit card and then submit the receipt to your insurance company who will reimburse you for the difference.  

There has to be more ways out there to beat the system.  I’ve racked my brain, what do you think?  Do you have a way to get free gas at Giant Eagle?  Let everyone know in the comments.

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Eating healthy foods doesn’t have to break the bank though, WebMd offers 10 healthy foods for under $1.  I don’t necessarily agree with their choice of oranges.  While healthy, oranges are pretty damn expensive; maybe it’s because they have to travel so far to reach our stores.

I do like their choice of canned tomatoes which cost a fraction of their fresh counterparts.  Not only that, but they have a consistent flavor when making sauces or chilis. 

A way to save a ton of money on the already cheap canned tomatoes is to buy a large “commercial” can at Sam’s Club or Costco.  An entire gallon can may only be $5 or $6 and you can freeze whatever you don’t use in plastic bags, ice cube trays or plastic containers.

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Ever since trying a flat iron steak at Lava Lounge, I have been a huge fan of this beef cut. … I guess these steaks are also known as “top blade” steak, a chuck steak, and butchers say that they are second only to filet mignon in tenderness. My question is this-do you know of any butcher shops, stores, etc. in Cleveland who carry these steaks regularly? I would love to switch to these instead of sirloin, and it would be unreal to serve these at a summer bbq. People would think that they are eating filets!

Melanie’s email reminded me of episode of America’s Test Kitchen where they cooked flat iron steaks and I faintly remembered them saying you won’t find them in grocery stores because they are generally sold under another name. Maybe that was the “top blade” she referred to in her email.

Interesting History
While doing some research on flat iron steaks I found out they were created as the result of a study sponsored by the Cattleman’s Beef Board to find other ways to cut major beef muscles to make them more valuable.  They come from the chuck primal (I really have a thing for meat charts):

This piece of meat is found at the top of the primal, next to the heart.  The meat scientists (I swear I’m not making this up) realized that this muscle had a very tough piece of connective tissue running through the middle of it, but if it was removed the two resulting steaks were incredibly tender.  They actually have to filet the muscle like a fish.

To see this done in real time, watch this butcher prepare one from the whole muscle:

Seems like a lot of work.  I haven’t seen that much cutting since an episode of Intervention.  I think its pretty cool that Google has meat videos, but why did this guy tape himself doing that?  Creepy.

Where to Get It
Does anyone know where Melanie can find this delicious cut of meat in the Cleveland area?  And she’s lookin’ for raw meat here folks, so XO Prime isn’t what we’re after.

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