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Welcome to Groupon St. Louis! For our inaugural deal, $8 gets you $20 worth of grub and guzzle at The Fountain on Locust, located at 3037 Locust St.

You're probably thinking, "That sounds great, but I've never bought a car or a computer without first reading the Wikipedia definitions for car and computer—I'm not about to buy a Groupon either without a briefing." Well neither would we, and since this is everyone's first Groupon, allow us to briefly explain how it works.

How Groupon Works

Groupon is a combination of the words group and coupon. Each day, we offer an unbeatable deal on the best of St. Louis: restaurants, spas, sporting events, theater, and more. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, we get discounts you won't find anywhere else. We call it "collective buying power"!

If you want to get the deal, just click BUY before the offer ends at midnight. If the minimum number of people (20 for today's deal) sign up by the end of the day, you'll get a printable gift certificate in your inbox the next morning that you can use whenever you want (well, at least until the deal expires—today's expires in one year). If not enough people join, no one gets the deal (and you won't be charged), so invite your friends to make sure you get the discount!

It's nice to wake up to something new every day. Some people get their daily fix from desk calendars with a cute puppy and a funny caption every morning. Groupon is like a desk calendar, except the puppy is an unbeatable discount and the funny caption is a profound reflection on the flowers and needles growing from life's cactus. We selflessly share our deep insights, hoping that you will join our mob of consumers, thus strengthening our collective buying power and commanding even better deals.

Details

Wrap your senses in an eclectic, cozy blanket of stunning sights, savory scents, and tantalizing tastes with today's Groupon to The Fountain on Locust: for $8, you get $20 worth of retro cocktails, ice-cream martinis, and savory dishes. There's a reason The Fountain on Locust is one of the most photographed restaurants in St. Louis, and it's not just the frequent UFO encounters: geometric light fixtures and brightly painted ceilings will envelop you in a magical sky scene. Dine beneath the art deco stars in the former 1916 automobile showroom and drink classic cocktails, such as Manhattans, Gin Rickies, and Brandy Stingers ($5).

The Fountain's menu features fresh, homemade dishes that nourish the body and invigorate the senses. Greet the rich herbal bouquet and vibrant green of The Fountain's signature Polish dill pickle soup ($3.50 for a cup) and delight in the colorful palette of the Stutz salad (mandarin oranges, walnuts, goat cheese, and baby spinach with creamy marmalade dressing, $7.29). Fill yourself with a fresh, healthy, and savory sandwich, such as the classic veggie (with white cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red onion, roasted red pepper, and creamy cucumber dressing, $5.99), or rollick through a field of cheesy delight with a royal grille (white cheddar and mozzarella grilled cheese with Fuji apple slices and trade secrets—hint: dryad seeds—on whole wheat, $7.79; add turkey, $1.99). Take advantage of the nightly pasta specials for a tasty treat such as Italian sausage and sundried tomatoes pasta (with side salad and Vienna roll, $11.99).

Like awkward prom dates, ice cream gets better with a little patience and age. All of The Fountain's ice creams are lovingly made and aged at a family dairy in Wisconsin to deliver the richest flavor and melt-on-your-spoon creaminess. With flavors such as Irish coffee, champagne sherbet, butter pecan, and after-dinner mint, everyone is bound to find a flavor to love. Slip your spoon into something dark and sinister (a tall glass coated with house-made hot fudge and filled with zanzibar chocolate ice cream, topped with marshmallow sauce and a chocolate coin, $6.29) and return to your old life transformed. Capture the childhood excitement of a trip to the ice-cream parlor and the college desire to mix everything with liquor by having an ice-cream martini such as a strawberry blond (Godiva chocolate liqueur with creme de cacao and strawberry ice cream, $8) or a chocolate-covered cherry martini (cherry vodka, Godiva chocolate liqueur, vanilla schnapps, and vanilla ice cream, $8).

Reviews

The Riverfront Times awards The Fountain on Locust Best Ice Cream Parlor, and Metromix loves its tasty offerings:

• Step inside the Fountain on Locust and Norman Rockwell visions of happy families sipping ice-cream sodas in a simpler time come to mind. With its high ceilings, vibrant paint job and old-fashioned soda fountain, it could snag an award for Best Ice Cream Parlor Décor (if there were such a thing). – Riverfront Times
• 'The Fountain' is just the right name for this Midtown oasis, because the flavors just keep flowing...And if for no other reason than to stay and enjoy the exquisite Art Deco interior a little longer, order one of the old fashioned ice cream specialties like the Dark and Sinister, Banana Split, Coconut Almond Joy or try one of the shakes, malts or chocolate martinis. – Metromix

Yelpers give it four stars, Metromixers give it 4.5, and 89% of Urbanspooners like it:

• their food? AMAZING. They have quite a few vegetarian options (hooray!), as well as delicious meatatarian options as well. And the ice cream? It sells itself. – erica, Urbanspoon
• ...it is my favorite place to get lunch. I call daily to ask about the soup of the day. Their chicken tortilla is my favorite. They have mini pizzas which are delicious and their sandwiches top notch. – wilsonak, Metromix
• my boyfriend had one of their ice cream martini's [sic]...and said it was fabulous; and the ice cream itself is top-notch. p.s., check out the craziness of the bathrooms--the coolest bathrooms ever! – reeleebee, Metromix