Go get your free ice cream, Los Angeles.

In 1961, Reuben and Rose Mattus, a couple of Polish immigrants, opened Häagen-Dazs in the Bronx with just three flavors--vanilla, chocolate and coffee (where was strawberry? we know!). Fifty years later, the brand has grown to huge, icy proportions with franchises throughout the world and pints of ice cream in every freezer case of every supermarket in the nation.

Some little known facts about the decadent ice cream brand America loves...

• Reuben actually started the frozen treat business from a horse drawn wagon. How rustic!
• The name, Häagen-Dazs, doesn't actually mean anything! It's made to look Scandinavian to us Americans, but the words are made up. Marketing at it's finest.
• Häagen-Dazs is making efforts to help the honey bees, which are (we hope you know) disappearing at a frightening rate.
• In honor of its 50th birthday, Häagen-Dazs is celebrating tomorrow, May 18th, from 4 - 8 pm with free scoops of the original 3 flavors at many of its locations. So don't be shy. Go help them celebrate with a complimentary scoop...on them. (The Häagen-Dazs at the Beverly Center is just one of many participating locations.)

Food Find: Ketel One Canteen says thanks, happy hannukah and bon appetit.

Sometimes vodka gives you a massive f+cking hangover. Sometimes (the better times) it gives you potato pancakes and awesome free grub. This weekend, catch Ketel One's ultimate guerrilla marketing ploy, the Ketel One Canteen, in Hollywood. The food truck (of course it's a truck--who bothers with stationary anymore?) will be doling out FREE food prepped by Ilan Hall of Gorbals Restaurant and Top Chef fame. And Hannukah-themed fare no less. Because us Jews--we like vodka. And you gentiles--you like Jewish food. It's win-win, really.

 

Though the truck won't actually be serving alcohol, it will be accompanied by a fleet of cars to drive you home if you've had one too many libations somewhere else along the Cahuenga Corridor.

Ketel One Canteen
@ Cahuenga between Hollywood and Selma
Thursday - Sat: 12 a - 2 a

[via Thrillist]

in it to WIN IT: food, fun and freebies from NORMS Restaurants

If you live in LA...and you leave your house...ever...you have driven by a NORMS Restaurant. The big, block, all-caps lettering is iconic. As is the food inside.

Here are just a few reasons to love NORMS...

1. They serve breakfast all day. Any place that will serve me an omelet when I'm drunk at 3 in the morning is good in my book.

2. They are 'Open 24 hours a day-Every day of the year!' I have called to verify and yes, that does include St. Patty's Day, Rosh Hashana, and Secretary's Day. This is astonishing dedication to service.

3. Cool, musical hip people like NORMS. And because I am a sucker for trendy things, if Friendly Fires likes NORMS, then so do I.

4. The Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Another restaurant might try to come up with some new-fangled version of this classic dish for its menu. NORMS keeps it real. We all like the Kraft version. Why mess with success.

5. NORMS is giving away free grub to 1 very lucky reader of this here blog. And we all love free grub. Because we're hungry and not yet very rich.

Entry form must be submitted by Monday, December 14th at 12 pm PST. One winner will be chosen at random and notified on Tuesday, December, 15th.

Follow NORMS on Twitter.
Become a NORMS fan on Facebook.

The RSVP Line: Kia brings good music to LA next weekend. For free.

I thought auto dollars were gone with the crash and burn of the industry earlier this year. Apparently not completely. KIA, of all brands, is clearly spending big in order to align itself with the cool, musically minded young city-dwellers of America with a [quite frankly] awesome event. Behold the KIA Soul Collective Tour. With music, art and design peppered throughout the weekend, the climax of the event is a Silversun Pickups concert on Sunday night. The way to score the golden tickets to an otherwise free and open-to-the-public weekend? A KIA test drive of course. *

Be sure to reap the musical benefits of KIA's marketing dollars while they last...

The Kia Soul Collective
November 6 – 8

Siren Studios
1050 N. Orange Drive
Hollywood, CA 90038

* Test drives start on Friday, November 6 at Noon and run from Noon to 8 PM on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so come on down and check out how we roll.  Tickets are given away on a first come, first serve basis.

The RSVP Line: Leslie and the Badgers at the Echo. For FREE!

My friends at When You Awake (which is only the coolest, hippest country music curator/commentator around) are presenting the last night of Leslie and the Badgers' residency this evening at the Echo. Which is good news. Even good-er news is that the show is FREE.

Leslie and the Badgers go on at 11 p. The opener goes on at 9. Two Boots pizza is served up in between.

the Echo
1822 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Get the scoop on the show here.
And don't forget to visit Jody and When You Awake often for your country fix.

Steals & Deals: Free Starbucks Smoothie...

Because I love you. And because it's Thursday. (But if Monday hadn't been off, today would actually be Wednesday. Which is hump day. And really rough on everyone.)

This was sent to me by a pal. I do believe it will work if you print it out and take it to your local Starbucks. Thank you Starbucks. And thank you pal who sent it.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Apparently, you may need the physical coupon for this to work. I still have faith that this one works. But would hate to send you traipsing down wayward paths without a warning.