Preparing Italian cuisine at home is a complex process in which one must identify herbs, acquire ingredients, and learn not to walk beneath low power lines in a towering chef hat. Avoid tough lessons with today's Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of Italian fare during dinner and two desserts (a $16 value) at Bartolinos Italian Ristorante in Astoria (a $46 total value).

Chefs at Bartolinos swathe guests in authentic Italian flavors with a menu of homemade pastas and poultry, seafood, and veal dishes. Opt for a mozzarella-topped eggplant-rollatini appetizer ($9.95), or sink into the chicken florentine ($21.95), which is crowned with prosciutto. Diners enjoy another culture's red-and-white meal without gnawing on the Canadian flag by ordering ricotta-stuffed manicotti with tangy marinara ($15.95). Hot off the grill, the veal-chop campagniola ($29.95) is resplendent with sautéed veggies and the chef's hand-drawn steam squiggles. Candle light and rustic fireplaces cast dancing luminescence across the sprawling dining room, where alabaster columns climb near tasteful wooden accents, sparking conversations about Italian architecture and future tree-house renovations.