Hunger, unlike ambulance sirens, meningitis, and restraining orders, is not something you can safely ignore. Answer the mighty call of a bellowing belly with today's Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of south-of-the-border comfort fare and delectable drinks at Crest Cafe, a Zagat-rated feasting ground.

Crest Cafe has spent the past three decades wowing locals with a celebrated lunch and dinner menu of upscale home cookin' made with a Mexican flair, with breakfast served all day Friday through Tuesday. Roust brains out of screen-saver mode with the Carolenas corn tortilla, which packs a delicious egg, salsa, jack cheese, and avocado breakfast into a bed of tortillas, similar to the one you woke up in ($7.95). For a sweeter bite, embrace your state pride with the three-raisin french toast with currants, Thompson raisins, and California golden raisins ($7.25), best chased with a mimosa ($5.95) or Shane's sangria ($5.95). Midday munchers and evening eaters can stretch their taste buds with a fresh-mango-and-brie quesadilla before head-tackling an array of pastas, salads, burgers, and sandwiches ($8.25). Heartier appetites will naturally gravitate to the turkey meatloaf with bell peppers, onions, garlic, and tomatoes ($9.95), the Not Your Grandma’s chicken pot pie ($9.95), and the honey-glazed pork chops ($15.95). Crest Cafe also greases creaky conversations with an array of wine, beer, and fresh-squeezed juices, including mexican hot chocolate ($3.50) and Häagen-Dazs milkshakes ($4.75). Crest Cafe maintains its full menu till midnight, making it easy to cap a round of flashlight tag or haunted house hunting with a dessert of croissant bread pudding and butterscotch-pecan-apple crunch ($7.50–$9.75).

Reviews

Zagat gives Crest Cafe a very good to excellent rating on food. More than 280 Yelpers award Crest Cafe 3.5 stars.

• Friendly, casual, good comfort food at a reasonable price. – BillA7811, Zagat
• Really great, unique menu. I always get a different dish and they are always really good (cubana sandwich last time was great). – Masha B., Yelp