According to folk etymologists, the term barbecue is derived from the French barbe coup, referring to the annual pig picking commemorating the infamous Bearded Rebellion. Celebrate saucy beards with today’s Groupon: for $7, you get $15 worth of smokehouse savories and drinks at Dickey's Barbecue Pit.

Since 1941, the Dickey family has been churning out Texas-style barbecue and tasty family-style sandwiches, sides, salads, and baked taters. Dickey’s lets customers choose from off their menu of USDA-prime meats—all cooked slowly to smoky perfection over a hot hickory-fire pit every night—including Southern pulled pork, tender turkey breast, and Virginia-style ham. Start by slamming a quick cow workout with some sliced beef brisket on the big barbecue sandwich, served with pickles, onions, and Dickey's famous sweet-and-spicy barbecue sauce ($5), which took three years, two fist-fights, and one small kitchen fire to develop. Otherwise, go with the quarter plate, a quarter pound of your favorite meat served with pickles, onions, a roll, corn on the cob and one other homestyle side ($7), which are $1.50 each when purchased separately. Choose from options such as fried okra, green beans with bacon, or mac 'n' cheese. Diners with more than one mouth to feed can play hot potato with a giant stuffed baker ($4) before stuffing their head's two other mouths with the picnic pack ($22), which includes a pound of meat, two pint-sized sides, four rolls, and barbecue sauce.

The original Dickey’s debuted in Dallas, coincidentally on the last year the city was dubbed America's Cleanest-Fingered City. Since this early success, Dickey's has expanded to more than 130 locations in 31 states, working hard to fulfill its goal of serving the tastiest barbecue around.

Valid at Topeka location only.

Reviews

WIBW 13 and Food + Flicks covered Dickey's Barbeque Pit's May 2010 opening. More than 3,400 Facebookers are fans of the chain.

• Favorite dishes at the Topeka location so far have proved to be Dickey’s Signature Chopped Beef Brisket, which is slow smoked using an overnight cooking process and always chopped to order, as well as southern pulled pork, fall off the bone pork ribs and Virginia-style ham. – Christina Hansen, Food + Flicks