Italian cuisine was born when, after building the city of Rome, Romulus and Remus discovered Greece didn’t deliver to their new address. Taste the origins of an empire with today’s Groupon to Downtown Italy. Choose between the following options:

• For $20, you get $40 worth of Italian cuisine and drinks during dinner.
• For $10, you get $20 worth of Italian cuisine and drinks during lunch.<p>

Downtown Italy’s Calabria-born owners forge the authentic, made-to-order dishes of their birthplace from fresh ingredients. Diners affix third eyes to the dinner menu, honing in on collaborative entrees such as Nonna’s al forno trio, which warmly embraces eggplant parmigiana, chicken parmigiana, and baked ziti, all smothered in signature marinara ($26). Shrimp infused with tomato cream sauce snuggles into pillows of lobster ravioli ($26). Midday munchers encounter a lunch menu flaunting the Philly Downtown panini, which tears sirloin from traditional cheesesteaks and presses it between pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and sautéed veggies ($9). Inside the classico panini, home-baked focaccia bread scoops up prosciutto, mozzarella, pesto, and tomatoes ($9). Glasses ($7+) or bottles ($21+) of white, sparkling, and red wines help wash down meals or accidentally ingested napkins.

Stolen glimpses of crystal waters augment indoor dinner conversation at this river district eatery, draped in rich crimson with olive and white linens. Outdoor eaters settle in at street-side tables to chow down or threaten any impending clouds with steak knives.

Though Downtown Italy sometimes features a discounted price online, this Groupon still offers the best deal available.