Though food was once considered a frivolous luxury, it's now credited for performing vital tasks such as sustaining human life and entertaining robotic chefs. Celebrate luxurious sustenance with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of gastropub fare and drinks at Fracas in Cleveland Heights.

Nestled in the Coventry district within Cleveland Heights's historic Centrum Theater, Fracas flanks fine gastropub fare with inspired homemade sauces. Sea smitten can munch on the calamari to start, browned in lemon oil and chili olive pesto ($9), while green gurus can lead forkscapades onto plates of fried green tomatoes bathed in chive oil and vinaigrette ($9). Entrees include a beef short rib braised in Dogfish Head IPA ($26), as well as the Ohio City black-pepper gnocchi backed by wild mushrooms, english peas, leeks, and grape tomatoes, and smothered with smoked gouda alfredo ($18). The bar stocks a staunch selection of local and Midwestern brews, 16 on tap and 30 by bottle, and counts the Rate Beer–approved Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold ($4; RB: 95/100) and the Buckeye Brewing Hippie IPA ($12 for 22 oz; RB: 95/100) among their regular liquid relievers. Should carnivores crave sustenance not found on the menu, Fracas's scratch kitchen can create the meal of one's dreams should they have the ingredients, yielding such customer-conceived classics as the melancholy jam sandwich and apple pie a la go carte.

The Centrum Theater has played host to diverse talent throughout its more than 90-year history, and Fracas's classically glamorous décor pays homage to the building's past. White linens form-fit to orderly rows of tables in the spacious, auditorium dining room, accented by red napkins that draw diners' eyes to the stage's sweeping crimson curtain. Live swing music on Wednesday nights also works to uphold the historic theater's original mission, settings restaurant patrons and displaced playground buffs into food-fueled motion.

Reviews

Fracas has been featured in Cleveland Scene and the Sun News. Five Metromix reviewers give it an average of four stars.

• The short rib and the shank are some of the best meat we've ever eaten, and the sides are as interesting as the main attraction in each dish; I especially loved the crunchy/not crunchy potato salad combined with the asparagus and the pickled onion. – LyleJ, Metromix
• If you really want a spactualar [sic] place to eat and really enjoy your total eating experience go to Fracas trust me you will not regret it. – Joellen, Metromix