The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but to make it that far you have to be disguised as baked goods. Don a delicious culinary costume with today's Groupon: for $5, you get $10 worth of baked goods at Kolache Factory in McAllen.

Kolache Factory sates handheld cravings with its sweet and savory sachets stuffed with more than 25 flavorful fillings. The pastry purveyor's innovative bakers put a tasty twist on the traditional fruit-and-poppy-seed kolaches that originated in Eastern Europe, packing them with delectable stuffings, such as pepperoni and mushroom ($1.65 each, $17.82/dozen), bacon, egg, and cheese ($2.19 each, $23.65/dozen), and sausage, jalapeño, and cheese ($1.45 each, $15.66/dozen). Greet the slowly receding swirling darkness of morning with nibbles of sausage and gravy kolaches ($1.69 each, $18.25/dozen), or take a bite-size break with one of seven fruit options ($1.09 each, $11.77/dozen).

Sweet teeth can find solace in the sugary folds and candied caverns of Kolache Factory's sweeter selection, such as cinnamon twists—a double helix of sweet dough and cinnamon—and nut and raisin rolls (both $1.39 each, $15.01/dozen). The kolache of the month⎯February's was strawberry cream cheese with chocolate⎯lets diners partake in a tasty treat for a limited time before it vanishes back into the pantheon of mythical pastries.

Reviews

The Kolache Factory franchise was included in Modern Baking magazine's list of Top 50 foodservice bakeries in the U.S. Seventy-seven percent of Urbanspooners like the McAllen location, and three Yelpers give the same location a 4.5-star average.

• Consistent all the way through. – Sixto S., Yelp, 12/14/10
• Great place for food to go! Consistently good food and very reasonable prices. – Carmine B., Yelp, 9/25/09