The first European explorers set sail with hopes of finding new, exotic spices to placate the palates of epicurious monarchs, but all they found were heaps of inedible gold. Pick up where they left off by broadening your mouth's horizons with today's Groupon: for $5, you get $10 worth of fresh baked treats at Kolache Factory.

Kolache Factory tweaks generations-old Eastern European recipes to whip up fresh, warm, pastries filled with sweet and savory fillings. Starting with a slightly sweet dough that is made from scratch every day, the Old World wizards whip up 25 different types of these traditional treats, tucking the flaky foundation around fillings of fresh fruit, meats, cheeses, and the occasional suckling pig. Wake up tired taste buds with morning mouthfuls of bacon, egg, and cheese kolache ($2.37 each) and broccoli, rice, and cheese ($1.39 each), or sample from savory un-savories such as peach, apple, cherry ($1.07) or chocolate cream cheese ($1.18). Ham and cheese ($1.39 each) and polish sausage ($2.99) make for hearty helpings during breakfast and lunch, while a philly cheesesteak kolache can serve as a filling circular snack ($1.83), or perfectly sized coaster for a jalapeño and cheddar cheese kolache ($1.39). For a nonspherical bite, Kolache Factory also serves up fresh cinnamon rolls ($1.50), cinnamon twists ($1.60), croissants ($3.08–$3.23), and sweet slabs of strudel niks ($1.72).

Reviews

Three Yelpers give Kolache Factory a 4.5-star average, 90 percent of Urbanspooners recommend it, and it has more than 4,000 Facebook fans:

• Steaming hot, soft and sweet dough filled with savory or sweet fillings. I really liked the breakfast ones filled with bacon, cheese and egg. – Soup Fork, Urbanspoon
• Kolaches are the best Saturday morning food! Kolaches (savory) look like dinner rolls but are stuffed with scrambled eggs, meat, cheese, etc. – Liz M., Yelp, 11/10/10