In a pinch, taco shells can double as acceptable hermit-crab homes, change purses, and envelopes for mailing time-sensitive correspondence written in hot sauce. Airmail delicious ransom notes directly to your mouth with today’s flavorful Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of contemporary Mexican fare at La Condesa on Second Street. This Groupon is not valid for alcohol, happy hour, or other promotions.

A semifinalist for the 2010 Best New Restaurant James Beard Award, La Condesa showcases the culinary virtuosity of chef Rene Ortiz, who has worked at some of the continent’s most renowned restaurants and is able to cure an entire pig in one hour with just a salt shaker and a Sunday-edition newspaper. Diners can savor a bouillabaisse of locally sourced ingredients from the eclectic lunch menu, featuring soups, salads, tortas, tacos, and other entrees, served by a friendly, all-knowing wait staff. Settle down impatient appetites and keep tongues from suddenly running away to frolic in a grassy meadow with small bites such as the acapulco ceviche with snapper, salsa bruja valentina, avocado, tomato, and citrus ($10). From there, flirtatious dining companions can play sensual games of Hungry Hungry Hippos while waiting for cubanita tortas with roasted pork belly, ham, arugula, and swiss cheese ($12) or an entree of carne asada—wood-grilled hanger steak with roasted potatoes, cebollitas, and chimichurri ($18). Along the way to the feast's sweet finish of torta de queso de cabra, soak in La Condesa's strikingly scenic atmosphere of vibrantly colorful artwork, comfy leather booths, and lustrous wood accents.

There's nothing like a delightful dining experience featuring a smattering of spicy Mexican cuisine, which is a great way to separate the men from the boys, the women from the girls, and the girls from boys if they get too rowdy at coed canoe camp. Call ahead to make a reservation, then engage in noteworthy noshing with today’s tasty Groupon to La Condesa.

Reviews

La Condesa was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant and won four Austin Chronicle Restaurant Poll awards, including Best New Restaurant, in 2009. La Condesa was also recently named among the 50 Best Mexican Restaurants in Texas Monthly magazine. The restaurant has received a great deal of other press, including reviews in the Austin Chronicle and the Austin American-Statesman. More than 210 Yelpers give it a 3.5-star average:

• They're actually resetting the bar for any eatery in Austin. – Claudia Alarcón, Austin Chronicle
• …guava-glazed Costillas de Puerco are some of the best barbecued pork ribs in a city full of pedigreed pork ribs… – Mike Sutter, Austin American-Statesman