Hors d'oeuvres served on toothpicks add elegance to an event, whereas appetizers served on icepicks only add a cumbersome, tooth-threatening element of danger. Avoid pick faux pas with help from today's Groupon: for $50, you get $100 worth of catered modern comfort fare from Memphis Catering & Events.

Although he specializes in American comfort fare, Executive Chef Diego Velasco wields a packed cabinet of culinary styles and spices, elevating meetings and cocktail parties to a higher gastronomic plane with custom menus crafted from many fresh, locally sourced ingredients.. Midday meals get a savory infusion from the corporate-catering lunch menu, which includes a signature sandwich tray ($54 for 16 half-sandwiches)—a selection of up to four of the various bread-bookended taste-fests, which include a brisket po boy. The hot lunch buffet ($14.95/person for 15–50 guests, $13.50/person for 50+ guests) offers a flavorful cornucopia of meatloaf, ribs, and cornmeal-fried catfish. Appetizers by the dozen grace the à la carte menu and include the grilled scallop lollipops with saffron aioli ($26), and the mashed-potato pancakes with American caviar ($22), a laid-back affront to the snobbishly monocled Caspian variety. Chef Velasco's epicurean enthusiasm runs rampant throughout the entree offerings, which include buttermilk fried chicken, and grilled leg of lamb accented by pineapple-mint vinaigrette.

Recycled, eco-friendly serving materials are used whenever possible and aim to make catering service as friendly to the earth as it is to the taste buds. The house-bottled barbecue sauce and spice rub add a dose of Memphis magic akin to brick-dust seasoning skimmed from Graceland. Although not included with this Groupon, Memphis Catering & Events also offers alcoholic-beverage service, which can include Southern-influenced specialty cocktails, various wines, or a martini bar. Groupon customers can choose to pick up catering orders at Memphis at the Santora in Santa Ana or have orders delivered to Long Beach or Orange County (delivery charges apply and vary based on location, usually ranging from $20 to $30).