Bistros are remarkable in that they somehow manage to be both fancy and casual at the same time, much like a necktie with Taz on it. Feel gussied up without too much fuss with today's Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of contemporary comfort fare and drinks at Mint Julep Bistro & Lounge on Sparkleberry Crossing Drive.

Mint Julep Bistro & Lounge twists contemporary Southern cuisine into a creative spiral of succulent sustenance. The menu kicks taste buds awake with soul food, salads, and 10-inch pizzas snatched from the fiery clutches of a brick oven. Collect a cohort of colleagues and start with the shrimp and sausage gumbo ($6.99), served over rice. Then soothe insatiated appetites with an entree of bone-in pork chops grilled with apple and onion chutney and served with garlic mashed potatoes ($14.99), or sirloin steak lovingly marinated in bourbon and brown sugar and accompanied by sides such as Cajun coleslaw, collard greens, or sweet potato fries (choice of two sides, $14.99). Minty greens highlight the bar area, where customers can cool off overheated neck piping with a signature mint julep or sort through diverse drinks, including beer and more than 20 domestic and imported wines, such as the Layer Cake shiraz from Australia and Berringer's white zinfandel.

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