Pioneering Italians were not only the first to put tomatoes in cuisine, they were also the first people to take photographs of themselves pretending to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Delight in their inventiveness with today's Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of authentic Italian fare at Pallotta's Italian Grill, located in Woodridge Shopping Center, across the North Freeway from The Woodlands Mall.

Voted by KHOU 11 viewers one of the 11 Best Italian Restaurants in the Houston Area, Pallotta's Italian Grill transforms famished throat streams into flourishing culinary canals with a menu stocked with gourmet gondolas of savory Italian cuisine. Start supper with the zuppa and salad ($7.29), which gives gourmands a choice of Pallotta's minestrone or creamy tomato basil soup, as well as either a cut green dinner salad or Ceasar salad. Reminisce about days when the earth was flat and covered in toppings with a selection of pizzas ($8.29-$10.99) or partake in sandwiches ($8.99) for midday snacking. Seafood swarmed dishes such as shrimp marsala with creamy marsala wine sauce, amber butter, portobello mushrooms, and angel-hair pasta ($19.99), convert the stomach into the famously appetizing Italian Barrier Reef, while lasagna Bolognese ($9.99) and eggplant parmesan ($13.99) represent Italian classics. Filling out the menu are decadent desserts with Weight Watcher–friendly entrees for competing over the highly coveted human appetite.

Pallotta's Italian Grill embraces malnourished travelers in an environment that is classic, yet inviting. Elegantly curved lighting fixtures cast meals in a hushed amber glow and a jungle of potted ferns create ambience and provide moveable disguises in case of a cartoon chase scene.