Many American bistros differentiate themselves from their European counterparts by serving region-specific dishes and replacing waiters with Bruce Springsteen. Satisfy a hungry heart with today's Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of American bistro fare and drinks during dinner at Pipers Cafe.

Pipers Cafe captures taste buds' undivided attention with seasonal dishes made from scratch, salads drizzled with 11 dressings churned in-house, and spirits from a full bar. Garden salads gussied up with a honey-lemon-garlic ranch dressing accompany the chef's signature panko-fried colossal shrimp, which are dusted with a house-made bread-crumb blend and seared to a glistening golden brown ($20).

Patrons clamor like hamburglars coming off one-month juice cleanses for old-fashioned swiss steak, a hand-cut slab of Angus beef steeped in red-wine beef stock for hours on end ($17). To forge Pipers's original stir-fry, chefs plunder gardens for 10 different fresh vegetables to toss in Cajun spices or oriental seasonings ($13 for vegetables only) and partner with chicken ($16), shrimp ($18), or an unpredictable, fast-talking cop.