Meat, the handsomest of the nine food groups, gets its good looks from spice rubs, tenderizers, and long soaks in anti-aging marinades. Ogle seductive slabs with today's Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of barbecue at Rooster's Steak House in Baytown.

The meaty menu at Rooster's Steak House entices eaters with barbecued, fried, and baked comfort fare. The Rooster special mingles morsels of steak or chicken with onions and sweet peppers ($12.95), and the chicken-fried chicken sandwich ($6.95) confounds diners wondering which of the chickens came first. Round up a barbecue combo—which transports up to three selections of chicken, sausage, brisket, or ribs ($7.95–$11.95) from plate to palate—or swim against barbecued currents with the baked tilapia, breaded in tortilla chips and spritzed with lime ($8.95). A fleet of steaks rounds out the menu, all cut daily with accurately thrown ninja stars, and today's Groupon also grants table tenants the option of feasting upon the succulence of the weekly specials.

Reddish-brown hues slather the dining room walls, disguising sticky remnants from barbecued dart tournaments. Texas flags, memorabilia, and neon signs bedeck the walls, and red- and white-checkered tablecloths shield tables from the explosions emitted by hot peppers.