Dining out with friends can foster healthy relationships that might otherwise be limited to impersonal group texts or overly personal bath-time visits. Get a bite in person with a person with today's Groupon: for $12, you get $25 worth of upscale southern fare for dinner at Roux.

Roux's creative chefs tantalize palates with a menu of reenvisioned regional cuisine. Like an android replica of William Faulkner, the bill of fare tastefully revamps beloved southern classics, satisfying appetites with appetizers of buttery fried Gulf crab claws ($12) or entrees of shrimp and grits crafted from local Oakview farms corn and spicy andouille sausage ($21). Fall-vegetable pasta showcases seasonal veggies cloaked in ladlefuls of house-made tomato sauce ($16), and roasted autumn chicken pals around with yukon- and sweet-potato gratin and braised greens. Guests can cap off feasts with dulcet desserts, such as New Orleans bread pudding ($6), which gets a zesty kick from lemon sauce and a velvety karate chop from chantilly cream.

Nestled in historic Cloverdale Village, Roux exudes an air of old-timey charm with patio-side seating and a glass-paneled façade. Inside, pillowy booths cushion diners, and natural wood accents, turn-of-the-century photographs, and a licensed phrenologist connect visitors with times gone by.