Prepared directly at the table, hibachi cuisine is the freshest way to eat food that doesn't involve snacking on germinating pumpkin seeds or dining inside an oven. Patience is a vice in the world of today's Groupon: for $25, you get $50 worth of hibachi dinner at Tairyo Japanese Steakhouse in Lisle.

Tairyo Japanese Steakhouse's team of tableside chefs prepares hibachi-style cuisine right before patrons' eager eyes. Diners study the menu and perform tongues stretches in anticipation as their table's built-in hibachi grill heats up to maximum firepower. Savory smells waft across the dining area before darting knives signal the completed searing of 9 ounces of center-cut tenderloin ($30). Sea scallops dance across the grill and dive onto plates ($21), and tuna steak sizzles and browns ($21). The vegetarian dinner furnishes palates with grilled veggies so they don't have to get their fix of greens by carving up Kermit dolls ($16).