If we didn't fill our stomachs with food, we'd risk them filling themselves with whatever was nearby, such as paperweights, parking meters, or still-life portraits of fruit bowls. Protect your vital organs from oil-painted peaches with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of food and drinks at The Collective, located in the Meatpacking District.

The Collective unleashes an eclectic menu of American comfort food favorites with savory spins. Test out experimental titanium teeth on starters such as chicken-n-waffles with maple gravy ($12) or a crab cake with a spicy rémoulade ($14). The barbecue-spiced rib eye partners its fries with red-pepper ketchup ($29), while the garlic shrimp with lemon butter ($25) provides double protection against vampires with shellfish allergies. Pastry chef Ashley Palma's desserts ($8 each) tame taste buds with treats such as coconut-cream donuts or the baked Alaskan ding dong, an elegant Texas-sheet-cake update on the hockey-puck-shaped snack. Red wines, white wines, and cocktails add soothing splashes to beatific bites.

The Collective's interior, brought to life by the design firm ICRAVE, uses discarded items and recycled materials to create a pleasant patchwork décor—lounge in a chair made from "Walk/Don't Walk" pedestrian-crossing signs or marvel at a graffiti-blanketed subway car façade against a wall. Host to celebrities and fake TV doctors such as Drew Barrymore, Spike Lee, and Neil Patrick Harris, the restaurant provides a perfect destination for diners looking to gather with friends, celebrate a special Boggle victory, or simply give their palate a playful tickle.

Dine-in only. Reservations are required after 6 p.m. and subject to availability.

Reviews

The Collective has been featured in New York magazine, and though Yelpers are mixed about their experiences, they enjoy the unique ambience and give it a three-star average:

• There's a decided sexiness to the house style: candles glow from niches in brick walls, soothing sands and browns dominate the color scheme, high ceilings offset low seating, and wrought-iron details run throughout. – New York
• Location is obviously perfect, the music was great, decor was different, and the drinks were mhm good! – Maria T., Yelp