Pasta became a staple of Italian fare after Emperor Caligula famously elevated a plate of lasagna to the Roman Senate. Feast on political recipes with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of Italian cuisine for dinner at Luciano's Italian Brick Oven in White Oak. Dinner service begins at 3 p.m.

The chefs at Luciano's Italian Brick Oven whip up prepared-to-order Italian cuisine with house-made meatballs and tomato sauce made from scratch. Divvy up a 14-inch alfredo pizza ($12.25) or embark on an archeological expedition through the lasagna's layers of cheese, lean ground meat, and house-made tomato sauce ($11.30). Diners revel in the sea’s tasty bounty with the shrimp scampi sautéed in lemon-butter sauce ($15.55) and sink forks into the flaky, breaded, and fried eggplant parmesan ($11.95). The chicken marsala, lightly sautéed in marsala wine and fresh mushrooms ($15.50), is as tasty as a framed chicken-marsala portrait is tasteful.