The laminated menus often found in diners can prove useful for repelling errant condiments, checking teeth for parsley, and proving once and for all that dining companions are vampires. Embrace menu resourcefulness with today's Groupon: for $9, you get $18 worth of American diner cuisine at The Penguin Drive-In.

Featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and named Best American Cuisine in Charlotte by CBS Charlotte, The Penguin Drive-In has been satiating stomachs since 1954 with a menu that starts with hand-dipped, lightly battered Famous Penguin fried pickles ($3.99). Diners can dig into the Sweet Caroline, a vinegar-based pulled-pork barbecue sandwich topped with slaw ($5.99), or quell hunger with the Penguin burger ($5.49), featuring pimento cheese and fried pickles resting atop a beef patty island. For dessert, the funnel cake fries ($3.99) give customers a little taste of the carnival without the inconvenience of having to eat it in the dining room of distorted mirrors.

With walls lined in black-and-white photographs, cheery red tables situated around the dining room, and a ceiling dotted with vinyl records, the Penguin harkens back to a time when Dwight D. Eisenhower was both the president and the most beloved professional wrestler. Live music on Friday and Saturday evenings will tickle the eardrums while the grub fills taste buds with glee.