Any farmer will tell you that a rooster is the only alarm clock that can double as breakfast and, when necessary, transportation, a hat, and a close confidant. Today's deal for Rooster's Wood-Fired Kitchen will double for pretty much any meal you want: for $20, you get $40 worth of gourmet Southern-infused cuisine at the SouthPark establishment. Since half the fun of Rooster's is watching the food get wood fired and tossed by a tight team of expert chefs in the restaurant's open kitchen, this Groupon is good for dine-in only.

Founded by Jim Noble of Noble's Restaurant renown, the unassuming striped awnings and pale bricks at Rooster’s conceal an unconventional dining interior dominated by a wall of wine on one side and a wall of stuffed roosters on the other. The dinner menu offers Noble's tomato basil bisque ($7) as a soothing opener to a charcuterie sampler ($18) of chicken-liver mousse ($6), house-cured duck ($7), house-smoked salmon ($8), and other cured delicacies. Gourmands with a taste for heartier fare can skip ahead to sweet potato gnocchi with hazelnut pesto ($10), rib-eye filet ($22), or spitfire-roasted Carolina BBQ pork shoulder ($9) served with a side of Anson Mills grits with bacon ($6). All entrees pair well with assorted mushrooms fresh from the woods ($10), fire-roasted asparagus fresh from the garden ($7), artisanal cheese fresh from the artisanal cheese tree.

Fans of mutant hybrid meals, on the other hand, can dispel last night's debauchery with a brunch menu featuring diurnal delights such as smoked salmon terrine (with herb cream cheese, arugula, capers, red onions, bagel croutons, and a hard-boiled farm egg, $12) and fried Grateful Growers duck eggs (with grilled shrimp, asparagus, pancetta lardons, and shrimp buerre blanc, $14). You can also use your Groupon on the lunch menu.

Bring along three friends or more and combine two Groupons for $80 worth of food. For added fun, try to guess which rooster on the wall you're eating, then give it a name and an elaborate backstory.

Reviews

The Charlotte Observer has featured Rooster's, saying:

• Pan-fried corn, with lots of pepper, is a classic, simple offering (Noble's wife's grandmother's recipe), and perfect each time I've gotten it. Pan-roasted sugar snaps: ditto. Rotisserie chicken boasts juiciness; wood-fired-oven-done pizzas are small, thin and tasty (check out the speck - a cured ham - and cheese). Beef short ribs melt; a pancetta, mozzarella and arugula sandwich shines; spinach gnocchi acquits itself well. – Helen Schwab, Charlotte Observer

OpenTable users give Rooster’s a 4.4-star average, and Yelpers give it a three-star average. Three Insider Pagers offer it a four-star average,and TripAdvisors give it an average of four owl eyes:

• The waiter was professional and friendly and very service oriented… – OpenTable user who dined on 12/05/2009
• Very few can deny that the desserts are awesome. Best pecan pie I ever had, and the pistachio gelato is creamy, with a perfectly balanced blend of sweet and salty flavors. – pollyjean23, TripAdvisor