Hungry stomachs are forced to contemplate cooking their own food while our brains are busy plotting ways to make Hollywood starlets fall in love with our ungainly cousins. Quell an insurgent appetite with today's Groupon: for $7, you get $15 worth of food and drink at Rosie's Diner, located in Rockford. Today's Groupon is not valid toward merchandise or Rosie's mini-golf course. It is valid toward both the diner and the adjacent sports bar.

Rosie's Diner's classic pink-neon sign flickered on the first episode of the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and the restaurant's throwback environs and savory comfort food continue to entice locals and road-trippers alike. The diverse menu brims with traditional diner delectables and family recipes whipped up from scratch. Greasers can reach for the hand-battered and finger-lickin' onion rings ($3.50 half order, $5 full order) while the Food Network–featured Cobblestone french toast can please sweet teeth with its thick slices of homemade cobblestone bread infused with cinnamon, walnuts, apples, and brown sugar ($7.75 full stack, $6.25 short stack). Long-estranged quintuplets can reunite over the family-recipe meatloaf ($10), simmering seductively alongside mashed potatoes slathered with homemade gravy. Malt-shop memoirists can nostalgify their nourishment by pairing the tasty, fresh Angus Rosie burger ($6) with a perfectly blended milkshake ($4.25).

Metal siding, ruby-red booths, and classic counter seating underscore the authentic drive-in aura at Rosie's, originally opened in New Jersey in 1946 and then relocated to Rockford in the early 1990s. Owner Jonelle Woods recently installed an adjacent sports bar bedecked with plasma-screen televisions, a pool table, and a trophy case of beers and liquors. In keeping with the drive-in tradition, Rosie's frequently hosts events such as Truck Night, Bike Night, and Jeep Night, attracting engine enthusiasts and Optimus Primes alike.

Reviews

Rosie's Diner was featured on the Food Network program Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and was featured by the Grand Rapids Business Journal. Nine Yelpers give it an average of 3.5 stars, four Insider Pagers give it a four-star average, and seven TripAdvisors give it an average of 3.5 owl eyes:

• The food was good. The onion rings were some of the best I've ever tasted. – Cameron R., Yelp
• Onion Rings & Malts were amazing! We ordered "diner food" of burgers, fries, rings & malts. VERY good! Service was speedy, polite & professional. – Gavin O., Insider Pages
• Her sandwich was the BEST BLT I've ever had! The two bites I got were heaven: perfectly fried bacon, fresh tomato, lettuce still crisp, etc. – matt4stir, TripAdvisor