So what sort of lunch can you get in your city for $5? Pictures are helpful but not necissary. Here is a decent list from the Thillist for San Diego though it leaves out several of my favorites such as burritos, Banh Mi, and pho. I wanted to include chicken pot pies from the Chicken Pie Shop but they recently raised their prices to $5.95 so they didn't make the cheap eats cut off. http://www.thrillist.com/eat/san-die...-diego-under-5 Show us what you got, Wordforge. What would you get for lunch which costs $5 or less?
Well, in London you can get a buffet in Chinatown for £5. You used to be able to use the all you can eat buffet in Pizza Hut for £5 as well, but IO think that's gone up now. Another place I used to visit was called Fuzzy's Grub and they used to do a full English Breakfast or full roast dinner in a doorstep sandwich for £5 (depending on the time of day). I heard it's gone downhill now though. These days street food is the new think in London and there's tons of choice, from American style BBQ, to proper burgers, cheesesteaks, all types of foreign cuisine, and classic British fare for a decent price. Then there are places like the Wasabi chain, who do budget lunchtime Japanese foods (hot and cold), burrito places, burger bars (from the garbage to boutique) and so on. Then there are just regular sandwich shops or chains like Pret a Manger. You name it, you can pretty much find it in London for a decent price, especially with the aforementioned street food boom. It's really just the restaurants that are going to start charging you quite a bit more.
The street food boom really is sweeping the western world right now. A generation ago people questioned it's cleanliness and cities tried to shut them down preferring brick and mortar restaurants who paid property taxes but all that has changed now. People like that you can get great food cheap while economists have figured out street food is a key step to enabling new business start ups in the restaurant field. Small time guys can test the waters without a lot of money, perfect their recipes and business plans, and even build up a customer base prior to plunking down big money on a formal restaurant.
I have to say the Costco 1/4 pound Polish dog with a drink for $1.50 remains the gold standard in ultra cheap eats. You get a quality Costco hot dog on their house bun, all the toppings you want (I normally put onions, sauerkraut, and pickle relish with mustard) and a 20 oz soft drink with free refills. That's cheap but better quality than fast food.
You can get a decent sized teriyaki chicken bowl down the road from my office for $3.95 or 10 pieces of sushi for $4.95 - you're practically making money.
http://sdpieshop.menutoeat.com Actually, looking at their menu there are still some pretty good deals at the Chicken Pie Shop; the place has been a San Diego cheap eats institution for 60 years. A large chicken pot pie, gravy, roll & butter, and mashed potatoes for $5.60. So slightly over $5 but not bad.
Yup. Most Chinese Buffets in the US do an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet for about $4.99, which goes up to $7.99 or more for the Dinner Buffet after 6pmor so.
http://m.yelp.com/biz/pho-hoa-san-diego A little bit out of the way as it is all the way down on El Cajon Blvd but I do like their broth, large selection of veggies, and decent cuts of meat in the pho. All for $4.95 for a large bowl and they will throw in free tea to drink. Most places are in the $7-$8 range these days for a large bowl of pho but this place has held the line on price plus it seems like everyone who works there is in the same family.
There's also Asian Express, you can get Chinese food at $1 per scoop. For $5 you can get rice, fried or white, and a couple of choices (mainly chicken). From what I remember, sesame chicken, japan chicken, orange chicken, beef and peppers, general tso's chicken, sweet and sour chicken, and a few others. The $5 will fill the takeout box.
Wow, I can't think of any that cheap around here. There are several good ones but they are all over $10.
Too bad for you. Granted, a couple of the local buffets went up to $5.99 or $6.99 for lunch, but they're exceptions to the rule. Most in the area are still right around $4.99 during the lunch hour.
When you pay £5 for a Chinese buffet here you're basically getting run of the mill stuff. The better buffets do cost more.
At McDonalds, if a team bus stops there for the kids to eat, one coach and the bus driver get a free meal. I don't care for McDonalds but free food is free food. Though more often than not I just use that opportunity to get food for kids who can't afford it. I may be a lousy teacher and a crummy coach, but no kid is going to go hungry at meal time if I can help it.
I just don't eat a lot at any one meal. So I wouldn't get my money's worth at an all-you-can-eat. Plus if carnivorous dinosaurs ever attack, they are coming for all those fat/slow slobs first. I don't want to be anywhere near that drama!
I don't base my food choices on the lowest possible price. I know where the best places are in my local area and I'm willing to pay a bit more for them.
Mostly true, but there is a fantastic Indian buffet a few blocks from my house. $7.99 for all you can eat, and it is excellent. I'm just not around at lunch time often enough.
For $5? Here you can get a slice of pizza and a 20 oz. soda pop at our neighborhood convenience store. You can get an order of crab rangoon, and a can of soda at our Chinese restaurant, or you can get two cheeseburgers, an order of small fries, and a large drink at McDonald's.
There's an Indian place like that a few blocks from my job. The food is spectacular even though it's a buffet. Unfortunately I almost never have time to eat lunch there.
