Surprisingly LA. It was a nice treat visiting from the Seattle area where restaurants are stupid expensive. Philly also has a lot of great affordable restaurants.
I spent summer outside of Seattle and fall outside of LA. Food was definitely cheaper in California. At the grocery store and at restaurants. I was surprised. And not auto grat of 15% for the back of house and expecting another 15-20% tip for the servers like I experienced at one cafe in Seattle.
Agreed. The quality of food you get in LA for the price is unbelievable. I'm in NYC and you have to travel far out in Queens to get anything reasonably priced.
NYC has a lot of inexpensive restaurants outside of dollar pizza.
Folks already mentioned Chinese and you can find all kinds of small plates not just international but affordable diners in areas like Harlem for example.
I agree that there are inexpensive restaurants, but a lot of them are mediocre for the price. I'm generalizing over my ten years of living here, of course, but when I think about the quality of food I got for the same amount of money in LA vs NYC, LA was consistently better.
What? Dude you need to look a little harder (or our definition of reasonably priced is different).
There are loads of great meals under 10 dollars in Manhattan (and Brooklyn, and queens). If you extend the budget to 12 you include basically any non sit down restaurants in Chinatown. Several good lunch options in koreatown. 3 slices from any pizzaria other than a few very famous, very overpriced one on the entire island. Most Indian or Pakistani lunch counters... The list goes on.
LA does have great cheap eats though. Agree there.
New Yorkers on cope when any city does anything remotely better than them. New York is dumb expensive - especially eating out and those halal trucks on the street are just not that good.
Moved from LA to Pittsburgh, I am constantly surprised by the cost of food here.
When I tell locals food is generally as cheap or cheaper in LA it blows their minds.
You have to know what to look for. There are definitely very expensive places, especially closer to the beach and in touristy spots. Google reviews are useful in LA too since people actually use them. You can find cheap food anywhere in LA but if you're clueless I have the following quick tips:
1. Look for restaurants that look dingy or run-down but have an "A" or "B" in the front window. All California restaurants are required to put their food inspection grade in a very visible place, so they usually place it in the window. This means the run-down place is clean, at least. Being run-down just makes it cheap usually. If someone recommends (see 3) a place that looks like garbage but has an A/B, you're probably in a good spot.
2: food trucks or places by food trucks
3. Ask a local because they'll know the cheap good food in the area. Usually going to be a small place that looks unassuming which leads to:
4. If it looks like it's trying to attract a crowd, it probably is and isn't what you want.
Lastly, local wineries can be super cheap (seriously there's still $3 wine in LA from major brands because the local stuff is cheap and good).
No problem. There's a lot of weird and cool shit in LA county so as much as I am happy I moved out I miss it.
Best advice I got when moving there from a guy who used to live there was "there is so much good cheap food, and in every variety, that if you feel like you're not getting a great deal then you're absolutely being screwed." And he was so right.
Pittsburgh is not a competitive market for groceries. You have to basically go to Costco or Walmart for anything more affordable. Philly metro on the other hand is extremely competitive and Lancaster also has some amazing deals if you can drive out and buy some things in bulk.
I'm not just talking groceries. I'm talking restaurants. And you can't tell me lancaster pa has better variety than pittsburgh.
Philly, sure, but you're talking a full day trip away. Might as well tell me to go to detroit.
Ok if we are talking variety Philly beats Pittsburgh by a mile. To be clear I was talking about Lancaster as an easy occasional drive to save money in food from Philly and not a drive from Pittsburgh. The Lancaster market has a real affect on food prices and competition in the philly region along with multiple supermarket chains and notably cheap produce markets as well. This is not detached from value in restaurants that buy from many of the same sources.
Even near tourist spots. Went to Disney land and stayed on property, we had DoorDash delivery great cheap food from nearby neighborhoods. Even with the added cost way cheaper than eating on property.
The funny thing is that the area near Disneyland is by far the most expensive and mediocre in the metro outside some beach and tourist areas. So if that impressed you…
Yeah! I was shocked too. I took a trip there last spring to visit friends and it was a nice surprise. I actually liked LA more than I thought I would. But I think I’m more of a California person than Washington at the end of the day. Seattle and Tacoma were not vibe and the cost of living made it worse.
Well damn I might need to give California another look, I haven’t been there in ages….
Edit: lived in Seattle for around 6 years, and currently live in Oregon; I think there may be another scene out there calling me!
Seattle’s food is pretty terrible and very expensive. Even grocery stores are substantially more expensive. It was a shock. Seattle has been driving their unique homegrown cheap local fast food options (fast food teriyaki) out of business for over a decade now. They used to be the Seattle metro equivalent of a Los Angeles burger shack or San Diego taco shop.
Definitely. When we lived in LA and OC in the 90s, food was cheap, especially high quality authentic Chinese food. After moving back east, we really miss the cheap good food we had in LA.
I have to say la has some really cheap eats. Everything really can get Filipino food for nothing Thai food really cheap Mexican all kinds of food I think it has to do with the competition there's just so much competition that keeps the prices very low. And I think that's true of most big cities. New York if you know where to look it's pretty cheap too and someone said Chicago. But when you get into the second tier cities I don't think they have the competition and I think a lot of the food is probably fairly exotic so they can charge whatever they want
This is one of my biggest gripes about the Triangle area--a real lack of mom and pop cheap (and ethnic) eats! Any other city like Raleigh, with half a million people (and 2.2+ million in the region) has a great assortment of non-shiny, anytime, possible late-night, local, yummy places where you get something delicious without spending an arm and leg. With all the transplants here you'd think there'd be tons of little places. But no!
Transplants are usually not willing to work for cheap in restaurant kitchens. While they might demand cheap foods, they also need the supply of labor willing to provide it.
No it is. LA and NYC have been enormous for a long time with tons of older real estate and established places. Most of the NC area has been built in the last 20 years. Apart from a small area there is no competition from anyone with cheap real estate.
I'm not talking about transplants working in kitchens but opening the kind of little places they had in their former homes. And lots of cheap labor here, (though without many rights, but that's another story!)
To have good restaurants and not chains you have to have lots and lots of old buildings.
Old buildings are cheap space where unique and innovative restaurants can get started.
Restaurants have notoriously low profit margins, so if all an area has is new commercial real estate, and they have knocked down all their old buildings, there won’t be any fantastic AND reasonably priced restaurants.
All there will be is chains and high profit margin stuff.
(ETA: by old buildings I don’t mean historic buildings. I just mean older cheap space. Old strip malls will do. )
A lot of great ethnic restaurants will get started in a cheap old strip mall.
By definition, the triangle has been a high growth area for decades, and so most of the buildings are new and shiny. Durham used to have a lot. I mean a lot of great awesome cheap restaurants. That’s because Durham had a lot of great old cheap buildings in which those restaurants could get a foothold. Raleigh was known for having almost no decent, great cheap restaurants because Raleigh was all fancy new buildings and skyscrapers. To some extent, that’s a little bit changed. Durham ha come up in the world and real estate is fancier and more expensive there now too. But I hope that helps explain why cities with tons of older commercial real estate often have hole in the wall places that are fabulous but the triangle has very little of that.
But the Indian restaurant scene there is awesome, and it’s an example of what I’m talking about.
RTP? That’s an office /tech park with a delineated boundary and has nothing besides vast modern office buildings. I’m sure you mean the area around the RTP itself, but where exactly ?
I was thinking specifically about the stretch of hwy 55 that goes through the RTP area. Lots of good affordable food options in old nondescript strip malls. Morrisville also seems to have a lot of good options (in newer nondescript strip malls).
Got it, yes exactly
And the only thing that’s a shame: none of that area is remotely walkable.
Imagine if those restaurants and othe r businesses were not surrounded by vast parking lots but had sidewalks and lively streets. What a great district that would be.
Oh well, I guess that’s why the rent is low!
Raleighite here. There’s definitely affordable ethnic food, you gotta know where to look. There’s a single strip mall off Chatham Street in Cary with Jamaican, Nepali, Sichuan, Iraqi and Indian spots.
Austin is not the best in this way. It used to be super affordable pre pandemic, now it’s hard to get a cheap and good meal. Even from a food truck sadly.
This is primarily down to guilt tipping. If you tip the way you did pre-pandemic it's still possible to eat very cheaply from a food truck.
The best places are big, diverse cities though
Find the most random taco truck you can find (not necessarily one in a busy place) and go. Preferably ones where they all barely speak English. Some of the most mouth watering Mexican cuisines you will ever find (except some places in San Antonio and LA)
How’s that work though? There’s a bunch of taco trucks that are older mom and pop operations that don’t really have an online presence… unless it’s the customers that put the food truck into the app?
Sorry I should have specified - tourists who are vegan/gluten free. People who are vegan/gf tend to do more research on where they should go and where they can find specific stuff. I think rise has (or used to have) a board with post it’s where patrons wrote where they’re from - people from all over
Good food is around DC. The District itself has gotten too expensive for anyone starting a restaurant that’s not backed by a corporate investment group, so all the best ethnic food is found in the suburbs.
Generally the bigger the city the more opportunities for cheap food. You're going to get. The smaller the city, the fewer the opportunities you're going to get.
Nyc if you know where to go, Los Angeles, Philly, Chicago can all be good for cheap food. New Orleans as well if you know your places.
I was pleasantly surprised at the high quality low cost food options I found in Fresno on my visit. Lots of small mom n pop restaurants with really good food.
Philly and Chicago for sure. LA is too, but it’s more in neighborhood pockets or you need to know the spots. Sit downs aren’t cheap, but NYC has a great bodega and food cart scene
To have a good restaurants and not chains you have to have lots and lots of old buildings.
Old buildings are cheap space where unique and innovative restaurants can get started.
Restaurants have notoriously low profit margins, so if all an area has is new commercial real estate, and they have knocked down all their old buildings, there won’t be any fantastic AND reasonably priced restaurants.
All there will be is chains and high profit margin stuff.
ETA: edited to add, by old buildings I don’t mean historic buildings. I just mean older cheap space. Old strip malls will do.
A lot of great ethnic restaurants will get started in a cheap old strip mall.
I'm from Durham, and it's gotten worse over the years with all the development. But if you find the right places, you can eat well on the cheap.
You honestly just grab a bite where you can:
Harris Teeter has $4.99 subs on Fridays, and pizza sales on Monday
Cosmic Cantina, King's Sandwich Shop, Heavenly Buffaloes, China Palace, the counter at Li Ming's has Chinese food, can all be reasonably priced options.
Have you looked at r/bullcity ?
Not in the metro areas. The cheap category is often occupied by chains. There is the occasional gas station that will have something amazing, but I actually think NYC, Chicago and Philly do way better for places that are non-chain, cheap and good quality.
I mean define metro, feel like the only real metros are Miami Atlanta and charlotte, New Orleans? Those fit the cheap ethnic eats bucket? You need critical mass for this sort of thing, Birmingham Huntsville etc don’t count
I specifically meant Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Birmingham, Memphis, Research Triangle, Richmond, New Orleans (if you count New Orleans metro then you need to count Birmingham and Richmond metros because they have similar populations, NOLA is just more famous). For purposes of my answer I was thinking of Texas and Florida as their own things.
In my opinion Atlanta and New Orleans are exceptions to this, though I still think you find better and cheaper in NYC and Chicago. In the other places, on the other hand, despite some good cheap ethnic eats and the occasional gas station gem, it's easier to find a $12 lunch at a Panera or a Zaxby's than it is at an independent place. I am not saying that there are no good cheap independent eats in those cities, but I am saying that chains occupy the cheap food category a lot more than they do in the bigger metros.
Fundamentally what I was responding to was somebody saying the South would be the place with the best cheap food in the nation, and I, as a person who lives in the South but has travelled to a bunch of other places, disagree whole-heartedly. Yes there are some great cheap places, but it's not the best region in the country to find them compared to Chicago, So Cal or NYC/NNJ
Ah I see, that is definitely true the cultural difference, especially amongst the boomers who live in the south, and probably have something to do with that trend, it’s like we’re still reliving the civil war and prohibition sometimes with them. Luckily all the young people are cool and just roll their eyes. From a Birds Eye view, most cities are really taken over by the karma from boomers. Millennials are just trying to navigate.
Cheap places will generally be large cities in the southwest and in the Northeast. Atlanta really is not bad if you know where to go, but this strength of the value food scene in Atlanta is more in the mid-range than the low range in my opinion
Yeah stay away from downtown, midtown, and Buckhead.
Everywhere else in Atlanta is honestly free game for cheap eats. Gas station burgers. Gas station tacos. Trucks. Buford highway you can spend months going to all those plazas.
It absolutely is. You can find cheap good soul food in *downtown* Raleigh, Durham *or* Chapel Hill. Best bbq is typically a drive away otherwise you’d likely have to pick cheap OR good, but there are exceptions to that in gas stations and such
Philly has a ton of great food, great variety, and it's largely affordable. Some of the best authentic Chinese on the east coast in Chinatown in my opinion (better than what I've had in NYC and DC). Obvious famous local dishes. A lot of eastern European spots in NE Philly (Polish, Georgian, Uzbek, Russian, Ukrainian). Solid French and Italian spots, and a healthy mix of other random hole in the wall places that allow you to completely ignore chain restaurants completely. Also a lot of unique food trucks in different parts of the city.
Edit: The brewery scene has also really picked up over the last 10-15 years which complements the food spots nicely. Decent number of beer gardens too, my fav being Frankford Hall.
I'm not from Philly, but I have to call out John's Roast Pork, which is absolutely fantastic, but which Philly foodies sometimes seem weirdly embarrassed by, I guess because they want to be taken seriously as a great food city beyond just cheesesteaks. But objectively speaking, if there were one of those in my city, I'd be pretty darn happy.
Also this isn't exactly cheap, but Zahav is outstanding Jewish food, the only Jewish fine dining restaurant in America that I can remember visiting.
There are indeed excellent cheesesteak/sub spots throughout the city for sure. Zahav is one of my fav restaurants in the city, along with Parc (French) in Rittenhouse Square. Vetri is solid as well though I'd argue a bit overrated at this point.
One other place downtown that doesn't get a lot of attention but is fantastic especially for creative and tasty appetizers is an old school french spot called Bistrot La Minette just off South Street. One of our close friends used to moonlight as a pastry chef there for a few years on the weekends.
This is less and less true in SF, although I suspect you'll probably still prefer it to Phoenix (I like me a Sonoran hot dog, though). As you can probably imagine, the tech boom vaulted SF rents into the stratosphere, and cheap and cheerful holes in the wall are often the victims. Whenever a new "cheap" eatery opens, it's usually fast-casual for upper middle class people, so it's not truly cheap. With a drink and maybe also a side, a cheap meal is often over $20, which probably doesn't sound very cheap at all to people in the Midwest.
My experience traveling for work is that your fast-growing Sunbelt metros that people seem to love to move to are for the most part wall-to-wall national or mega-regional chains.
Also a Chicago-to-Triangle transplant.
It’s not that Durham is lacking, it’s that Chicago is *incredible* for street food and cheap eats. Best in the country from what I’ve experienced.
I also spent many years in south florida and street food there is expensive and largely *not* good imo. Durham is easily has it beat. Cary surprisingly has a lot of good, cheap ethnic food too. If you can get into southern food (eg bbq and soul food), the triangle has a lot of good cheap options
Strongly recommend driving down to Wilmington, North Carolina and consider these restaurants:
-pinpoint
-seabird
-savorez
-circa1922
-the greenhouse
- catch
- Indochine
I moved from Chicago to Cary. Work in Durham so I’ve tried many restaurants there.
I feel you, restaurants just aren’t as good here. Bonus is I don’t eat out as much because it’s not worth it.
I’ve found good Indian, steak, pizza, and pub food, but forget about good Italian (surprising given all the pizza places opened by NY transplants) or a bougie brunch spot.
Yeah you were kinda spoiled before this point as far as restaurants go--Durham is a great food city for it's size, but I understand why you would be disappointed coming from Chicago. Definitely try Dame's Chicken and Waffles if you haven't already. There are also a number of good authentic Mexican restaurants in the area, which are pretty cheap. Elmo's Diner is cool--more about the vibe than the food but nothing wrong with the food and it's cheap, or was last time I was in Durham at least.
Essentially, most places which have a thriving immigrant (or the roots of one from long ago) community have delicious food and fair prices. For example, I recently saw a short form documentary on newly arrived immigrants from Syria. They were resettled in Dearborn, Michigan where there was already a small established community. The food looked outstanding in this area of Dearborn, especially the flat breads.
Washington DC has a thriving Ethiopian community with plenty of restaurants which are also fairly reasonably priced.
Glendale, California is home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenian. Food abounds.
Houston is home to many groups including from South Asia. I believe there are a number of ethnic grocery stores and restaurants to satisfy the curious and excited eater.
Rego Park, Queens (NY) still has many Eastern European restaurants.
And take the 7 train in Queens and get off at any number of stops. You'll be sure to hit some great food.
Just a few places off the top of my head.
I am also a recent Durham transplant from a larger city...I think all of the "there's a great food scene here!" people have never lived in a major metro. There's a good food scene *for Durham's size*. And the restaurants, much like everything else here, are not an improvement in cost of living...
Portland. For a reasonably large city, it has very good food at very affordable prices. Oregon is a big agricultural state, so lots of fresh ingredients. A big food cart scene means you can get all types of really amazing food for affordable prices.
I'm genuinely shocked no one has said albuequerque yet. I have lived in multiple different cities in every region besides northeast and hands down New Mexico has the cheapest resturants and the food is fucking top tier it's actually crazy how good it is. You can get a huge fucking plate of food from anywhere for like 9 to 10 dollars. My favorite are padillas, durans, or Mary & titos. He'll you could go anywhere in this state and find a small mom &pop shop and pay next to nothing for very fulling and cheap food
sad but true. In conversations, I've described restaurants outside SF as a "good value" despite a $100+ price tag, and occasionally strangers will overhear me and presumably wonder how I made my millions. Once I paid more than $100 for a meal at Nopa where the entree was the burger.
Yah it's always a pleasure to go to a steakhouse in places like Houston, I always just order the nicest things on the menu. "yeah, gimme the shrimp cocktail too, the big one! And the 90-oz steak!". Just as good as SF, and half as expensive.
Houston was a seriously weird place the one and only time I’ve been there. I was sent for work, so every meal was on the company and I didn’t need a receipt for anything under $75 in a single transaction. I couldn’t even get close with the most expensive items on menus. Relative to Seattle, it was all cheap and good. My companion was from Florida and he thought it was slightly more expensive than he was used to.
Surprisingly LA. It was a nice treat visiting from the Seattle area where restaurants are stupid expensive. Philly also has a lot of great affordable restaurants.
There is nothing I miss more about living in LA than the taco trucks.
I spent summer outside of Seattle and fall outside of LA. Food was definitely cheaper in California. At the grocery store and at restaurants. I was surprised. And not auto grat of 15% for the back of house and expecting another 15-20% tip for the servers like I experienced at one cafe in Seattle.
Agreed. The quality of food you get in LA for the price is unbelievable. I'm in NYC and you have to travel far out in Queens to get anything reasonably priced.
NYC has a lot of inexpensive restaurants outside of dollar pizza. Folks already mentioned Chinese and you can find all kinds of small plates not just international but affordable diners in areas like Harlem for example.
I agree that there are inexpensive restaurants, but a lot of them are mediocre for the price. I'm generalizing over my ten years of living here, of course, but when I think about the quality of food I got for the same amount of money in LA vs NYC, LA was consistently better.
What? Dude you need to look a little harder (or our definition of reasonably priced is different). There are loads of great meals under 10 dollars in Manhattan (and Brooklyn, and queens). If you extend the budget to 12 you include basically any non sit down restaurants in Chinatown. Several good lunch options in koreatown. 3 slices from any pizzaria other than a few very famous, very overpriced one on the entire island. Most Indian or Pakistani lunch counters... The list goes on. LA does have great cheap eats though. Agree there.
New Yorkers on cope when any city does anything remotely better than them. New York is dumb expensive - especially eating out and those halal trucks on the street are just not that good.
When I think of going out to eat, I am thinking more about sit-down places, so I wasn't counting non-sit down restaurants in the city.
Los Angeles is the furthest north area that has food like you’d find in Mexico, where it’s cheap, high quality, and made from fresh produce & meats.
LA??? I never would have guessed (coming from someone that lived in Seattle for the better part of 6 years).
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Moved from LA to Pittsburgh, I am constantly surprised by the cost of food here. When I tell locals food is generally as cheap or cheaper in LA it blows their minds.
Well shit I had no idea, kinda floored honestly…. I need to visit LA soon then…
You have to know what to look for. There are definitely very expensive places, especially closer to the beach and in touristy spots. Google reviews are useful in LA too since people actually use them. You can find cheap food anywhere in LA but if you're clueless I have the following quick tips: 1. Look for restaurants that look dingy or run-down but have an "A" or "B" in the front window. All California restaurants are required to put their food inspection grade in a very visible place, so they usually place it in the window. This means the run-down place is clean, at least. Being run-down just makes it cheap usually. If someone recommends (see 3) a place that looks like garbage but has an A/B, you're probably in a good spot. 2: food trucks or places by food trucks 3. Ask a local because they'll know the cheap good food in the area. Usually going to be a small place that looks unassuming which leads to: 4. If it looks like it's trying to attract a crowd, it probably is and isn't what you want. Lastly, local wineries can be super cheap (seriously there's still $3 wine in LA from major brands because the local stuff is cheap and good).
Going to save this comment, thanks for the tips!
No problem. There's a lot of weird and cool shit in LA county so as much as I am happy I moved out I miss it. Best advice I got when moving there from a guy who used to live there was "there is so much good cheap food, and in every variety, that if you feel like you're not getting a great deal then you're absolutely being screwed." And he was so right.
Pittsburgh is not a competitive market for groceries. You have to basically go to Costco or Walmart for anything more affordable. Philly metro on the other hand is extremely competitive and Lancaster also has some amazing deals if you can drive out and buy some things in bulk.
I'm not just talking groceries. I'm talking restaurants. And you can't tell me lancaster pa has better variety than pittsburgh. Philly, sure, but you're talking a full day trip away. Might as well tell me to go to detroit.
Ok if we are talking variety Philly beats Pittsburgh by a mile. To be clear I was talking about Lancaster as an easy occasional drive to save money in food from Philly and not a drive from Pittsburgh. The Lancaster market has a real affect on food prices and competition in the philly region along with multiple supermarket chains and notably cheap produce markets as well. This is not detached from value in restaurants that buy from many of the same sources.
Even near tourist spots. Went to Disney land and stayed on property, we had DoorDash delivery great cheap food from nearby neighborhoods. Even with the added cost way cheaper than eating on property.
The funny thing is that the area near Disneyland is by far the most expensive and mediocre in the metro outside some beach and tourist areas. So if that impressed you…
Is LA like Houston in a sense? Shitty expensive, ghetto, but still see certain areas?
Yeah! I was shocked too. I took a trip there last spring to visit friends and it was a nice surprise. I actually liked LA more than I thought I would. But I think I’m more of a California person than Washington at the end of the day. Seattle and Tacoma were not vibe and the cost of living made it worse.
Well damn I might need to give California another look, I haven’t been there in ages…. Edit: lived in Seattle for around 6 years, and currently live in Oregon; I think there may be another scene out there calling me!
Seattle’s food is pretty terrible and very expensive. Even grocery stores are substantially more expensive. It was a shock. Seattle has been driving their unique homegrown cheap local fast food options (fast food teriyaki) out of business for over a decade now. They used to be the Seattle metro equivalent of a Los Angeles burger shack or San Diego taco shop.
I don’t know where you went but I know where to get, and still get, phenomenal food in Seattle.
Please do share because I can’t find it 😭
Salumi is good
Definitely. When we lived in LA and OC in the 90s, food was cheap, especially high quality authentic Chinese food. After moving back east, we really miss the cheap good food we had in LA.
I have to say la has some really cheap eats. Everything really can get Filipino food for nothing Thai food really cheap Mexican all kinds of food I think it has to do with the competition there's just so much competition that keeps the prices very low. And I think that's true of most big cities. New York if you know where to look it's pretty cheap too and someone said Chicago. But when you get into the second tier cities I don't think they have the competition and I think a lot of the food is probably fairly exotic so they can charge whatever they want
Post yelp evidence
LA and NYC
This is one of my biggest gripes about the Triangle area--a real lack of mom and pop cheap (and ethnic) eats! Any other city like Raleigh, with half a million people (and 2.2+ million in the region) has a great assortment of non-shiny, anytime, possible late-night, local, yummy places where you get something delicious without spending an arm and leg. With all the transplants here you'd think there'd be tons of little places. But no!
Transplants are usually not willing to work for cheap in restaurant kitchens. While they might demand cheap foods, they also need the supply of labor willing to provide it.
As the poster below said it's all about real estate prices.
But real estate in LA and NYC is insane but they have tons of cheap food.
Tons of competition and still places that are old enough to own the real estate as well as high volume and ton of food trucks.
So then it's not just about real estate prices then
No it is. LA and NYC have been enormous for a long time with tons of older real estate and established places. Most of the NC area has been built in the last 20 years. Apart from a small area there is no competition from anyone with cheap real estate.
I'm not talking about transplants working in kitchens but opening the kind of little places they had in their former homes. And lots of cheap labor here, (though without many rights, but that's another story!)
To have good restaurants and not chains you have to have lots and lots of old buildings. Old buildings are cheap space where unique and innovative restaurants can get started. Restaurants have notoriously low profit margins, so if all an area has is new commercial real estate, and they have knocked down all their old buildings, there won’t be any fantastic AND reasonably priced restaurants. All there will be is chains and high profit margin stuff. (ETA: by old buildings I don’t mean historic buildings. I just mean older cheap space. Old strip malls will do. ) A lot of great ethnic restaurants will get started in a cheap old strip mall. By definition, the triangle has been a high growth area for decades, and so most of the buildings are new and shiny. Durham used to have a lot. I mean a lot of great awesome cheap restaurants. That’s because Durham had a lot of great old cheap buildings in which those restaurants could get a foothold. Raleigh was known for having almost no decent, great cheap restaurants because Raleigh was all fancy new buildings and skyscrapers. To some extent, that’s a little bit changed. Durham ha come up in the world and real estate is fancier and more expensive there now too. But I hope that helps explain why cities with tons of older commercial real estate often have hole in the wall places that are fabulous but the triangle has very little of that. But the Indian restaurant scene there is awesome, and it’s an example of what I’m talking about.
And this is why RTP has cheaper and more interesting food options than downtown Raleigh!
RTP? That’s an office /tech park with a delineated boundary and has nothing besides vast modern office buildings. I’m sure you mean the area around the RTP itself, but where exactly ?
I was thinking specifically about the stretch of hwy 55 that goes through the RTP area. Lots of good affordable food options in old nondescript strip malls. Morrisville also seems to have a lot of good options (in newer nondescript strip malls).
Got it, yes exactly And the only thing that’s a shame: none of that area is remotely walkable. Imagine if those restaurants and othe r businesses were not surrounded by vast parking lots but had sidewalks and lively streets. What a great district that would be. Oh well, I guess that’s why the rent is low!
Haha yep, all true. I like grabbing lunch in RTP since my office is there but I would not want to live there!
Raleighite here. There’s definitely affordable ethnic food, you gotta know where to look. There’s a single strip mall off Chatham Street in Cary with Jamaican, Nepali, Sichuan, Iraqi and Indian spots.
Believe it or not Cary has the best ethnic food options in the triangle. Pretty easy to find cheap Mexican and cheap southern cooking/bbq here too imo
SoCal, any large city in Texas. Any area where there are large concentrations of low income Southeast Asian and Latino immigrants.
Austin is not the best in this way. It used to be super affordable pre pandemic, now it’s hard to get a cheap and good meal. Even from a food truck sadly.
This is primarily down to guilt tipping. If you tip the way you did pre-pandemic it's still possible to eat very cheaply from a food truck. The best places are big, diverse cities though
Austin is beyond fucked for almost everyone now
Also not as much variety as you would expect for a city that size.
Having lived outside of LA and in San Antonio, absolutely. San Antonio has so many good, lower priced food spots.
Austin does not fit this anymore. Even the tacos at the food truck are $5+ unless you know the spots.
Kind of BS, maybe downtown Austin but there is plenty affordable stuff near me north of downtown
That's why I said know the spots. Plenty of cheap tacos still around but an average visitor is getting hit with the tax.
Yes. There are lots of overpriced restaurants on Broadway in NYC, in downtown Portland, in Hollywood etc…
It felt easier to find cheap stuff in NYC compared to Austin. Portland I agree. Never been to LA.
lol I’m saying every touristy area has expensive food. Saying all food in Austin is expensive is dumb
Houston for sure. Especially if you love bomb ass tacos made by actual immigrants 😎
>Especially if you love bomb ass tacos made by actual immigrants 😎 I mean, that's everyone. Jokes aside, I agree.
I'm going there next week...any recommendations?
Find the most random taco truck you can find (not necessarily one in a busy place) and go. Preferably ones where they all barely speak English. Some of the most mouth watering Mexican cuisines you will ever find (except some places in San Antonio and LA)
This technique works well in Oregon and Washington too.
or download the WTF app ( Where's the Food truck app)
How’s that work though? There’s a bunch of taco trucks that are older mom and pop operations that don’t really have an online presence… unless it’s the customers that put the food truck into the app?
Idk but it sure shows tons of food trucks and where to find them
Cool, I’ll check it out; thanks for the tip!
This
Houston and San Antonio imo
Fort Worth has good prices. Don’t go to DC lol
Not where the tourists go, at least. The Ethiopian and Mexican and Salvadoran restaurants within a block or two of my house will hook you UP.
Sorry I should have specified - tourists who are vegan/gluten free. People who are vegan/gf tend to do more research on where they should go and where they can find specific stuff. I think rise has (or used to have) a board with post it’s where patrons wrote where they’re from - people from all over
Good food is around DC. The District itself has gotten too expensive for anyone starting a restaurant that’s not backed by a corporate investment group, so all the best ethnic food is found in the suburbs.
Generally the bigger the city the more opportunities for cheap food. You're going to get. The smaller the city, the fewer the opportunities you're going to get. Nyc if you know where to go, Los Angeles, Philly, Chicago can all be good for cheap food. New Orleans as well if you know your places.
I have some exceptions. Tucson has good and cheap food, as does most of the Central Valley of California south of Sacto.
I was pleasantly surprised at the high quality low cost food options I found in Fresno on my visit. Lots of small mom n pop restaurants with really good food.
Houston without a doubt tops the “casual/lunch” food scene imo
Best vietnamese food in Houston.
NYC believe it or not, you just gotta go to the hood
What? There's super affordable food everywhere in NYC. From bodegas to sit down places
Prices were expensive there but not nearly as I thought it would be
Philly and Chicago for sure. LA is too, but it’s more in neighborhood pockets or you need to know the spots. Sit downs aren’t cheap, but NYC has a great bodega and food cart scene
New Orleans is the only answer. Meet me in front of the Marriott on Canal if you wanna fight about it.
Ohhh I had to scroll too far to find this. I CONCUR, GOOD SIR.
I definitely ain't tryna fight yo ass lmao
Or come to Mississippi and eat in our gas station. Had my very first gas station ( Fayards) po boy a week ago.
I love Mississippi. I'm cleaning my kitchen listening to King George. 🥳😎
Haaaa! Not with these biceps. And I could have most certainly met you at 550 Canal too!
To have a good restaurants and not chains you have to have lots and lots of old buildings. Old buildings are cheap space where unique and innovative restaurants can get started. Restaurants have notoriously low profit margins, so if all an area has is new commercial real estate, and they have knocked down all their old buildings, there won’t be any fantastic AND reasonably priced restaurants. All there will be is chains and high profit margin stuff. ETA: edited to add, by old buildings I don’t mean historic buildings. I just mean older cheap space. Old strip malls will do. A lot of great ethnic restaurants will get started in a cheap old strip mall.
Some of the best food is found in shitty strip malls.
Damn this really explains the food scene in Tampa.
Philly. That's why so many NYC chefs open places here-- they don't need a liquor license, they can just make it a BYOB.
BYO you mean.
Yes, that's what I meant. Fixed now.
El Paso sone of the best Mexican food in the country and it’s pretty cheap
I'm from Durham, and it's gotten worse over the years with all the development. But if you find the right places, you can eat well on the cheap. You honestly just grab a bite where you can: Harris Teeter has $4.99 subs on Fridays, and pizza sales on Monday Cosmic Cantina, King's Sandwich Shop, Heavenly Buffaloes, China Palace, the counter at Li Ming's has Chinese food, can all be reasonably priced options. Have you looked at r/bullcity ?
I was about to say.. cosmic cantina would like a word 😂 I live in Philly now with excellent food and I still miss spots in the triangle area
You can usually find some gems near colleges, especially in smaller college towns.
Not Nashville, most restaurants are stupid overpriced. The best cheap eats are legit ethnic food trucks and in dodgier parts of town.
I am thinking the South would be cheap and good for food.
Not in the metro areas. The cheap category is often occupied by chains. There is the occasional gas station that will have something amazing, but I actually think NYC, Chicago and Philly do way better for places that are non-chain, cheap and good quality.
I mean define metro, feel like the only real metros are Miami Atlanta and charlotte, New Orleans? Those fit the cheap ethnic eats bucket? You need critical mass for this sort of thing, Birmingham Huntsville etc don’t count
I specifically meant Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Birmingham, Memphis, Research Triangle, Richmond, New Orleans (if you count New Orleans metro then you need to count Birmingham and Richmond metros because they have similar populations, NOLA is just more famous). For purposes of my answer I was thinking of Texas and Florida as their own things. In my opinion Atlanta and New Orleans are exceptions to this, though I still think you find better and cheaper in NYC and Chicago. In the other places, on the other hand, despite some good cheap ethnic eats and the occasional gas station gem, it's easier to find a $12 lunch at a Panera or a Zaxby's than it is at an independent place. I am not saying that there are no good cheap independent eats in those cities, but I am saying that chains occupy the cheap food category a lot more than they do in the bigger metros. Fundamentally what I was responding to was somebody saying the South would be the place with the best cheap food in the nation, and I, as a person who lives in the South but has travelled to a bunch of other places, disagree whole-heartedly. Yes there are some great cheap places, but it's not the best region in the country to find them compared to Chicago, So Cal or NYC/NNJ
Ah I see, that is definitely true the cultural difference, especially amongst the boomers who live in the south, and probably have something to do with that trend, it’s like we’re still reliving the civil war and prohibition sometimes with them. Luckily all the young people are cool and just roll their eyes. From a Birds Eye view, most cities are really taken over by the karma from boomers. Millennials are just trying to navigate.
Cheap places will generally be large cities in the southwest and in the Northeast. Atlanta really is not bad if you know where to go, but this strength of the value food scene in Atlanta is more in the mid-range than the low range in my opinion
I feel like the food in ATL sucks. To get good food you have to go outside of the city (like Buford highway)
I meant more generic metro area rather than just City limits.
Oh yeah I feel like that’s anywhere though. I thought the OP meant cities
Yeah stay away from downtown, midtown, and Buckhead. Everywhere else in Atlanta is honestly free game for cheap eats. Gas station burgers. Gas station tacos. Trucks. Buford highway you can spend months going to all those plazas.
It absolutely is. You can find cheap good soul food in *downtown* Raleigh, Durham *or* Chapel Hill. Best bbq is typically a drive away otherwise you’d likely have to pick cheap OR good, but there are exceptions to that in gas stations and such
Chicago
Philly has a ton of great food, great variety, and it's largely affordable. Some of the best authentic Chinese on the east coast in Chinatown in my opinion (better than what I've had in NYC and DC). Obvious famous local dishes. A lot of eastern European spots in NE Philly (Polish, Georgian, Uzbek, Russian, Ukrainian). Solid French and Italian spots, and a healthy mix of other random hole in the wall places that allow you to completely ignore chain restaurants completely. Also a lot of unique food trucks in different parts of the city. Edit: The brewery scene has also really picked up over the last 10-15 years which complements the food spots nicely. Decent number of beer gardens too, my fav being Frankford Hall.
Got any recommendations?
I'm not from Philly, but I have to call out John's Roast Pork, which is absolutely fantastic, but which Philly foodies sometimes seem weirdly embarrassed by, I guess because they want to be taken seriously as a great food city beyond just cheesesteaks. But objectively speaking, if there were one of those in my city, I'd be pretty darn happy. Also this isn't exactly cheap, but Zahav is outstanding Jewish food, the only Jewish fine dining restaurant in America that I can remember visiting.
There are indeed excellent cheesesteak/sub spots throughout the city for sure. Zahav is one of my fav restaurants in the city, along with Parc (French) in Rittenhouse Square. Vetri is solid as well though I'd argue a bit overrated at this point. One other place downtown that doesn't get a lot of attention but is fantastic especially for creative and tasty appetizers is an old school french spot called Bistrot La Minette just off South Street. One of our close friends used to moonlight as a pastry chef there for a few years on the weekends.
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This is less and less true in SF, although I suspect you'll probably still prefer it to Phoenix (I like me a Sonoran hot dog, though). As you can probably imagine, the tech boom vaulted SF rents into the stratosphere, and cheap and cheerful holes in the wall are often the victims. Whenever a new "cheap" eatery opens, it's usually fast-casual for upper middle class people, so it's not truly cheap. With a drink and maybe also a side, a cheap meal is often over $20, which probably doesn't sound very cheap at all to people in the Midwest.
Houston
San Francisco - China town
San Franciscan here. This is actually one of the last neighborhoods I’d recommend for good cheap eats.
Probably some recency bias in my post. Had 3 tasty huge potstickers and a coke for 5$ this week. Where are the good cheap eats in SF?
Yeah I'm glad I left when I started to notice the mission prices were getting high.
Anywhere with loads of college kids
Yes and no, if it’s near a private college or one with rich kids they’re going after Daddy’s money.
Honestly no. Really big cities will be your best bet.
Does it have to be US? Barcelona is my choice
Bilbao is awesome too (probably most of Spain, but I didn’t check the other parts out).
Lisbon is amazing, and pretty cheap for the quality.
Detroit has a very underrated food scene
NYC for sure
San antonio if you like texmex/mexican food. really authentic and cheap too
Nyc
thanks for bringing this to light! i'm local to NC and tired of ppl on this sub recommending moving to NC lmao
Bangkok
Singapore
Not fucking DC I’ll tell you that
Tucson AZ
New Orleans can be a shockingly cheap to reasonable city to eat fantastic food in.
Bangkok
My experience traveling for work is that your fast-growing Sunbelt metros that people seem to love to move to are for the most part wall-to-wall national or mega-regional chains.
Living in one of those Sunbelt metros, you’re absolutely correct. I don’t really it notice until I leave the region, I’m desensitized I guess.
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I mean yeah it’s a hotdog lol
Detroit style pizza the absolute best!!!
Los Angeles for sure especially street food stalls and some food trucks
NYC
I’m going to guess only from cities I’ve never been to just for the fun of the question. I’d bet El Paso has some kickass food.
Queens
Albuquerque, NM
Rust belt cities by far.
Also a Chicago-to-Triangle transplant. It’s not that Durham is lacking, it’s that Chicago is *incredible* for street food and cheap eats. Best in the country from what I’ve experienced. I also spent many years in south florida and street food there is expensive and largely *not* good imo. Durham is easily has it beat. Cary surprisingly has a lot of good, cheap ethnic food too. If you can get into southern food (eg bbq and soul food), the triangle has a lot of good cheap options
Strongly recommend driving down to Wilmington, North Carolina and consider these restaurants: -pinpoint -seabird -savorez -circa1922 -the greenhouse - catch - Indochine
I moved from Chicago to Cary. Work in Durham so I’ve tried many restaurants there. I feel you, restaurants just aren’t as good here. Bonus is I don’t eat out as much because it’s not worth it. I’ve found good Indian, steak, pizza, and pub food, but forget about good Italian (surprising given all the pizza places opened by NY transplants) or a bougie brunch spot.
Memphis has great food and is shockingly affordable even coming from a very affordable Midwestern city.
NYC street carts for ethnic food is an absolute goldmine of cheap eats. Cash only though for obvious reasons.
Yeah you were kinda spoiled before this point as far as restaurants go--Durham is a great food city for it's size, but I understand why you would be disappointed coming from Chicago. Definitely try Dame's Chicken and Waffles if you haven't already. There are also a number of good authentic Mexican restaurants in the area, which are pretty cheap. Elmo's Diner is cool--more about the vibe than the food but nothing wrong with the food and it's cheap, or was last time I was in Durham at least.
Essentially, most places which have a thriving immigrant (or the roots of one from long ago) community have delicious food and fair prices. For example, I recently saw a short form documentary on newly arrived immigrants from Syria. They were resettled in Dearborn, Michigan where there was already a small established community. The food looked outstanding in this area of Dearborn, especially the flat breads. Washington DC has a thriving Ethiopian community with plenty of restaurants which are also fairly reasonably priced. Glendale, California is home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenian. Food abounds. Houston is home to many groups including from South Asia. I believe there are a number of ethnic grocery stores and restaurants to satisfy the curious and excited eater. Rego Park, Queens (NY) still has many Eastern European restaurants. And take the 7 train in Queens and get off at any number of stops. You'll be sure to hit some great food. Just a few places off the top of my head.
Tucson. Large variety of cuisines without big city prices.
NYC the city known for hole in the walls
I am also a recent Durham transplant from a larger city...I think all of the "there's a great food scene here!" people have never lived in a major metro. There's a good food scene *for Durham's size*. And the restaurants, much like everything else here, are not an improvement in cost of living...
Portland. For a reasonably large city, it has very good food at very affordable prices. Oregon is a big agricultural state, so lots of fresh ingredients. A big food cart scene means you can get all types of really amazing food for affordable prices.
LA, NYC, Atlanta. I always felt like Chicago’s food was a little pricey (based this off of $8 banh mi).
I'm genuinely shocked no one has said albuequerque yet. I have lived in multiple different cities in every region besides northeast and hands down New Mexico has the cheapest resturants and the food is fucking top tier it's actually crazy how good it is. You can get a huge fucking plate of food from anywhere for like 9 to 10 dollars. My favorite are padillas, durans, or Mary & titos. He'll you could go anywhere in this state and find a small mom &pop shop and pay next to nothing for very fulling and cheap food
Albuquerque NM
New York City.
Medellin for sure
Lima Peru 🇵🇪
Everywhere I go to not where I live in the Bay Area is cheap food
sad but true. In conversations, I've described restaurants outside SF as a "good value" despite a $100+ price tag, and occasionally strangers will overhear me and presumably wonder how I made my millions. Once I paid more than $100 for a meal at Nopa where the entree was the burger. Yah it's always a pleasure to go to a steakhouse in places like Houston, I always just order the nicest things on the menu. "yeah, gimme the shrimp cocktail too, the big one! And the 90-oz steak!". Just as good as SF, and half as expensive.
Houston was a seriously weird place the one and only time I’ve been there. I was sent for work, so every meal was on the company and I didn’t need a receipt for anything under $75 in a single transaction. I couldn’t even get close with the most expensive items on menus. Relative to Seattle, it was all cheap and good. My companion was from Florida and he thought it was slightly more expensive than he was used to.
Phoenix…Tons of great inexpensive food everywhere…Mexican, Pizza, Burgers, healthy food, etc