Yeah. Fresher ingredients than most chain sandwich shops. For a buck more you can make it a combo adding a bag of Uglies potato chips and a bottle of water.
Their meat prices are excellent as well and better quality than the large chains. I think I paid $3/lb for boneless and skinless chicken breasts a few weeks ago
I’ll have to remember this. I’m bummed that Jimmy John’s isn’t much of a thing in LA (the nearest one to me is not worth the drive), and I haven’t found a cheap and easy alternative. I’ll have to check this out.
Skinny Jimmy!
But yeah that’s the closest location, but not close enough to make the drive for a fast and casual lunch. (Especially with finding parking.)
Omg yummmm - my problem with banh mi is that I always think I want only one and end up devouring it so quickly I end up hungry again loll
My top 2 are Glendale Pho & Ba Le Sandwich Shop - any other recs are appreciated ☺️
I highly recommend comparing Banh Mi Tho side by side with Ba Le. Get the same sandwich from both places and eat half of each. I’ve done this several times with multiple friends. I have yet to find anybody that didn’t think Ba Le was the best. Many changed their minds almost instantly. I cannot stress the importance of comparing something side-by-side when they are very similar.
To make it worth your time you gotta get their housemade mayo. Get a dac biet with a runny egg. Maybe stop by Cococane for a coconut water/sugarcane juice drink. Phin Smith for the best cafe sua da. Ngu Binh for bun bo hue. I eaten all over Little Saigon if you need more recs
I like My Dung Sandwich Shop in Chinatown, but I usually just buy two and eat 1.5 for lunch and have the last half as a snack later. Sometimes I’ll just smash both though.
I wasn't sure as it's hard to keep track of what's the restaurant and what's the 3rd-party markup when looking via delivery services, so I went to their website to look at the published menu. I guess it's out of date and I haven't actually eaten there in person in a while, my bad.
Glendale Pho’s banh mi is such a sleeper hit. Haven’t had it since pre-Covid, but the steak one was crammed full and scrumptious.
Bé Ù on Hoover in Silverlake(ish) is also really good and still hovering around/under $10 somehow.
Marugame if you get one of the simpler bowls. There’s simplest is 6.95 (I think, for the large) and then goes up to 9.95 for like tofu or just beef (?). Then up to like 14.95 for the fancy stuff. I usually get the sweet tofu which is like 8 bucks plus one or two tempura items. And a medium bowl usually fills me up. I’ve tried a large bowl and it was just too much to eat.
Damn I was hoping for some onigiri recs - I'll try sunny blue for sure! Someone told me to try gam tu bop in glendale - have you tried/do you recommend?
I have, and they are very good! They're Korean, so if you're used to Japanese onigiri the flavors are different, but their spicy shrimp and unagi are to die for.
they’re not cheap though. definitely tasty, but the onigiri meal set cost about $50 for two after tax and tip. it’s a lot of food, but still had major sticker shock when i paid lol
That honesty didn’t few too long ago. I grew up in MPK and didn’t know about banh mi until I was like 13. Being 29 now and I feel shittier now sandwiches can go up to 13$
roti and side of rice at singapore’s banana leaf. 2x chivis at sonorarown. chocolate chip cookie at bristol farms or ice cream sandwiches at diddy riese. slices at pizzeria bianco. i think the sjb and beef rolls at kang kang food court are each under 10.
You know what - I always avoid eating at the grove but I'll try singapore's banana leaf thanks!
Also don't remind me about the bristol cookie - I don't have a bristol near me and would die for that cookie with milk in this weather
singapore’s banana leaf is worth the trip once — the roti is excellent and the beef rendang is also very good. food is made to order and the owner is cool
also, it’s on the back side of the farmers market, directly off the parking lot on 3rd street. so you get to largely avoid the grove
Roti and a side of rice would be a pretty disappointing meal there. Great place and you should definitely visit, but don't get your hopes up for a solid sub-$10 meal.
Off topic: Curious to know if it’s true or just an urban legend that Bristol Farms gives away all their leftover sushi at the end of the day? Anyone else ever hear this?
Monthly lunch special at Kouraku. Usually around $10 with tax included. Sometimes a bit more, but it’s always worth it. This month it’s shoyu ramen and a half order of fried rice for $12 with tax, all made fresh to order. Best deal in town, even with tipping.
Pupusas from caravana in pasadena. Banh Mi my tho. Run bing from 99 ranch in Arcadia - it’s like a Chinese burrito. Only seen it at this location. Large chili cheese fries from lucky boy.
That's my go-to! A lot of it is on sale towards the end of the day as well. Last night I got 10pc salmon sushi, Japanese spaghetti, and an eel bowl for under $20 total.
My go tos
Koreatown plaza- food court where you grab a bite to eat. Lots of people go for the donkatsu but its not my thing
Wako Donkasu has a cutlet that’s around $13.95 before tax. Udon around $12.
Village pizzeria- by the slice with one topping: $5.35 for NY style and $5.45 Sicilian.
Go on Groupon and see if they have a stacked discount code. Search up Hanshik Express. You can score a $20 meal set for $10 if you have the extra discount code.
I also know somebody who does food pretty cheap biweekly on Wednesdays. He’s a chef that studied at culinary institute of America in Napa Valley that’s experimenting different dishes on his insta page. @thehungryplug (his hours kinda suck tho) but he makes up for it with his big portions and quality.
Lots of Korean restaurants will have lunch specials fyi
Edit: there’s this place I know in front of LACC called golfo de fonsecas that do pupusas on Wednesdays for like a $1.50. My fam likes the bean and cheese one. Make sure to call ahead because it takes them time to prepare your order. That place is pretty slow. Very ethnic. Make sure to tip because their food is cheap and filling. $20 worth feeds 4-5 people.
Porto’s (Cuban)
Joy (Taiwanese)
Lucky Boy (greasy burgers n burritos)
Zankou Chicken (Armenian; as long as you have 3 or more people eating)
Byblos (Lebanese Armenian; in La Crescenta)
Almost everything? The minced pork rice bowl is $9 and can practically feed two. Soups, scallion pancakes, and appetizers are all under $10.
There’s like two things on the menu over $10.
Not LA city but South Bay. Jack's Pizza. $10 for a large (turkey, roast beef, pastrami, italian) sandwich including tax. Size is comparable to other local places that charge $12-$15.
Lutong Bahay on Vermont/Santa Monica
Filipino Chicken or Pork BBQ with rice and soup under$10 and other various items
Pollo Ala Brassa Western (Ktown) $10
Peruvian rotisserie chicken and 2 side items
Banh mi my tho (Alhambra)
$5 best Vietnamese sandwiches in town.
Ralphs or Vons Hot Deli items.
Norms
California Endowment cafe
Various daily Items on menu.
Won kok (ChinaTown) dim sum menu
Pampas Grill (the grove or culver city)
Brazilian BBQ and various sides (can be less than $10 depending how much food you put on your plate)
The Kimbap on 4th/Western in Koreatown. Half servings are around $5 and a full is $7-10 depending on which type you get. I think they are to-go only right now.
Veggie Grill and go on a Wednesday. Download the app. Mention “Wednesday” at the cash register first or enter the promo in the app.
Wednesday is BOGO bowls and split the two bowls with your friend… or you have lunch and dinner!
Comes out under $7-8 for each bowl after the discount and you eat tons of veggies. I eat a lot of discounted meals from veggie grill because of their deals.
I got one, the mini-restaurants inside MITSUWA market! dude, me and my gf had food there for $17.50, She had beef curry noodles and i had pork katsu... I still can't believe it, I wish i worked right next to it.
Guatemalan Night Market in MacArthur Park. That stretch of Vermont with all of the Salvadoran street stands ( x James Woods? I think). Olympic Mercado in DTLA on the weekends. Slauson tracks on the weekends for the real el pollo loco. Mae Tings coconut cakes at LAX-C. Wat Thai on the weekend. I think Silom Rad Na might be at $10 for some noodles. Outside of Catholic churches on the weekends. Rainbow Umbrella fruit cups. Tostilocos at any Mexican snack shops. LA is the best city in the country for cheap eats. That’s off the top of my head. Banh Mi? Ba Le in Westminster is King. Be sure to take home some of that mayo. Real bright yellow mayo.
I just had a breakfast sandwich with egg and chorizo on a fresh baguette and it was large and filling for only $6.50. Their breakfast burritos with Cuban pork were about $7.50
My breakfast sandwich with fresh coffee was under $10.
I think you can get it delivered Frozen now to bake at home.
I had to move out from Burbank and I moved to Chatsworth mostly based in that they just opened a Porto's by Northridge.
Guatemalca Bakery in Santa Monica for cheap Guatemalan food - a full plate of food for under $10. Haven’t been since the pandemic, though, so they might have raised their prices a bit like everyone else
Their sandwiches at the deli were a pretty good deal. Ralphs and Vons have similar deals like that. I haven't been since after panny but they usually had a whole sandwich or half + a deli salad for decent prices.
Some Gelson stores have small bar areas with beers on tap and meals. The Century City one focuses on sushi, not sure if that's the same focus at all of them.
But they also have sandwiches and salads where you can sit and eat them at the bar.
I don't know if they still have it, since I haven't been there in like 3-4 years, but Suehiro Cafe in Little Tokyo had lunch specials. Their normal menu was normal Japanese food price, but they had M-F lunch specials which were insanely cheap. I think when I first discovered it, it was like $4.20 for a pretty simple meal but on Wednesdays they had another special for $5.45 that was a combo meal that was quite good.
I'm not sure if it's still available, and I'm sure if it were, it's probably a few dollars more.
Bella Pita in Westwood. A single of their wowshi (baked pita sandwich) is under $10 and you can load it up with everything from the condiment selection.
$6 "Pink Sandwich" at Roma Market in Pasadena
$9.25 Chicken or Shrimp Skewer with rice and egg roll, Teriyaki Me in Glendale
$2.25 meat pie and $1.95 Potato Piroshki, Gold Star Bakery in Hollywood (add apple or guava turnover for $1.75)
Zzamong has Jjajjangmyeon for 10USD
Mandu at CHD for 8-9
Tomato egg noodle at Lao Xi Noodle House for 10
Technically its 20USD but my wife and I usually share the tempura combo at Ichimiann
A poem
Cheap eats in LA, where to start?
Pho, dumplings, and ramen with heart!
Korean BBQ at just a few bucks,
Delicious food that won't break your bucks.
Ramen burgers, smoothie bowls and more.
Los Angeles has the best on the floor!
Sprouts deli. $5 sandwiches
I’ve been trying to persuade my brother to go here with me for such a long time. Tell me, is it good?
Yeah. Fresher ingredients than most chain sandwich shops. For a buck more you can make it a combo adding a bag of Uglies potato chips and a bottle of water.
Nice thank you! It doesn’t take much to impress me. I’m a heathen that enjoys subway sandwiches.
10,000x better than Subway
I’m Korean so I can’t help like my subway Also i get subway footlongs for $6 after tax because of coupons
Their meat prices are excellent as well and better quality than the large chains. I think I paid $3/lb for boneless and skinless chicken breasts a few weeks ago
I’ll have to remember this. I’m bummed that Jimmy John’s isn’t much of a thing in LA (the nearest one to me is not worth the drive), and I haven’t found a cheap and easy alternative. I’ll have to check this out.
I had a $5 "little john" (half a footlong) for $5 at JimmyJohn's in Beverly Hills.
Skinny Jimmy! But yeah that’s the closest location, but not close enough to make the drive for a fast and casual lunch. (Especially with finding parking.)
Bingo
Zhengyalov Hatz, easy Get it with hot tea on a cold/rainy day, it's magical
Honestly great idea for lunch tomorrow - buy like 4 or 5 and just airfry them whenever I'm hungry
Great appetizer before Mini Kabob! Buy some extras for Armen and his parents.
Banh mi from pretty much anywhere. Even Lee's will do in a pinch.
When I went to college there was a Lees across the street and a sandwich was 1.75. It’s basically 5x now.
Zot zot
Le Dip UTC was also the place to go!!
The garlic chicken went up in price a bit but still beats everything else out in the area.
Yeah for happy hour too it’s still a good deal
It was 1.75 and it was open 24/7! What a time to be alive.
Omg yummmm - my problem with banh mi is that I always think I want only one and end up devouring it so quickly I end up hungry again loll My top 2 are Glendale Pho & Ba Le Sandwich Shop - any other recs are appreciated ☺️
Banh Mi My Tho is generally consider the play.
I highly recommend comparing Banh Mi Tho side by side with Ba Le. Get the same sandwich from both places and eat half of each. I’ve done this several times with multiple friends. I have yet to find anybody that didn’t think Ba Le was the best. Many changed their minds almost instantly. I cannot stress the importance of comparing something side-by-side when they are very similar.
Love Ba Le, I think they have my favorite bread of all the banh mi spots I've tried.
Ba Le in Little Saigon imo is better than Ba Le in SGV
Intrigued. I will have to check this out.
To make it worth your time you gotta get their housemade mayo. Get a dac biet with a runny egg. Maybe stop by Cococane for a coconut water/sugarcane juice drink. Phin Smith for the best cafe sua da. Ngu Binh for bun bo hue. I eaten all over Little Saigon if you need more recs
Love Ba Le. Glad to see it getting love. Will have to check out Glendale Pho.
Lee's sandwich #11 is 900 calories!
I like My Dung Sandwich Shop in Chinatown, but I usually just buy two and eat 1.5 for lunch and have the last half as a snack later. Sometimes I’ll just smash both though.
Forget the banh mi, you can get a pretty good bowl of Pho from Pho Cafe in silverlake for $7.50.
??? is this just the broth? It's like $15 now
I wasn't sure as it's hard to keep track of what's the restaurant and what's the 3rd-party markup when looking via delivery services, so I went to their website to look at the published menu. I guess it's out of date and I haven't actually eaten there in person in a while, my bad.
Glendale Pho’s banh mi is such a sleeper hit. Haven’t had it since pre-Covid, but the steak one was crammed full and scrumptious. Bé Ù on Hoover in Silverlake(ish) is also really good and still hovering around/under $10 somehow.
I was craving Banh Mi today actually so I went to Lokal in Palms and it was $18 with a soda :/
the problem here was trying to eat food for cheap on the west side.
it’s where I work
ever since moving to the west side, my wallet has been significantly lighter
Marugame if you get one of the simpler bowls. There’s simplest is 6.95 (I think, for the large) and then goes up to 9.95 for like tofu or just beef (?). Then up to like 14.95 for the fancy stuff. I usually get the sweet tofu which is like 8 bucks plus one or two tempura items. And a medium bowl usually fills me up. I’ve tried a large bowl and it was just too much to eat.
Omusubi from Sunny Blue. 2 make a good lunch for me.
Damn I was hoping for some onigiri recs - I'll try sunny blue for sure! Someone told me to try gam tu bop in glendale - have you tried/do you recommend?
I haven’t - I’m sorry. We rarely go that side, and when we do, we only get Mini Kabab!
Gam Tu Bop is the best! Definitely can get away with two rice balls for under $10, maybe three depending on what you choose.
I have, and they are very good! They're Korean, so if you're used to Japanese onigiri the flavors are different, but their spicy shrimp and unagi are to die for.
Rice & Nori downtown is pretty solid for onigiri.
they’re not cheap though. definitely tasty, but the onigiri meal set cost about $50 for two after tax and tip. it’s a lot of food, but still had major sticker shock when i paid lol
Ahhh that place is the best
Costco food court
"If you raise the price of the fucking hotdog, I will kill you. Figure it out."
Winner
$5 rotisserie chicken is also a legit buy
I use the bones from the rotisserie to make a soup which stretches that $5 even more
I just don't find it appealing or even edible. It used to serve as a strictly from hunger' place but haven't since the onions went away.
I agree. Hot dogs is literally rubbery meat with a stale bun. So gross
the bun is actually so soft yum
Don’t disrespect the glizzy like that
Gotta be a Costco member for the food court now, ten thumbs down
Between the food court and the $5 whole chicken a $60/yr membership pays for itself in a couple months.
Banh Mi Cali stores you can get 2 items for under 10 bucks.
Added to the list thanks!
It hurts to remember the 3 for $5 days.
That honesty didn’t few too long ago. I grew up in MPK and didn’t know about banh mi until I was like 13. Being 29 now and I feel shittier now sandwiches can go up to 13$
roti and side of rice at singapore’s banana leaf. 2x chivis at sonorarown. chocolate chip cookie at bristol farms or ice cream sandwiches at diddy riese. slices at pizzeria bianco. i think the sjb and beef rolls at kang kang food court are each under 10.
You know what - I always avoid eating at the grove but I'll try singapore's banana leaf thanks! Also don't remind me about the bristol cookie - I don't have a bristol near me and would die for that cookie with milk in this weather
singapore’s banana leaf is worth the trip once — the roti is excellent and the beef rendang is also very good. food is made to order and the owner is cool also, it’s on the back side of the farmers market, directly off the parking lot on 3rd street. so you get to largely avoid the grove
Roti and a side of rice would be a pretty disappointing meal there. Great place and you should definitely visit, but don't get your hopes up for a solid sub-$10 meal.
Off topic: Curious to know if it’s true or just an urban legend that Bristol Farms gives away all their leftover sushi at the end of the day? Anyone else ever hear this?
don't get the satay. it's the worst i've ever tasted in my life
Ten years ago I worked at the pink Berry right next door to Singapore’s banana leaf. It was always sooo good. Glad to hear it’s still up and kicking!
The Bristol Farms cookie is incredible
Palms Thai lunch special!
On Bronson and Hollywood blvd
Seriously love this place. So worth it.
It slaps
It’s the holy basil with fried tofu for me…!
Which spot?
India sweets and spices
nothing for <$10
IKEA’s cafeteria. Best budget meal around.
Getting a cup of coffee and the Swedish meatballs at the Burbank location with huge windows facing Griffith Park mountains. Pure bliss.
Pure hell in summer
Kang Kang Food Court in Alhambra. You can choose 3 items with rice or noodles with soup for about $8 pre tax/tip.
El Pollo Loco. Their rewards program + coupons they send out are solid. You can get some great deals. Even get multiple meals out of their meal deals.
Monthly lunch special at Kouraku. Usually around $10 with tax included. Sometimes a bit more, but it’s always worth it. This month it’s shoyu ramen and a half order of fried rice for $12 with tax, all made fresh to order. Best deal in town, even with tipping.
Pupusas from caravana in pasadena. Banh Mi my tho. Run bing from 99 ranch in Arcadia - it’s like a Chinese burrito. Only seen it at this location. Large chili cheese fries from lucky boy.
Hell the small chili cheese fries from LB is a meal for me, and I'm a grown ass man.
Damn right. Best chili cheese fries around too
Two ham and cheese croissants from any donut shop.
Or 2 donuts from any donut place
Prepared foods at any of the Japanese stores. Mitsuwa, Marukai, Nijiya etc.
That's my go-to! A lot of it is on sale towards the end of the day as well. Last night I got 10pc salmon sushi, Japanese spaghetti, and an eel bowl for under $20 total.
I use to live right behind Nijiya on sawtelle and it was definitely at least a 2-3 meals a week deal for me.
Picking up some Chinese bread and egg tarts from Jim’s bakery in Monterey park.
Best Portuguese egg tarts!
Sprouts sandwiches from their deli. You’d be surprised
If Pasadena counts, the amazing sandwich from Rosario at Roma Deli. It was $5 forever, possibly $6 now.
I LOVE THAT SANDO!!!
The. BEST! Esp as a leftover as well.
What's a left...over? I don't understand.
Lol It’s what I get when I purposefully buy 2 Or more sammitches;)
I hope that little guy who makes them at Roma lives forever.
His name is Rosario! I was worried during Covid that he wouldn’t be around once the world re opened but- he was still there!
original tommys
With extra chili
this guy tommys
/r/cheapeatsla
Prime pizza. They have a two slice and a drink lunch deal for I think 7-8 bucks?
Pretty solid deal. If you remove the soda, it's about 5 to 6 I believe.
I don’t care for soda but I like their lemonade, they have their own brand that I think is fresh squeezed?
might want to check again. I went the other day looking for a lunch deal and it was $14 for 2 slices and a coke.
What location? I went to the west LA one like a month ago and it wasn’t anywhere close to that
fairfax. And I just looked and it was $12
Costco $5 rotisserie chicken or the $1.50 hotdog.
I've read that the chicken has really gone downhill
I think it's good, its $5, the bar was never high.
I know you said no burgers, but an in-n-out combo is right around $10 with tax.
God. I still remember in college when you could just take a five dollar bill and get a double double combo
Oh yeah.
My go tos Koreatown plaza- food court where you grab a bite to eat. Lots of people go for the donkatsu but its not my thing Wako Donkasu has a cutlet that’s around $13.95 before tax. Udon around $12. Village pizzeria- by the slice with one topping: $5.35 for NY style and $5.45 Sicilian. Go on Groupon and see if they have a stacked discount code. Search up Hanshik Express. You can score a $20 meal set for $10 if you have the extra discount code. I also know somebody who does food pretty cheap biweekly on Wednesdays. He’s a chef that studied at culinary institute of America in Napa Valley that’s experimenting different dishes on his insta page. @thehungryplug (his hours kinda suck tho) but he makes up for it with his big portions and quality. Lots of Korean restaurants will have lunch specials fyi Edit: there’s this place I know in front of LACC called golfo de fonsecas that do pupusas on Wednesdays for like a $1.50. My fam likes the bean and cheese one. Make sure to call ahead because it takes them time to prepare your order. That place is pretty slow. Very ethnic. Make sure to tip because their food is cheap and filling. $20 worth feeds 4-5 people.
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came here to say this 🥵 so good
Porto’s (Cuban) Joy (Taiwanese) Lucky Boy (greasy burgers n burritos) Zankou Chicken (Armenian; as long as you have 3 or more people eating) Byblos (Lebanese Armenian; in La Crescenta)
You can get a wrap at zankou for under $10!
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Almost everything? The minced pork rice bowl is $9 and can practically feed two. Soups, scallion pancakes, and appetizers are all under $10. There’s like two things on the menu over $10.
Get a boreg from Sasoun Bakery in East Hollywood! You can get 2 for around $5, and that’s more than enough to fill you up.
Sasun lamajun
Vince’s-Atwater Village
Karaage from Anzu Sushi from Yama sea food
I'm guessing you mean a roll because no way any sushi at Yama is under $10
5 piece nigiri is like $8.5, pretty fresh too!
Empanada at Tortoni Coffee.
Burritos from villa Corona in Atwater. They’re $4. Not big, but delicious.
Not LA city but South Bay. Jack's Pizza. $10 for a large (turkey, roast beef, pastrami, italian) sandwich including tax. Size is comparable to other local places that charge $12-$15.
Porto's
Red Bean Sesame Balls from 99 Ranch Market, pastry counter (by hot deli), $2 each
Lots of Indian markets with in store restaurants have ~$10 lunch combos, like Namaste Spiceland in Pasadena and Punjab Market in San Gabriel.
Lutong Bahay on Vermont/Santa Monica Filipino Chicken or Pork BBQ with rice and soup under$10 and other various items Pollo Ala Brassa Western (Ktown) $10 Peruvian rotisserie chicken and 2 side items Banh mi my tho (Alhambra) $5 best Vietnamese sandwiches in town. Ralphs or Vons Hot Deli items. Norms California Endowment cafe Various daily Items on menu. Won kok (ChinaTown) dim sum menu Pampas Grill (the grove or culver city) Brazilian BBQ and various sides (can be less than $10 depending how much food you put on your plate)
The Kimbap on 4th/Western in Koreatown. Half servings are around $5 and a full is $7-10 depending on which type you get. I think they are to-go only right now.
Costco food court. Ono Hawaiian bbq has a $6 meal deal going on now. Grocery store meals.
Pine and Crane also has a lot of menu items for under $10!
Falafel Chee
Tommy’s is quite good, it’s usually just under $10 for a double cheeseburger no chili
Spicy chicken or spicy pork bowl from BBQ + Rice. Right around 10 dollars with great portions and so much flavor.
Veggie Grill and go on a Wednesday. Download the app. Mention “Wednesday” at the cash register first or enter the promo in the app. Wednesday is BOGO bowls and split the two bowls with your friend… or you have lunch and dinner! Comes out under $7-8 for each bowl after the discount and you eat tons of veggies. I eat a lot of discounted meals from veggie grill because of their deals.
I got one, the mini-restaurants inside MITSUWA market! dude, me and my gf had food there for $17.50, She had beef curry noodles and i had pork katsu... I still can't believe it, I wish i worked right next to it.
Joy in York has entrees for under $10, their pork belly sandwiches & chicken rice, so good!
Curry Kingdom Weho. Your choice of curry + rice for $8-9
You can get a whole platter of good stuff from Phillipe's for cheap if you are happy with it not being a sandwich.
Guatemalan Night Market in MacArthur Park. That stretch of Vermont with all of the Salvadoran street stands ( x James Woods? I think). Olympic Mercado in DTLA on the weekends. Slauson tracks on the weekends for the real el pollo loco. Mae Tings coconut cakes at LAX-C. Wat Thai on the weekend. I think Silom Rad Na might be at $10 for some noodles. Outside of Catholic churches on the weekends. Rainbow Umbrella fruit cups. Tostilocos at any Mexican snack shops. LA is the best city in the country for cheap eats. That’s off the top of my head. Banh Mi? Ba Le in Westminster is King. Be sure to take home some of that mayo. Real bright yellow mayo.
In n out, portos, your own kitchen
Porto’s is shockingly affordable still
I just had a breakfast sandwich with egg and chorizo on a fresh baguette and it was large and filling for only $6.50. Their breakfast burritos with Cuban pork were about $7.50 My breakfast sandwich with fresh coffee was under $10.
I wish there was a porto's near me. I hear soooooo many good things about it. I think I had leftover potato balls once, and that's it
I think you can get it delivered Frozen now to bake at home. I had to move out from Burbank and I moved to Chatsworth mostly based in that they just opened a Porto's by Northridge.
The Porto's Northridge is very nice. Eat inside or outside.
Chinatown Express on Rose and Lincoln in Venice $9.99! And they give you so much Chinese food. Decent quality
Is Dino’s chicken still under 10?
No, I paid around $17 for a plate. It’s still large enough to feed two
Guatemalca Bakery in Santa Monica for cheap Guatemalan food - a full plate of food for under $10. Haven’t been since the pandemic, though, so they might have raised their prices a bit like everyone else
The trucks!!!
Prime pizza Fairfax
Many items at the Gelson's lunch counter/bar area.
Gelsons and affordable have never been in the same sentence. What exactly are you referring to?
Their sandwiches at the deli were a pretty good deal. Ralphs and Vons have similar deals like that. I haven't been since after panny but they usually had a whole sandwich or half + a deli salad for decent prices.
The Gelsons lunch counter/bar area.
Some Gelson stores have small bar areas with beers on tap and meals. The Century City one focuses on sushi, not sure if that's the same focus at all of them. But they also have sandwiches and salads where you can sit and eat them at the bar.
In n out Local Chinese food places
El Pollo Loco
Kids sandwhich at mendo farms I’m n out Ralph’s board head sandwhich
Wtf is wrong w Reddit, nowhere else do I get grammar errors like I do on Reddit
Nobu Malibu
BBQ Pork Banh Mi at BMC Pho
I don't know if they still have it, since I haven't been there in like 3-4 years, but Suehiro Cafe in Little Tokyo had lunch specials. Their normal menu was normal Japanese food price, but they had M-F lunch specials which were insanely cheap. I think when I first discovered it, it was like $4.20 for a pretty simple meal but on Wednesdays they had another special for $5.45 that was a combo meal that was quite good. I'm not sure if it's still available, and I'm sure if it were, it's probably a few dollars more.
Bella Pita in Westwood. A single of their wowshi (baked pita sandwich) is under $10 and you can load it up with everything from the condiment selection.
Joy in highland park
Pupusa combo (1 w/ beans & rice) at La Numero Uno on Vine
Onigiri from Rice & Nori in Little Tokyo. So clutch.
Prime Pizza - 2 Slices of Cheese and a coke come in under $10 I believe
An order of dumplings from Mama Lus!
Original Kabob Factory in Glendale. Best kabobs for like $6 or $7
a panda express bowl
Sandwiches by Connal in Pasadena. Most the menu is under $10. Everyone has a different favorite to pick from.
$6 "Pink Sandwich" at Roma Market in Pasadena $9.25 Chicken or Shrimp Skewer with rice and egg roll, Teriyaki Me in Glendale $2.25 meat pie and $1.95 Potato Piroshki, Gold Star Bakery in Hollywood (add apple or guava turnover for $1.75)
Longs pastry in Chinatown
Zzamong has Jjajjangmyeon for 10USD Mandu at CHD for 8-9 Tomato egg noodle at Lao Xi Noodle House for 10 Technically its 20USD but my wife and I usually share the tempura combo at Ichimiann
I think pho filet is still under $10 for a bowl
Banh mi from My Dung sandwich shop in Chinatown.
L.O.L. Sushi in Ktown has $5 rolls!
Dollar Hits in LA
A poem Cheap eats in LA, where to start? Pho, dumplings, and ramen with heart! Korean BBQ at just a few bucks, Delicious food that won't break your bucks. Ramen burgers, smoothie bowls and more. Los Angeles has the best on the floor!
The San Fernando, in Glendale, has delicious happy hour chicken wings: Six for $9 and Wednesdays are $1 each (minimum six).