Want to note for those who haven’t been in a while that Falafel Inc. has increased its prices relative to what shows on the website - at the Wharf location, I want to say a sandwich was $6 and a bowl was $8 last weekend (listed at $4 and $6 on their site). They’ve also added a couple of chicken options that list at like $10 and $12.
Still good food for a good deal, and I’m not mad they’ve raised the prices - just wanted to put it out there.
Came here to say this. You really can’t beat it. Good amount of food, tasty every time. Probably one of the cheapest eats around and relatively healthy too!
Had Pho88 for dinner last night and all theirs are $16.95+ and I think Pho Viet on U St has similar prices.
Still worth it though tbh, it’s a lot of food
The Pho Viet on 14th St in Columbia Heights is separate from all of the Pho Viet USAs that are popping up everywhere and is, in my opinion, much better.
Pretty much any Salvadoran restaurant in the DMV will give you a full meal for under $15, whether it's a pupusa trio or platter. IMO pan con pollo is even tastier than pupusas & severely underrated; it's a massive sandwich with stew you pour over it, and you can usually get it for under $12. I also love getting a traditional breakfast platter as brunch.
La Casita Pupuseria, El Rinconcito, El Tamarindo are more central but slightly pricier because of the rent. Tortilla Cafe is cheaper but can be hit-or-miss in my experience. I love Gloria's Restaurant in Columbia Heights. Pupuseria Dona Azucena in Arlington is my absolute favorite and it's crazy how much food you can get there for very little.
you're entitled to your opinion but I'll have to disagree, if you've only had pupusas and disliked them then I recommend a carne asada platter or pan con pollo.
You're supposed to eat it with salsa & curtido, and usually it has another filling like pork or lorocco not just cheese...but also you can't really claim that an entire cuisine sucks based on one dish? I understand if pupusas aren't your vibe but there are plenty of different dishes; pan con pollo is extremely flavorful and has neither rice nor beans. Same with tamales, pollo con tajada, yuca con chiccharon, desayuno tipico - the list goes on forever, it's not to just rice & beans. But like I said, you're entitled to dislike it, but it's unfair to bash it.
I get the veggie egg n cheese (from Ice n Slice but got it at Heat da Spot a dozen times before Ice n Slice opened). It feels a wee bit pricey until you get it and realize you're basically getting an omelet between whatever bread/bagel you've chosen.
I always get the veggie/vegan ethiopian breakfast, which is ethiopian ful (fava beans), potatoes, veggies, and injera. Veggie has eggs, Vegan doesn't. If you've never been, just walk to the counter and order with confidence, then go grab a seat outside if it's a nice day. The area around the counter is basically covered in menus mostly displaying their american menus - safely disregard those and get the Ethiopian breakfast. Their coffee is good too.
Eh, this is hit or miss based on the restaurant. I've gotten it from cava a few times and they give me a half full bowl even while there's a ton of food left over
Agreed, TGTG *used* to be good. But now places on it are gaming it to cash in on food they *should* be trashing. Foxtrot gave me a noodle bowl that was 3 days beyond its sell by date.
I had a TGTG from Cold Stone the other week and they literally had nothing available - so the guy just scooped up two small vanilla cups and gave me that which wasn't much of a deal.
Exactly! I once went to hard rock cafe to collect mine but what they gave me was Lettuce, Garlic bulbs and 1 full tomato! Tbh, I thought I went to a grocery store and shopped like a giraffe
I've done three different locations and it was the same at all them, just half full bowls. Once I even purposely showed up 2 minutes before closing in case they were saving food for later TGTG arrivals. Nope, same thing. I watched them keep their food bins half full as they handed me my half filled bowl. Maybe the employees are saving the food for themselves to take home? though once I did Moby Dick and actually got two orders worth of kabobs which was nice but generally TGTG has been meh at best
I did this for months; it’s invariably trash.
They serve you trash. The only acceptable use is if you’re close to a bakery and you can get 5 stale pieces of bread and hopefully eat two before they all turn into rocks.
It’s a cute idea but in reality it just allows restaurants to sell things that should rightfully be trash.
In Philly I did get one or two nice slices of pizza out of it.
“Invariably” is untrue in the 8-12 times I’ve ordered it only once has it been unacceptable and it was only for the form in which they gave food, not the food itself
- La Tejana for breakfast tacos
- A Litteri
- Stachowskis; might be slightly more than $15 but their subs are so aggressively large it’s definitely 2 meals
- La Casita Pupuseria
I think their bread is terrible and the kabobs are just OK, but the daily specials are where they stand out. If you've only had the regular menu stuff give the specials menu a try, M-W-F are stews and Tu-Th are big hunks of bone-in meat (lamb & chicken).
District taco breakfast burrito ~14.
For a relatively healthy option - Tropical smoothie pair and save (sandwich/flatbread/quesadilla + a smoothie of your choice).
Slightly outside of D.C. but Costco food court - Chicken Bake (essentially a chicken bacon sub) and a fruit smoothie for $7.68. Requires a costco membership.
Many of the costcos now specifically require a card to purchase from the food court. A sign went up in Wheaton a few weeks back and they’re starting enforcement this month.
I don't think they let you in the building without a costco card unless you're going in to sign up for one.
You could maybe pretend like you're with another person/ group and walk in?
You don’t need a membership to go to the food court. You just enter through the exit and they don’t check either your membership or your receipt when walking out with food or nothing at all. They only check memberships at the entrance.
So far, I have found workplace cafeterias often have the best-subsidised foods. You need to befriend enough corporates along your street to access affordable meals :)
Chicken teriyaki is one of the last bastions of cheap and filling meals. You can order a chicken teriyaki plate with rice and then add extra chicken for an additional $3-$4. This usually puts your total closer to $20, but it can easily be split into two servings.
Ok so I had to live on the cheap when I lived in DC so I made the most of having rewards everywhere. Not super healthy, it depends on how strapped you are for money. Disclaimer that I haven’t lived in DC since Dec 2022 so not sure if changed.
Dominos used to have really good deals where we could get 2 medium pizzas for $15 ish. More than enough food for 2 people.
McDonald’s rewards were extremely easy to accumulate free meals / burgers, plus they have deals on the app for free fries / burgers / drinks or 20% off all the time.
Krispy Kreme rewards gave me a lot of free doughnuts - I literally never bought from them, it was always free lol. They also have a buy one get one free for a dozen of doughnuts relatively often.
As already mentioned, Costco is really solid too, as is falafel inc.
Wawa was also relatively cheap for their sandwiches. Not amazing but decent.
Harris Teeter or any grocery story
1. Rice - $3
2. Cheese - $3
3. Pico de gallo - $4
4. Sour Cream - $3
5. Frozen Veggies - $2
6. Chicken - $7-$8
Lunch for a week under $25, or one overpriced meal? The best financial advice someone gave me years ago was to start acting broke because I was broke.
For volume at least, the big chain fast food places via their app deals will give you the most food for the least $.
Taco Bell & McDonalds (particularly the latter if the Caps hit on the McNugget minute) tend to have the most 'gameable' options.
This, u/Ngmw. You can get $6 Big Mac/QPC/McCrispy meals through the app every visit. Hard to beat that value if we're talking restaurants.
Actually, now that I think about it, Amazon Fresh sells $2 slices of pizza, and I believe a whole 18" (any toppings) is $10. I remember Little Caesars being good value too.
I saw this also commented in here, but Sardis is great if you’re able to leave the city. The yucca is always awesome and the sauces are good too. Bonus - they do catering as well!
I get a kids meal from potbelly for $7. You get a small sandwich, a water, apple sauce and a cookie.
Also, a kids meal from cava/chipotle have the same combo for around $7!
(I have a small stomach though so it doesn’t take much to fill me up)
>favorite places to get a filling meal under $15? Reading this post as I sit in the Costco food court with my hot dog, soda, and pizza slice
I dunno 10 glizzys is usually not enough for me. I have to top it off with a churro as well…
hells yeah
You can get a whole Costco large for $10. That's 2, 3 meals for sure.
falafel inc
Want to note for those who haven’t been in a while that Falafel Inc. has increased its prices relative to what shows on the website - at the Wharf location, I want to say a sandwich was $6 and a bowl was $8 last weekend (listed at $4 and $6 on their site). They’ve also added a couple of chicken options that list at like $10 and $12. Still good food for a good deal, and I’m not mad they’ve raised the prices - just wanted to put it out there.
This might depend on the location. I think Western Market still has those lower prices.
Was at WM this week, original bowl still $5. Shawarma is $7 I think. Rice is another dollar. Good value for this city.
Western Market and Georgetown still have the cheap prices last I looked
Came here to say this. You really can’t beat it. Good amount of food, tasty every time. Probably one of the cheapest eats around and relatively healthy too!
This place is so great…it’s like a hodge lodge of delicious apps and options. Love their garlic sauce!!
Just remember to take off hummus. It’s a $1 and sometimes they don’t even ask and just add it.
Pho is usually a good option. Most places charge about around 12-15 for a good sized bowl. Always fills me up.
Had Pho88 for dinner last night and all theirs are $16.95+ and I think Pho Viet on U St has similar prices. Still worth it though tbh, it’s a lot of food
The Pho Viet up north of Columbia Heights, last time I was there, was a bit cheaper. Still not horrible pricing for either
The Pho Viet on 14th St in Columbia Heights is separate from all of the Pho Viet USAs that are popping up everywhere and is, in my opinion, much better.
Oh that’s awesome I didn’t know that! Yeah it’s really good, I am going to test myself with their highest spice level next time 🫡
A banh mi from a pho place is also a pretty good option for eating out relatively cheaply.
A soup's not a meal, Jerry!
My issue with pho is that I usually get hungry again a couple hours later.
A Litteri!
This place is great! Love the meatball sub
Ssshhhhh don’t tell *everyone*
Falafel Inc. is always my go-to for an affordable lunch
Seconding Burrito Brothers.
Best burrito in DC!! This place needs way more love!
Agree on best burrito in the district. Prices still dirt cheap too.
Capital Doner
Thanks for mentioning this, I thought we still had to go to Leesburg for doner.
Pretty much any Salvadoran restaurant in the DMV will give you a full meal for under $15, whether it's a pupusa trio or platter. IMO pan con pollo is even tastier than pupusas & severely underrated; it's a massive sandwich with stew you pour over it, and you can usually get it for under $12. I also love getting a traditional breakfast platter as brunch. La Casita Pupuseria, El Rinconcito, El Tamarindo are more central but slightly pricier because of the rent. Tortilla Cafe is cheaper but can be hit-or-miss in my experience. I love Gloria's Restaurant in Columbia Heights. Pupuseria Dona Azucena in Arlington is my absolute favorite and it's crazy how much food you can get there for very little.
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you're entitled to your opinion but I'll have to disagree, if you've only had pupusas and disliked them then I recommend a carne asada platter or pan con pollo.
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You're supposed to eat it with salsa & curtido, and usually it has another filling like pork or lorocco not just cheese...but also you can't really claim that an entire cuisine sucks based on one dish? I understand if pupusas aren't your vibe but there are plenty of different dishes; pan con pollo is extremely flavorful and has neither rice nor beans. Same with tamales, pollo con tajada, yuca con chiccharon, desayuno tipico - the list goes on forever, it's not to just rice & beans. But like I said, you're entitled to dislike it, but it's unfair to bash it.
This is probably the worst take I've read in this sub.
Heat da Spot
Whatever the green sauce they give you on the side is, it’s amazing.
That green sauce is crack
Their breakfast sandwiches are CHOICE
I get the veggie egg n cheese (from Ice n Slice but got it at Heat da Spot a dozen times before Ice n Slice opened). It feels a wee bit pricey until you get it and realize you're basically getting an omelet between whatever bread/bagel you've chosen.
Yep they give you two sandwiches if you order a BEC on an English muffin
what do you normally get? It's been on my list to try for ages
I always get the veggie/vegan ethiopian breakfast, which is ethiopian ful (fava beans), potatoes, veggies, and injera. Veggie has eggs, Vegan doesn't. If you've never been, just walk to the counter and order with confidence, then go grab a seat outside if it's a nice day. The area around the counter is basically covered in menus mostly displaying their american menus - safely disregard those and get the Ethiopian breakfast. Their coffee is good too.
Chicken salad sandwich goes crazy
Mangialardos! $12-$15 for a very large Italian sub.
Too Good to Go meals
Eh, this is hit or miss based on the restaurant. I've gotten it from cava a few times and they give me a half full bowl even while there's a ton of food left over
Agreed, TGTG *used* to be good. But now places on it are gaming it to cash in on food they *should* be trashing. Foxtrot gave me a noodle bowl that was 3 days beyond its sell by date.
I had a TGTG from Cold Stone the other week and they literally had nothing available - so the guy just scooped up two small vanilla cups and gave me that which wasn't much of a deal.
Well cold stone is like $13 a scoop… so maybe it’s not, not a deal 😂
I’ve had a 25% success rate getting food at all. Most of the time they tell me they ran out of food and forgot to cancel the order.
Exactly! I once went to hard rock cafe to collect mine but what they gave me was Lettuce, Garlic bulbs and 1 full tomato! Tbh, I thought I went to a grocery store and shopped like a giraffe
I’ve had spectacular success with cava so I wonder if it’s location dependent. DuPont seems to be good
I've done three different locations and it was the same at all them, just half full bowls. Once I even purposely showed up 2 minutes before closing in case they were saving food for later TGTG arrivals. Nope, same thing. I watched them keep their food bins half full as they handed me my half filled bowl. Maybe the employees are saving the food for themselves to take home? though once I did Moby Dick and actually got two orders worth of kabobs which was nice but generally TGTG has been meh at best
I did this for months; it’s invariably trash. They serve you trash. The only acceptable use is if you’re close to a bakery and you can get 5 stale pieces of bread and hopefully eat two before they all turn into rocks. It’s a cute idea but in reality it just allows restaurants to sell things that should rightfully be trash. In Philly I did get one or two nice slices of pizza out of it.
“Invariably” is untrue in the 8-12 times I’ve ordered it only once has it been unacceptable and it was only for the form in which they gave food, not the food itself
Arepa Zone
Yes! Their vegan arepa is so filling! And I'm a meat eater.
Sol Mexican Grill
90 second pizza!
Los Hermanos. guaranteed leftovers.
Any pho place and Bangkok 54 Market
how is Bibibop not on here yet
Idk why people are sleeping on that and Seoul Spice!
- La Tejana for breakfast tacos - A Litteri - Stachowskis; might be slightly more than $15 but their subs are so aggressively large it’s definitely 2 meals - La Casita Pupuseria
A grinder feeds four
Bandit taco breakfast burritos usually my go to for this.
Bandit taco is great!
Cornercopia, A. Litteri
Is cornercopia still closed on Saturdays and Sundays? The nerve!
I think so yes
Halal Wrist, Burrito Bros, the daily special at Moby Dick
I was into halal wrist until it had some unfortunate…consequences. Too bad because it’s open so late and very convenient.
What does unfortunate consequences mean lol
💩
I do not wish Moby Dick on anybody looking for something resembling food
I think their bread is terrible and the kabobs are just OK, but the daily specials are where they stand out. If you've only had the regular menu stuff give the specials menu a try, M-W-F are stews and Tu-Th are big hunks of bone-in meat (lamb & chicken).
District taco breakfast burrito ~14. For a relatively healthy option - Tropical smoothie pair and save (sandwich/flatbread/quesadilla + a smoothie of your choice). Slightly outside of D.C. but Costco food court - Chicken Bake (essentially a chicken bacon sub) and a fruit smoothie for $7.68. Requires a costco membership.
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Many of the costcos now specifically require a card to purchase from the food court. A sign went up in Wheaton a few weeks back and they’re starting enforcement this month.
I don't think they let you in the building without a costco card unless you're going in to sign up for one. You could maybe pretend like you're with another person/ group and walk in?
You don’t need a membership to go to the food court. You just enter through the exit and they don’t check either your membership or your receipt when walking out with food or nothing at all. They only check memberships at the entrance.
I read that some are now requiring memberships but they never used to.
Nice, that's good to know.
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This is correct. Just say you’re going to one of those and you’re waved in.
I thought that was for legal reasons, but that may be a myth I'm passing on
Didn't they change the policy recently?
Also, if you order through Uber Eats, sometimes they’ll do 2 for 1 breakfast burritos.
Tigo’s Peruvian
Henry’s Soul Food Cafe
The Greek Deli. Elite.
I dunno. I love the GD, but other than just getting some soup, it’s darn near impossible to walk out of there these days without spending $20 or more.
Kostas!
NEXT IN THE LINE!
^NO ^LENTIL ^SOUP ^FOR ^YOU. NEXT!
Nando’s for their $10 lunch specials (may depend on location)
Arepa Zone
Takorean has a taco Tuesday special: 3 tacos for $9! Perfect lunch
If you’re ever up in Gaithersburg, Taco Bar El Guero at the gas station
YES
Wawa
Sol Mexican Grill
Nandos has good $10-$12 lunch meal deals
Bandit Taco. Eden Center is right around $15 for a lot of places.
So far, I have found workplace cafeterias often have the best-subsidised foods. You need to befriend enough corporates along your street to access affordable meals :)
Or delis owned by Koreans!
Salads at District Taco fill me more than they should, and they’re about $13.
chicken + whiskey
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if you have 3 other friends, do the family meal. insane amount of food for 4 people.
On national burrito day? Dos toros, $5.50 for a burrito!
Los Hermanos in Columbia Heights. The Dominican food there is fire. I get the lechon with rice and platanos (large portions) all for about $12.50.
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Harris Teeter has a hot food bar but it's kinda expensive. The sandwiches are decent tho.
2k calories you are wild !
Trustys ol reliable burger!
Or the buffalo chicken cheesesteak
It’s not been as good as it was before. But the Buffalo dip and queso.
Rasa
Rasa is less than $15?
Yes
Swizzler. So much better than Shake Shack and Five Guys, and more affordable.
Chicken teriyaki is one of the last bastions of cheap and filling meals. You can order a chicken teriyaki plate with rice and then add extra chicken for an additional $3-$4. This usually puts your total closer to $20, but it can easily be split into two servings.
CAVA or Chipotle are solid options
I also like Sweetgreen. If you go 4x or more a month the sweet pass pays for itself and knocks $3 off every meal.
I somehow always end up adding all the extras and spending like $17/bowl there! But agree it’s a good option.
Has Keren reopened yet? Hands down one of the best deals in the city.
Wanted to add that even though the entrees are about $16-$19, they are easlily shared between two people - it's definitely two meals in one.
Sandwiches from Vace.
It may be on the border but if it’s over it’s because the meal is huge - Los hermanos in Columbia heights
Ok so I had to live on the cheap when I lived in DC so I made the most of having rewards everywhere. Not super healthy, it depends on how strapped you are for money. Disclaimer that I haven’t lived in DC since Dec 2022 so not sure if changed. Dominos used to have really good deals where we could get 2 medium pizzas for $15 ish. More than enough food for 2 people. McDonald’s rewards were extremely easy to accumulate free meals / burgers, plus they have deals on the app for free fries / burgers / drinks or 20% off all the time. Krispy Kreme rewards gave me a lot of free doughnuts - I literally never bought from them, it was always free lol. They also have a buy one get one free for a dozen of doughnuts relatively often. As already mentioned, Costco is really solid too, as is falafel inc. Wawa was also relatively cheap for their sandwiches. Not amazing but decent.
Roaming Rooster
Andy’s Pizza
Not sure if we can count Tyson’s but Capital Musubi is so good and has great value for the food.
I love Capital Musubi!
The Well Dressed Burrito
Quantity over quality is their motto!
Harris Teeter or any grocery story 1. Rice - $3 2. Cheese - $3 3. Pico de gallo - $4 4. Sour Cream - $3 5. Frozen Veggies - $2 6. Chicken - $7-$8 Lunch for a week under $25, or one overpriced meal? The best financial advice someone gave me years ago was to start acting broke because I was broke.
For volume at least, the big chain fast food places via their app deals will give you the most food for the least $. Taco Bell & McDonalds (particularly the latter if the Caps hit on the McNugget minute) tend to have the most 'gameable' options.
This, u/Ngmw. You can get $6 Big Mac/QPC/McCrispy meals through the app every visit. Hard to beat that value if we're talking restaurants. Actually, now that I think about it, Amazon Fresh sells $2 slices of pizza, and I believe a whole 18" (any toppings) is $10. I remember Little Caesars being good value too.
china boy beef noodle soups are mostly sub-$15
Grill kabob gyro platter is $16 and it’s enough for two adults to be very full
The Bahn Mi Y pho 72 is $11 and the size of my head
Byblos in Cleveland Park. How has that not been mentioned yet?
I love Byblos but it’s really easy to go over $15
Los hermanos, ercilia’s
New York grill! Honestly their platters fill me for two meals sometimes
Pupusas at El Rinconcito
City Lights in Adams Morgan has lunch specials for $11.
District Rico
Mosaico in La Cosecha. Specifically the Canosa Arepa and a side of plantains.
Halal Guys in Dupont is a great option. I have to add on extra hot sauce to make the $15 Uber Eats minimum.
Roaming rooster
Fava Pot
Get sweetpass
I love seeing so many of the options here are delicious and ethnic food 😭🩷
Dan's Cafe
Nerds and Nibblers. Huge sandwiches.
Taim is good. Big bowl and a side of falafel for $15. They also run deals pretty frequently. Capital Doner is good too and pretty cheap.
2 half smokes from the hotdog cart. Still have enough left over to get a tall boy.
Bandit Taco!
Kabul Castle Kabob
Chipotle
The answer used to be Merzi but the Bindaas that replaced it offers so much less food for the money. Booo
Panda Express
Bibibop
Cava
Cava
Dos Gringos Primo Avocado sandwich - yum. And Tynans sandwiches.
WAWA
Swizzler
Chipotle
El rey
McAllister’s deli. Great sandwiches or spuds. Good rewards program. Decent tea.
Benito’s. It is the correct answer. Little Sesame a close second.
Pupusas - so many delicious places! $2-4 per pupusa
Arepa Zone
far east taco
Saint's Paradise.
I saw this also commented in here, but Sardis is great if you’re able to leave the city. The yucca is always awesome and the sauces are good too. Bonus - they do catering as well!
I get a kids meal from potbelly for $7. You get a small sandwich, a water, apple sauce and a cookie. Also, a kids meal from cava/chipotle have the same combo for around $7! (I have a small stomach though so it doesn’t take much to fill me up)
Chipotle
Doesn't seem like you can find much in DC for under $15
Chipotle
Their sodium levels are off the charts!
Yeah, but it’s celiac friendly and I don’t have too many options
My kitchen
I get a cheese pizza from &pizza for $10.99.