The Best Cheap Eats in Every Major US City
2024-12-05 · 7 min read
New York: the dollar slice is a cultural institution. Joe's Pizza on Carmine Street, Prince Street Pizza for the pepperoni square, and any of the 99-cent operations along Sixth Avenue provide what might be the best food-to-dollar ratio in American dining. A two-dollar slice and a can of soda for under $5 is a complete meal that tourists and locals rely on equally.
Los Angeles: the taco truck is the great equalizer. Leo's Tacos on La Brea serves al pastor carved from a trompo for under $3 per taco. The truck operates late night, the line is always long, and the tacos are as good as anything you will find in a sit-down restaurant. Across the city, hundreds of similar trucks serve communities that rely on affordable excellence.
Chicago: the Italian beef sandwich at Johnnie's Beef on North Avenue costs under $8 and is one of the most satisfying sandwiches in America. Thin-sliced, slow-roasted beef on a soft Italian roll, dipped in gravy, with sweet or hot peppers. Order it dipped, with hot giardiniera, and eat it standing at the counter because there are no seats.
Houston: Killen's TMX serves Tex-Mex breakfast tacos that start at $2.50 and deliver enough flavor to justify moving to Texas. The barbacoa and egg taco on a fresh flour tortilla, with a squeeze of salsa verde, is a meal that has sustained the city's workforce for generations. Every Houston neighborhood has its own version of this, and they are all worth trying.
San Francisco: the Mission burrito tradition persists despite the city's spiraling cost of living. La Taqueria on Mission Street stuffs a flour tortilla with grilled meat, beans, cheese, salsa, and avocado for around $12, and the resulting burrito weighs approximately one pound. It is two meals disguised as one, and it has been winning best burrito debates since 1973.
Other essential cheap eats include Nashville hot chicken at Prince's, Philadelphia cheesesteaks at John's Roast Pork, New Orleans po'boys at Parkway Bakery, and Detroit coneys at American Coney Island. The best food in America has always been cheap food made by people who care about feeding their community well.
