Best of LA for the budget-minded among us

I have to respectfully disagree w/ Sunnin. I tried it once, the falafel was like a hockey puck. :frowning: Have they improved their food recently or did I have an off experience?

+1 on Versailles.

Agree w/ Fundamental when it comes to the lunch hour. Partner and I were there last Friday. Like Mendocino Farms, a single sandwich isn’t “cheap,” but it’s pretty damn filling.

@ipsedixit mentioned a Brazilian place in Westwood. Was it called Mesa? Haven’t checked it out myself, but that might also be an option for the OP.

Oh, and Metro Cafe. The dinner menu isn’t cheap, but it’s a good value for the quality of the food, and the breakfast/brunch menu is great. The french toast there is particularly yummy, IMHO.

I have mixed feelings about Amandine, but many of the pastries (but none of the cakes) go on sale after 4PM daily. Edit: the Brentwood Farmer’s Market (and I imagine other ones) have reduced pricing on the produce when they get close to closing time (around 1-2 PM, I think?).

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The $23 6-hand roll set menu at kazunori… and then another 6 rolls for dessert.

$18 bara chirashi bowl at sushi tsujita

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love the Sunin bakery for a quick snack the ‘maneesh extra’ and ‘Spinach Fatayer with cheese’ are both really tasty

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Good question @paranoidgarliclover. My selections were for inexpensive sit down. But they may just be looking for cheap eats.

If wine is a must, you may want to ask if you can bring your own, as less expensive places don’t have a liquor license.

I thought of Palomino. I have to have that Hot Crab Dip at least once a year. Food is a tad pricey, but hadn’t thought about happy hour. Always seek out happy hours if you’re on a budget.

Yeah, it’s a great place. I’ve been going since the restaurant was in the bakery location.

Yes

Sorry about the hockey puck falafel balls. I do like them pretty firm on the outside. Good for dipping in their delish tahini.

My biz partner and his kids love Mesa Brazilian. He goes to an inexpensive Brazilian grill too. I’ll try to get the name.

I’m with you, mixed feelings about Amandine. Good to know about the pastries.

For me…

Pann’s Patty Melt, Turkey Dinner, and Fried Chicken
800 Degrees Pizza of the Day is $5.00
Wurstkuche Rattlesnake and Rabbit sausage
Leo’s Taco’s Al Pastor $1 each
Ricky’s Fish Tacos
Porto’s
Sapp Coffee Shop
Tender Green Steak Salad
Hannosuke
Guisado’s $7 sampler
Bay Cities Italian Deli
Sweetfin
guerrilla tacos
Egg Slut (Venice opening soon)
Tsujita
The Original Pancake House
Kula Rotating Sushi Bar
Langer’s Deli Anything with Pastrami

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Is there a primer somewhere on FTC about how to link to a specific post? :slight_smile:

@TheCookie: yeah, the other nearby place (to where I live) about which I have mixed feelings is Literati Cafe. Some people love it, but I’ve been vaguely indifferent for the most part. They have, though, recently upped their game a bit (the chicken in the cobb salad tastes better, for instance, and is now “shredded”). And, if you need a place to work undisturbed for hrs a time, it definitely fill that niche. So I respect them for that. And some people love the place (although I cannot quite understand why). So it might be worth trying for the OP.

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When I get cravings for inexpensive food in LA, this is what comes to mind:

Bean and cheese burrito with green sauce - Al and Bea’s
Chicken shawarma - Ro Ro’s
Chicken with fries - Dino’s
Crispy pork with holy basil - Pa Ord
Enchiladas or Nachos - Tere’s
Jade Noodles - Sapp
Kim chi fried rice - Chibiscus
New Delhi and a mocha milkshake - Sack Sandwhiches
Old Boy - Seoulmate
Potato balls, chicken croquettes, and guava/cheese pastry at Portos
Quesadilla with chorizo - Guisado’s
Shrimp tacos - Marisco Jalisco
Tacos al Pastor - Leo’s
Tempura - Hannosuke
Vampiro’s - Mexicali

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they only sell 15 a day for lunch.

Go to SGV.

Specifically Valley Blvd between Del Mar and Rosemead.

As to which restaurant in particular? Really any Chinese one will be more than ok and fit your criteria. Even a place like Shanghai No. 1 as long as you stay away from live seafood.

As to what to order. Ask for recommendations from the server. Tell him/her you are doing a review piece for the Pasadena Star News, which will be translated for the Chinese Daily News (aka the World Journal).

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No primer. But here’s how to do it.

Put the text you want hyperlinked in brackets and the hyperlink in parentheses.

Like this.

(text you want hyperlinked)[www.hyperlink.com]

Voila!

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Wow, a bunch of very quick replies, and some real helpful stuff in here! I especially appreciate the recommendations in the West LA area, as that’s the most convenient for us for weekday dinners. So yeah, thanks all!

A lot of the above mentioned places are ones we’ve been to and like (we enjoy CA Chicken Cafe a lot, for instance), but there are plenty of others that will be perfect for us to go check out, so I really appreciate it.

I’ll probably come back and reply again to add additional comments soon, but at the moment here’s the first thing that caught my attention enough to make me want to follow up now: What exactly is the attraction to Egg Slut? I went once to the GCM location a few years back when they were still pretty new and got a breakfast sandwich that I felt was very average. And yet I see the ridiculous lines there every time we’re back in GCM (which we like to stop into and get coffee drinks and pastries from G&B–probably my wife’s favorite coffee spot). I thought maybe Egg Slut was just a place that for whatever reason was really trendy with a certain crowd, and hence the consistently long lines. But I see that wienermobile recc’d it above, along with plenty of other clearly good spots (Guisados, Bay Cities, Langer’s), so I’m wondering if I need to give it another shot…? (Or order something different next time…?)

Gracias! And apparently clicking on the “time” of the post gives you the hyperlink! Excellent. :slight_smile:

It is tasty but only worth it if the line is short. Go early, grab a mid week breakfast and I suggest ordering the Fairfax sub biscuit. Pretty tasty.

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Gonna go a notch higher dollar wise …

my two cents, Mid-Wilshire.
metro café, Culver City.
Chunju Han-il Kwan, Koreatown (but there are tons.)
status kuo, Mar Vista.

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Ta-eem on Melrose, Weho get the chicken shawerma plate. I always split it with my GF super filling and they give you a bunch of israeli salads on the side.

luv2eat thai, on sunset great thai dishes all their noodle soups and noodle dishes except for th khao soi are under 10 dollars per dish.

Simpang Culver city- all their entress are about 10 dollars and under I really enjoy their mie tek tek, Laksa, and all their mixed nasi rice dishes.

Attari sandwich shop - delicious kebab and persian style sandiwches near westwood

Northern Cafe- westood solid beef noodle soup, xlb, and other taiwanese style dishes

my 2 cents - pico/culver area new school southern food very affordable prices fried chicken is delish and so is their grits

Taste of tehran westwood area kebabs and their soup are on point

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[quote=“PorkyBelly, post:15, topic:3741”]
they only sell 15 a day for lunch.
[/quote]Smart. They’re offering a prime dish to customers at a sweet price without losing money.

These 2 Egg Slut pictures from @wienermobile have always piqued my fancy.

Maybe it’s just me… And wiener.

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