Good Cheap Places to Eat in NYC

Hey kids! It's me, wurwolf, here for wurwolf Wednesday!!! Are you excited??????

Since literally hundreds of people read Torrk's blog every day, I thought for my first guest post I would talk about my favorite cheap places to eat in NYC. Sometimes people visit New York, and when they do they occasionally like to eat here. Since I work and live here during the week, I thought I'd share these places with you, the reading public.

I work in Midtown and walk down 8th Avenue to catch the train in the West Village, so most of these places are located within that area, with a few exceptions. At all but two of them, dinner can be had for less than $15, and in most cases it can be had for less than $10. (This, of course, is all contingent on a small appetite -- I am someone who can be filled up on one slice of pizza -- so keep that in mind.)

Two Boots is my favorite place to eat right now, in fact I went there tonight and spent $5 on a small soda and a Mr. Pink. They have specialty pizzas named after famous personages, both real and fictional. (They also have plain ol' cheese for those who are less adventurous.) There are Two Bootses scattered around the city, but I go to the one on 7th and Greenwich Avenues in the West Village. It is such a great NY experience. I love sitting at the booth by the window, watching the crowd go by. Recommended if you're a tourist and want to do something real New Yorkers do but don't go with a group, as there is limited seating.

Right down Greenwich Avenue from Two Boots is A Salt & Battery. Cutesie name notwithstanding, they serve excellent and authentic fish & chips, or as authentic as I imagine fish & chips to be. The guys who work there even have British or Irish accents (I'm really bad with accents -- they could be Australian for all I know), and if you're a cute chick there by yourself they'll flirt with you (but not obnoxiously so).

Do you like barbecue? Sure, we all do! After years of being a barbecue wasteland, suddenly NYC is home to like a billion barbecue restaurants. I've only eaten at a handful of them, but the best one I've been to is RUB on 23rd Street between 7th & 8th Avenues. OMG, it is sooooooooooo good! The meats are spectacular, and you can get a one, two or three meat platter and whatever sides you want. The sides are okay -- the real star of the show is the meat. This is one of the more expensive restaurants on this list, but you can still get a meal for two for about $50. DO NOT under any circumstances go to Dallas Barbecue! It is a tourist trap and not good food!

Another passable barbecue place is Bone Lick Park, which is also on Greenwich Avenue, located two or three stores down from Two Boots. They are included second because, while tasty, their meats just aren't up to RUB quality. I do like Bone Lick's sides better, though -- the mashed yams and macaroni and cheese are great. Pricing is similar to RUB's.

Better Burger is a tasty little burger shop on 8th Avenue and 19th Street. If you go ask for the karma ketchup which they keep behind the counter. They have a couple of different ketchup flavors -- original, cajun and karma. They used to have the karma out but I guess the demand wasn't so high so they only give it out by special request. I love it, it's my favorite flavor. There are other Better Burgers around the city, including one on 9th Avenue around 43rd Street.

And while we're up in that neighborhood (Hell's Kitchen), Amy's Bread is located on 9th Avenue between 47th & 46th Streets. They have very tasty sandwiches on homemade bread. Not a huge selection, but quite yummy nevertheless.

Right down the block from Amy's between 45th & 46th Streets is Say Cheese, a restaurant that specializes in grilled cheese. I hesitate to include them in here because, in my opinion, the sandwich that I had there was just okay. Still, it's a good cheap place for food that will fill your belly.

If you happen to be at Grand Central Station, check out their food court. They have lots of great restaurants there, including another Two Boots and a barbecue place which I didn't include because the name escapes me but has very tasty food. If you're in Times Square, run the hell away from that culinary wasteland and go to the food court at Grand Central which is located a few avenues to the east of Times Square. It's not your mall's food court. SRSLY.

Heading back downtown to the East Side, Pommes Frites is a sentimental favorite. My husband and I have gotten fries there many times and I loved them so much that I made a card and mailed it to the restaurant. They serve their fries with flavored mayonnaise -- stop those gagging sounds! It's tasty! Pommes Frites is located on 2nd Avenue right off of St. Marks Place, which is a tourist destination in and of itself. While there, walk around on St. Marks, and then head back to 2nd Avenue and check out Toy Tokyo which is on a second floor practically right above Pommes Frites. (There's also a cool 70s collectibles place called Love something or other two stores down from Pommes Frites.)

That's all I can think of right now. There are probably other places that will occur to me later on. If they do I will make a second post. That's not a promise, that's a threat!

Peas out, britches!