While the goal of Cheap Eats is always to highlight the great local restaurants that you can hit up occasionally for a great deal, our dumb human bodies require fuel multiple times over the course of a day.
Which begs the question: What would it be like to only nosh on Cheap Eats for every meal of the day while on a strict budget?
To test this out, I allotted myself $50 to spend over the course of three days while eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at Spokane restaurants.
I put some tight restrictions on this exercise: no national chains (taking the $1.50 Costco hotdog and soda out of the equation was tough), count the price after tax since it has to be paid, try not to veer too far from the Inlander office in Kendall Yards (deals are negated by gas costs), and try not to eat the same type of food twice. When calculating my budget I also didn't include any drinks (because you could just get a water; I only bought an RC Cola to accompany one meal) or include the tip in the total because people have differing tipping methods. (Please tip!)
Join me on this culinary budgeting journey!
MONDAY
CASUAL FRIDAY DONUTS3402 N. Division St.
Bavarian Filled Bismarck - $3.75
To be honest, I'm not normally a breakfast eater, so I thought it'd be best to start with something sweet. And while it's not the cheapest option around, for my money (literally), Casual Friday has the best donuts in town. I'd rather pay a bit more for improved taste, and CF's Bavarian-cream filled Bismark fits the bill. This hefty boy looks dense but actually sports incredibly light and fluffy dough to surround its sweet egg custard cream filling.
GARLAND SANDWICH SHOPPE
3903 N. Madison St.
The Caprese - $7.62
Sandwich inflation is real. Poring over Cheap Eats issues from years past, I was jealous realizing how much the general sammy has gone up the past couple years. Thankfully, one of the cheaper sandwiches I could find was right up my alley. As a lover of caprese salad (my mom makes a killer version with peaches), Garland Sandwich Shoppe's The Caprese was a must-order. While lettuce is always touch-and-go in a warm sandwich — the shop specializes in grilled paninis — the melty mozzarella more than compensated for the lettuce's texture. The multigrain bread offers a satisfying crunch around the gooey veggie innards, which have extra flavor thanks to balsamic vinegar and a peppy basil pesto.
VERSALIA PIZZA
1333 W. Summit Parkway
Pepperoni Pizza Slice - $5.45
Typically a lunchtime staple for me, I instead grab a slice from Versalia for an early dinner to take advantage of the $1 off slices during happy hour from 2 to 5 pm. At my favorite pizza joint in town, the slices are huge (the size of two slices — they'll cut it for ya), the pepperoni actually has bite, and every topping sits perfectly atop the crispy wood-fired crust.
TUESDAY
HIDDEN BAGEL 1001 W. 25th Ave.
Salt Bagel with Tomato - $3.50
The bagels at Hidden Bagel are well worth the price for their quality... but the tricky part for this exercise is the cream cheese. Does it make sense for me to spend $2 on cream cheese for a $3 bagel? Alas, no. Instead, I counteract the dryness of my expertly toasted salt bagel by getting it with tomatoes for an additional 50 cents. It adds some freshness and moisture to the equation for a pleasing start to the day.
TAMALE BOX
1102 W. Summit Parkway
Cheese + Jalapeño Tamale - $5.99
A godsend for Kendall Yards lunches since opening earlier this year, a single tamale from the joint offers a perfectly satisfying meal. While the meaty options may be more popular, I adore the cheese + jalapeño tamale. After removing the piping hot delicacy from its corn husk, the thick but soft corn dough encases ample gooey cheese bliss with strips of pepper for a spicy kick. Adding on the rojo (roma tomatoes and arbol peppers) and verde (tomatillo and jalapeño) sauces ups things to an even higher level of culinary delight.
UNION TAVERN
1914 E. Sprague Ave.
Deluxe Cheeseburger with Fries - $5.45
It's almost inarguable that the best local cheap eats deal in town is Union Tavern's deluxe cheeseburger. On Tuesdays from 6 to 9 pm, diners can get a loaded full sized burger and fries for $5 and change. While this project left me a bit peckish throughout the week, my belly was fully satisfied after chowing down on this classic bar burger. Nothing fancy, but it needn't be.
WEDNESDAY
TACO VADO 1327 W. Northwest Blvd.
Pork & Eggs Taco - $5.18
Figuring I needed at least one hot breakfast, I swung by Taco Vado for some morning Mexican food. While some might scoff at getting a single taco, Vado's pork and eggs taco isn't some tiny street taco. Instead, it's stuffed so full of pork, eggs and salsa verde that it's impossible to close the tortilla around the mountain of tasty ingredients. You can't kill the sucker in a few bites, offering good value for the morning munchies.
SUSHI.COM
430 W. Main Ave.
Philly Roll - $7.63
Great sushi places do the simple rolls right, and that's why Sushi.com's Philly roll is one of my favorite bites in town. It's surprising how many places can screw up the seemingly easy combo of salmon, avocado and cream cheese wrapped in rice and seaweed. But the salmon in this Philly always pops, and the chefs have figured out the right cream cheese and avocado balance to add a creamy smooth texture to the roll without overwhelming the core fish flavor.
DICK'S HAMBURGERS
10 E. Third Ave.
Quarter Pound Burger - $4.96
I was waiting to see what my budget was before the final meal, and I realized I'd overspent so that even things listed at $5 would push me over $50. Dick's to the rescue! A cheap eats staple since my Gonzaga undergrad days, the no-nonsense quarter-pounder might not have been a fully filling final salvo. And it forced a second burger on here, but it fit my budget.
My journey was complete. While I wouldn't advise this style of cheap eating as a regular diet, there's plenty around to stretch your dollar without leaving you too hungry. Til the next nosh!
FINAL TOTAL: $49.53 ♦
