NYC Cheap Eats: 10 Meals for $10 (or Less)

Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Welcome to the Better Together Here podcast with your host,
Devin. And Ashley?
Helping you make the most of your time in New York City.
Hey everyone, and welcome to today's episode of the Better
Together Here podcast. My name is Devin.
And my name is Ashley. This episode we are letting you
in on 10 meals, 10 cheap eats inNew York City for $10 or less.

(00:22):
We've got some spots on here that are actually really
delicious. Some of our favorite spots to
eat on a frequent basis just because they are affordable and
fantastic. Fantastic And we have a very
helpful New York know how in this episode and a you'll have
to check it out. That might just be your next new
favorite fun activity in New York City.
So let's get right into it. New York City boasts thousands
of high end restaurants from a wide variety of cuisines.

(00:44):
But that doesn't mean you can't find cheap eats in the city.
The 10 spots that we're going totalk about are $10 or less.
Most of them I would say are a full meal.
Some of them may be more on the side of like a snack between
meals, but most of them would bea full meal.
A lot of people when they're visiting New York, especially
for the first time, get a littlebit overwhelmed with the sticker

(01:04):
shock of how expensive everything is, which is why we
wanted to give you guys some other options to have a great
culinary experience in New York City, but also not break the
bank. Because frankly, when you come
to New York, you should eat yourway through the city.
That's the best way to see New York.
All right, first on the list, pizza slices.
We have talked about pizza in all kinds of episodes.
We've done a full episode about pizza.

(01:25):
I believe we've talked about some of our other favorite spots
for pizza. Basically any pizza spot that
offers slices are going to be anywhere from like 3 to $6 a
slice depending on what you get.So if you get, if you opt for
something like a plain cheese, you can maybe get 2 even for
under 10 bucks. And then obviously for a place

(01:47):
like dollar slice, which it's not really a dollar slice
anymore, it's $1.50, but I mean you could get.
You could get almost more pizza than you could eat for $10.
Yeah, you could get almost an entire dollar slice pie for $10.
So pizza a great option, especially if you're just
wanting again, more of like a quick bite to get you through

(02:08):
till the next meal. Next on our list, Vanessa's
Dumplings. Vanessa's Dumplings has a
handful of locations. I think the original 1 is more
downtown in like the Lower East Side area, but they have
locations on the Upper West one in Long Island City all over New
York. They have what they're most
known for is their pan fried dumplings.
So you can get 8 of their pan fried dumplings.

(02:31):
They have a variety of differentoptions like chicken, pork, you
know different meat fillings. All of them are $10 or less.
I highly recommend getting theirchili crisp when you go there.
They make their chili crisp in house and it's so so good.
Really nice to put on the dumplings.
And if you're not in the mood for dumplings, they also have
homemade noodles that are all also $10 or less.

(02:54):
Most of these locations for Vanessa's dumplings, they do
allow you to pay with card, but they'll charge you a little bit
more and they definitely don't like it when you pay with a
card. But you, you can pay with a
card, but when you can, and I think that's a good idea for
most of these places generally is like, they're the type of
places where people aren't spending a ton of money.
And so they might offer you discounts if you pay with cash

(03:17):
versus card. All right #3 on the list is
Gray's Papaya. Gray's papaya is what many would
call a New York staple. It has been around for a very
long time. It's been featured in a lot of
movies and TV shows. It was just in Sex and the City
where we are in Sex and the City.
Yeah, we're watching through Sexand Sex and the City for the
first time. And I think it's after she has

(03:38):
like a very successful book launch her driver her.
Limo driver takes her to Gray's Papaya and she's like, we're
gonna celebrate and takes her toGray's Papaya.
It's a hilarious scene. They're in New York.
Grey's Papaya is like notoriously just like late night
drunk food. That's kind of what it's known
for for a lot of people in the city.

(03:58):
But they also have breakfast options.
You can get a breakfast sandwichfor like $3.
You can get 2 hot dogs and a drink for $7.50 or just a single
hot dog for $3.25. I mean, when it comes to
affordable food in New York City, besides dollar slice, like
I feel like grace Papaya is one of the most kind of well known
and and popular for people trying to travel and eat on a

(04:20):
budget. And that leads us to this
episode's New York know how wellit may not be super specific to
New York City. It's probably more valuable and
more helpful while you're in thecity.
This tip we're going to give you.
So essentially, if there's a nice restaurant that you want to
go to or one that's a little more expensive or a little

(04:40):
ritzier or is hard to get a reservation for, often your best
bet is to try to go at lunch andespecially going at like off
hours. So if there's a place that
you're struggling to get a reservation for, you could go at
like 2:00 and you might still get their lunch menu and you

(05:00):
miss the lunch rush and you get usually cheaper prices for their
lunch options. One thing we found is a
surprising amount of restaurantsactually do lunch specials where
it'll be like a prefix situationor you'll get like a free
appetizer and a drink if you buyan entree.
So definitely you get a lot morebang for your buck if you go at
lunchtime and see if they have alunch special.

(05:23):
And like Devin said, if there's like a nicer restaurant that you
really want to go to and you can't get a reservation, it's
like more popular. I bet if you try to go in at
like 3330, you might be able to like even walk in and sit down
and eat versus like trying to goat like 7:00.
Obviously you're not going to beable to get in.
Yeah, just recently we went to aItalian restaurant in Hell's

(05:45):
Kitchen, and the lunch special that they had was quite
affordable, especially compared to their dinner prices.
So if you have places that you want to go, you're worried about
the cost, consider checking out their lunch menu.
You'll often find better prices.So that's this episode's in New
York know how. And now back to New York City.
Cheap meats #4 on our list. When we used to visit New York

(06:08):
City, we would come to this place every single trip.
We loved it. We loved the experience of like,
being out on the street orderingfood right in the heart of
midtown. And that is Halal Guys.
There are plenty of knockoffs, other competitors that have
popped up. We love hello guys.
We think it's just a fantastic option that is consistent.

(06:30):
You have to make sure that you go to the correct hello guys,
because like Devin said, there'sa lot of other competition and a
lot of the cards will actually say like the original Halal Guys
or the Halal brothers or something like make sure that
you're going to the Halal guys. It's on the corner of 6th and
53rd on the right by the. Hilton.
It's across the street from the Hilton.

(06:50):
Yeah, there's a Starbucks right on that corner as well.
But even worth like waiting in line for.
We've waited up to like 1/2 hourfor Halal Guys before.
The line isn't typically as longanymore in my experience.
But highly recommend and I believe they're open until like
3 or 4 in the morning. Very, very late.
Yeah. So it's it's good late night
food. You can get a sandwich, which is

(07:11):
basically more like a wrap or like a PITA is how you can think
of it for 9 to $10. And then you can get their small
plate for 10:50. So I know that's slightly over
the $10 kind of category we're doing here, but the sandwich is
under $10. And if someone listening to this
hasn't had halal before, it's basically like rice with really,

(07:33):
really delicious chicken and lamb mixed in.
And they give you this white sauce and this like spicy red
sauce that you only want a little bit of.
But highly recommend going to Halal Guys when you're in the
city. Next on our list is Souvlaki GR
Souvlaki GR also has a couple locations.
I believe there's one very closeto Central Park that we like to
go to. It's a great place to snag

(07:55):
something for on the go, specifically their Pitas.
It's a sit down restaurant whereyou know, if you go and get a
normal entree, it's probably in that like 16 to $25.00 range for
a normal entree. But they do offer their Pitas
and if you order those to go, then you don't have to worry
about something like, you know, the tax that or sorry, you need

(08:17):
to pay tax though, but you won'thave to worry about tipping or
anything like that. So for under 10 bucks you can
get a chicken or a pork pita andit comes with fresh like onions,
tomatoes and fries, French friesin the pita, which I don't, I
haven't had that very many otherplaces, but it's kind of their
thing and it it's delicious. It's probably like my favorite.

(08:40):
Oh shoot. Like I don't feel like cooking
dinner or like we are about to walk to a Broadway show and want
something we can eat on the way.We love this place, highly
recommend. We usually do the chicken pita,
but the pork is also really good.
And then they have like their version of Greek sausage or
Greek burger for a pita that's like a dollar more, but for
under 10 bucks you can get a pretty good size pita from

(09:01):
Souvlaki GR. Next on our list is Mamoon's
falafel. We've talked about Mamoon's
falafel, I believe as you'll have to check it out and as part
of a different episode that we've done as well.
Their original location is down in the Village, but they have
spread throughout the city and Ithink they're actually in places
outside of New York now. But they are what it sounds

(09:22):
like, falafel style food and they're vegetarian.
Sandwiches and plates are under $10.
If you want something that has meat with it, the sandwiches are
under 10, but then the plates are more than $10.00.
But generally speaking, really fresh, really affordable, and
pretty good portions as well. We got a sandwich that one time,
right? And we didn't we share it.

(09:44):
I think we got our own, but it was like pretty big.
Like I don't think I finished all of mine.
It was quite large. Yeah, we got one sandwich each,
you're right, one sandwich each,and that was like our lunch and
it was filling the. Falafel was amazing.
And the falafel. You have falafel in the name,
you have to kill it and they've done a very good job.
Yes, that's Mamoon's falafels. OK, next on our list #7 is Krif

(10:07):
Dogs. Krif Dogs, we have mentioned it
before when we've mentioned a Speakeasy that has that is
actually accessed through Krif Dogs called Please Don't Tell,
which is a phenomenal Speakeasy.But Kryftogs itself has really
delicious hot dogs and they havelike specialty ones where they
put all kinds of different ingredients and toppings on it

(10:30):
and they have their own like special flavor combinations.
All of their hot dog options areunder $10 and they have a burger
for 995. They have some beer options,
like they have fries, but most things on the menu there are
going to be $10 or less. If you have it on your New York
bucket list to have a hot dog, Iwould highly recommend this

(10:50):
place. I mean, if you you could go and
get like a hot dog at a street cart, who knows the quality that
you're going to get. But krift dogs you can kill two
birds with one stone. You have a great cheap eat, try
something new and crossing hot dog off your list.
Yes, that's krift dogs and that is also down in the East Village
area. And that leads us to this

(11:13):
episodes. You'll have to check it out
segment. The next stop is Xanadu.
The full name for Xanadu is Xanadu Roller Arts.
It's in Bushwick in Brooklyn. Let me tell you, if you grew up
going to the roller rink, I did,I actually like that was like a
field trip. We would do a lot of for my like
elementary school. We would go there for birthday

(11:33):
parties for friends all the time.
Like loved doing that and I haven't done it in a very long
time. We went to a party there and let
me tell you, it's a party. It's not a lame old roller rink
with some OK Music going on. Like they have events most
nights of the week that are likeprofessional DJs, often with a
theme. I mean, it's, it's a full party.

(11:54):
The drinks are great. It really kind of feels like a
club vibe, almost like a dance, like a dance club vibe, but
you're everyone's roller skatingand everyone's like dancing to
the music and the energy is justreally great.
They're really fun activity to check out when you're in the
city. And obviously, if you you know

(12:14):
know yourself and if something like roller skating doesn't seem
up your alley, that's fine. But even if you don't think
you're going to be very good at it, but if you're relatively
coordinated, it's so fun. And there are people who clearly
go there all the time and are unbelievably talented at roller
skating. They're doing like dance moves
that I couldn't even do just on my feet, and they're doing them

(12:35):
on roller blades as they're going around in a circle and.
They're like going backwards andlike, between people's legs and
yeah, great people watching at Xanadu.
Yeah, like Devin said, even if you don't want to skate, come in
and watch other people be reallygood at skating or watch people
fall, because that happens a lottoo.
Happens plenty, the most of the events that are on their
calendar range anywhere from like 15 to $30 depending on what

(12:59):
it is. And then skate rentals are
$7.00. Basically when you look at their
calendar you'll see they either have like open skate style
things, they have actual concerts where there's not
actually skating happening, and then they're what they call club
where again, the rink is like a dance floor while everyone is
skating. So much fun.
Relatively accessible off of theL train out in Bushwick.

(13:20):
But Xanadu is a great nighttime activity, especially if you want
to do some dancing and hear somewonderful music.
So that's this episode. You have to check it out.
Xanadu in Brooklyn, stand clear of the closing doors, please.
OK, back to the cheap eats. We've got 3 left.
Probably save some of our three favorites for last, frankly #8

(13:43):
is 7th St. Burger. 7th St.
Burger really has blown up in the past handful of years.
They've got like half a dozen locations now I think throughout
the city or more. And honestly it's worth the
hype. I am from California.
I love in and out. I'm not going to put this on the
same level as in and out, but ifI want like a cheap, delicious

(14:03):
simple burger, almost like in and out style where it's like
kind of more like smashed, I go to 7th St. burger.
And the cheeseburger is only $6.50, which to get out the door
with like a burger in your hand for under $7.00 is kind of
unheard of in New York. You can even get a double
cheeseburger for $9.50. So for less than 10 bucks, you

(14:24):
can get a fantastic burger. The other thing that's nice
about 7th St. Super fast.
So even if there happens to be aline at the location you're
going to, those lines move really, really fast and they're
very efficient at pumping out orders.
Second to last on the list #9 Empanada Mama.
Empanada Mama again has been in New York for quite a while.

(14:45):
They have multiple locations. We love going to the one in
Hell's Kitchen. It's always a great vibe.
You can go in and sit down and obviously then you're paying for
tip and those are the things. But they have a very efficient
to go system where you can just order outside.
You stand around and just kind of wait for them to call your
name. We went on, it was the last
weekend of Pride month and it was super, super busy in.

(15:08):
Hell's Kitchen. I've never seen Hell's Kitchen
so busy. It was unbelievably crowded and
busy, the whole olive, Hell's Kitchen, but specifically
Empanada Mama. And we still got our food in
less than 10. Yeah, probably.
It was very fast, very fast. And they have a very wide
variety of empanadas, all of which are under $5.00.
So you could get 2 empanadas forless than 10 bucks.

(15:29):
And they're not like a tiny empanada.
They're pretty filling, they come in a variety of options and
flavors, and they're delicious. I would say size wise for the
empanadas, you're kind of looking at almost like a hard
shell Taco at Taco Bell size around there.
So they're pretty filling. Yeah, and just a taste of some

(15:51):
of their options that they have.They have a cheeseburger one
which is ground beef with cheddar cheese.
They have a cheese steak option.They have a spicy chicken,
Buffalo chicken, Cuban El Toro, ham and cheese Hawaii, like tons
of different options, which I think is one thing that's really
nice about Empanada Mama is you can go back and obviously just

(16:13):
like order what you know you like, but you can try something
different almost every time you go again, something nice that
you can order, get it to go eat it while you're walking or take
it into the park or whatever it is great, great option.
All right, last certainly not least, arguably the most popular
outside of pizza on this list, and that is the classic bacon,

(16:34):
egg and cheese bagel, also knownas the BC most bagel spots.
We've done a full episode in recent past about our favorite
bagel spots. Most of them, their bacon, egg
and cheese sandwich is going to be less than $10.
And I'll tell you what, a good bacon, egg and cheese to start
your day like you're going to feel full for quite a while.

(16:55):
You've got very hearty ingredients in that sandwich
that are just going to. Yeah, keep your belly full for
all The Walking and exploring you're going to do a.
Lot of protein, some good carbs,solid New York City bagel.
You're going to be busy when youcome to New York.
Like no one comes to New York torelax.
Like you're in New York to like go explore and get your body
moving. And you better be having a great

(17:18):
bacon, egg and cheese for breakfast when you come here and
it won't break the bank. Yeah, and there's an argument to
be made that if you like bagels,bacon, egg and cheese.
When our friend Harvey comes to town, I'm pretty sure he gets a
bacon, egg and cheese for breakfast every single day.
And you know what? I don't blame him.
It's a great way to start your day.
If you want an even cheaper option for bacon, egg and
cheeses, often delis and or bodegas will have bacon, egg and

(17:41):
cheese for I think there's one near us where we get it for
$6.50 or 7 bucks. Most of like actual bagel spots,
you're going to get close to that eight $9 range, but pretty
affordable as far as like a goodHardy breakfast goes.
And you've got to have New York bagels.
They're some of the best in the world.
So make sure you snag a bacon, egg and cheese.
And that rounds out our list of 10 meals for $10 or less in the

(18:06):
city. We hope you enjoyed this
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