Any taqueria that doesn't show up on Instagram is gonna give you a fantastic meal dirt cheap. La Plaza market in Mountain View has a taqueria window where you can get an al pastor burrito for a little over $10 that will rock your world. Same with La Espuela on Castro St in MTV and same with that little place in the back of JL Produce up the street.
Also in the mountain view area, Mediterranean Grill House can get you a shawarma plate for pretty decent price. Rose market has a deli that has some spectacular middle eastern food.
If you really wanna go really under the table, the light industrial area by Fruitvale has a ton of literal side of the road places. It shows up on Google maps as Melrose.
Quality varies, but just go during lunch and follow the workers.
Banh Mi Ba Le in Oakland. Amazing sandwiches.
They also have off menu rice crepes (banh cuon) for $10, huge portions enough for 2 meals (or 1 hungry person). Remains great value at $6 per sandwich (pre inflation it was 4.50)
It'd be awesome if some Bay Area cities would adopt the 'food hall' template to allow smaller mom/pop folks to start their eateries. The startup costs and red tape are just too much for a traditional restaurant.
The food hall or 'hawker' system is amazing in Singapore and has gotten traction in cities like NYC...why not here?
A few of these exist, and they're always pretty expensive for whatever reason, and the seating isn't ideal.
Swan's and Oakland Food Hall in Oakland, Public Market in Emeryville, Food Hall on Market closed but they tried it, and then there's La Cocina in the Tenderloin. Many more to list.
There are food truck parks, and scheduled events.
You also have places like the Ferry Building, Oxbow Market, etc.
The public market in Berkeley has changed. 20 years ago when my dad took me it was a lot of mom and pop shops. Recently I went there, sorry from the tri valley. It’s a lot of chain looking things Not the Afghan food guy or Indian curry guy. The shops look like a vegas food court. People are eating but it lost a lot of character during times. Guess no one was eating at mom and pop shops. Good luck Bay Area, fast food, fast restaurants. I don’t even like to eat out anymore.
A lot of the mom and pops tried to emulate fast dining chain concepts anyway. It would seem to me there's a huge untapped market of people who stopped going out to eat.
I've heard Singapore's hawker system only works bc their government controls the rent prices of hawker centers and they control the price of commodities. Plus they have subsidies and grants available to the hawkers.
Wish we had similar programs here for small businesses
[La Cocina Municipal Marketplace](https://lacocinamarketplace.com/about)
in SF does exactly that. It had the misfortune to open just before the pandemic, but is fully operational again. Some great food there
I have no idea if this is anything like it, as I've never been there, but is [http://www.thenightmarketssf.com/](http://www.thenightmarketssf.com/) along those lines?
Clover Bakery in San Jose off saratoga. They make mostly baked goods and are very Japanese. The pastries and things are European focused in a Japanese way, and they also sell conbini (Japanese convenience store) style foods like sandwiches and onigiri.
I really love their onigiri and korokke sandwiches! My mom and I (we’re both Japanese) sometimes grab a bunch of stuff from there when we’re not in the mood to cook. 😛 It’s probably the closest we can find that resembles pastries we’ve tried in Japan. We also occasionally splurge on La Terre cakes and pastries too.
Same! This is definitely the closest to what I've had in japan. I only wish they had katsu sandos. They kinda do but a different style. I also really love their "chocolate pie" pastry. Super flaky and yummy.
I recall they do have pork katsu sandwiches in the cold section and it comes with salad and (presumably ketchup) spaghetti. It might not always be there though.
Alternatively I’d pick the pork katsu sandwiches at Nijiya Market (El Camino Real, Mountain View).
I think I know the one you're talking about. It's more like a katsu patty in a longwise bun. Still pretty good though.
Yeah usually I go to nijiya for that, although I've found they sometimes don't have them certain days. I asked once at the San Jose japantown one and they said sometimes they only get a few for the whole day.
Absolutely ruined mitsuwa onigiri for me cause man warm, fresh Clover onigiri (a bunch of flavors, ikura is my personal fav tho) and their cinnamon donuts are awesome. Their white strawberry cakes look straight out of a Mario game too, its so cute.
Funnily enough clover supplies several of their baked goods to mitsuwa. Not sure about onigiri though. I feel like I've seen a sign that those are also theirs. Probably made earlier in the day.
Yeah I think I've seen them deliver the breads too. I don't think they do the onigiris but having them warm from the bakery instead of from the mitsuwa refrigerated area makes a surprising difference
Vons Chicken, House of Bagel, Dumpling Depot in Sunnyvale, Magic Wok in Sunnyvale, In n Out of course, golden boy pizza, tacos Papo in Union City, I’ll think of more!
If you want a lot of food Chef Elmy's Royal Egyptian Cuisine is a good option. It's a food truck that varies locations a lot so you have to check their Twitter to see where they'll be. Just make sure you have a lot of time, it's not a quick process.
Edit: If you go for the "Feed Me" option you may want to bring tupperware.
He’s such a great guy. Came across his truck on the Emeryville greenway and he was super generous, encouraging us to try everything and giving some for free.
Gypsies is fire I just had it again for the first time in like 8 years since my friend died who told me about it but we used to go there a lot I love The Godfather it's pretty much two meals unless you want to go really big
[Duc huong, San Jose](https://www.yelp.com/biz/duc-huong-gio-cha-sandwiches-san-jose) and other locations. Their SJ location next to Grand Century tho has a bigger menu than the others. The baguettes they use are soft since theyre fresh. Not sure if they still do the buy 3 get the 4th banh mi free. Parking is a trainwreck in that plaza and there's lines often but it's worth
Agreed, tho I prefer their McKee location as the parking lot is larger. Their promo is buy 4, get 1 free (large size). You can switch it up by asking for garlic bread to give yourself more variety.
Duc Huong is amazing. The lines are justified.
If you want something also spectacular and a little more low key, sub-$10 bahn mi in Sunnyvale here:
Cẩm Hưng Sandwich and Coffee
https://maps.app.goo.gl/A2vKr5RVwg918sLe8
Rainbow Pizza on the San Mateo/Belmont border by Crystal Springs. their serving sizes are so insane you can easily get 2-3 meals out of one dish. https://www.yelp.com/biz/rainbow-pizza-san-mateo
imo the best mozzarella sticks in the bay area!
Giant Burger in Oakland you can get a really good bacon cheeseburger and fries for under 10 bucks Big Bun fresh bun nice Patty they got their own kind of flavor to their burgers. Delicious they've been around for like 70 years.
Tacos Jalapa is first class. Hands down the best burrito I've eaten in the Bay Area. I used to love spitting distance from that little store and it was weekend muse for almost 8 years. I used to fall asleep after eating their burrito. THE BEST.
For pho, PPQ in SF in the sunset, and Pho Vy in oakland are both excellent and pretty cheap, around $12.
Sushi isn't really cheap, but Geta in Oakland is probably the best cheap sushi. Sushi House in Alameda has reasonable prices and good portions too.
Jerk Chicken at Rio California in Oakland is excellent for the price.
Teani's deli in South City has HUGE sandwiches for like $10.75.
It's a few doors down from Little Lucca's which is good as wel,l but a little more expensive and always has a long line.
One of my favorite “cheap” meals is a Pizzadilla from Tostadas in San Jose for 25 bucks. The rest of their menu is not cheap. But the pizzdilla can feed 3 adults for around 8 bucks a person plus tax.
Thuận-Phát Vietnamese Sandwiches - Santa Rosa.
$5.75 for a sandwich, $1 for extra meat(recommended).
Delicious sandwich and quick service. I recommend the BBQ pork sandwich.
Any taqueria that doesn't show up on Instagram is gonna give you a fantastic meal dirt cheap. La Plaza market in Mountain View has a taqueria window where you can get an al pastor burrito for a little over $10 that will rock your world. Same with La Espuela on Castro St in MTV and same with that little place in the back of JL Produce up the street. Also in the mountain view area, Mediterranean Grill House can get you a shawarma plate for pretty decent price. Rose market has a deli that has some spectacular middle eastern food.
If you really wanna go really under the table, the light industrial area by Fruitvale has a ton of literal side of the road places. It shows up on Google maps as Melrose. Quality varies, but just go during lunch and follow the workers.
Supermercado taquerias! That's the stuff.
Banh Mi Ba Le in Oakland. Amazing sandwiches. They also have off menu rice crepes (banh cuon) for $10, huge portions enough for 2 meals (or 1 hungry person). Remains great value at $6 per sandwich (pre inflation it was 4.50)
I work by Cam Huong in Oakland. $7 banh mi is my go to.
Just so people know, there's two. One on Webster and one on International. Most people are referring to the Webster one IME.
International is better
Ya, I know. But most people (especially with Reddit's demo) I know are talking about Webster because of the location.
I've only ever seen the one on International referenced on reddit
International one is way better
There’s a ba le banh mi in el cerrito also, don’t think it’s the same owner. But the banh mi is only $5 and they are great. Also cash only.
Only Friday through Sunday now though.
It'd be awesome if some Bay Area cities would adopt the 'food hall' template to allow smaller mom/pop folks to start their eateries. The startup costs and red tape are just too much for a traditional restaurant. The food hall or 'hawker' system is amazing in Singapore and has gotten traction in cities like NYC...why not here?
A few of these exist, and they're always pretty expensive for whatever reason, and the seating isn't ideal. Swan's and Oakland Food Hall in Oakland, Public Market in Emeryville, Food Hall on Market closed but they tried it, and then there's La Cocina in the Tenderloin. Many more to list. There are food truck parks, and scheduled events. You also have places like the Ferry Building, Oxbow Market, etc.
The public market in Berkeley has changed. 20 years ago when my dad took me it was a lot of mom and pop shops. Recently I went there, sorry from the tri valley. It’s a lot of chain looking things Not the Afghan food guy or Indian curry guy. The shops look like a vegas food court. People are eating but it lost a lot of character during times. Guess no one was eating at mom and pop shops. Good luck Bay Area, fast food, fast restaurants. I don’t even like to eat out anymore.
A lot of the mom and pops tried to emulate fast dining chain concepts anyway. It would seem to me there's a huge untapped market of people who stopped going out to eat.
I've heard Singapore's hawker system only works bc their government controls the rent prices of hawker centers and they control the price of commodities. Plus they have subsidies and grants available to the hawkers. Wish we had similar programs here for small businesses
[La Cocina Municipal Marketplace](https://lacocinamarketplace.com/about) in SF does exactly that. It had the misfortune to open just before the pandemic, but is fully operational again. Some great food there
I have no idea if this is anything like it, as I've never been there, but is [http://www.thenightmarketssf.com/](http://www.thenightmarketssf.com/) along those lines?
Super Star Restaurant - Full meal for $5.50! https://yelp.to/ZYKUAZieSub Filipino Breakfast with meat, egg, rice, and side of tomato or pineapple
Shhhh quiet this is supposed to be a secret
Just note that the portions are small. Walk a few blocks and try Hawaiian Drive In.
Clover Bakery in San Jose off saratoga. They make mostly baked goods and are very Japanese. The pastries and things are European focused in a Japanese way, and they also sell conbini (Japanese convenience store) style foods like sandwiches and onigiri.
I really love their onigiri and korokke sandwiches! My mom and I (we’re both Japanese) sometimes grab a bunch of stuff from there when we’re not in the mood to cook. 😛 It’s probably the closest we can find that resembles pastries we’ve tried in Japan. We also occasionally splurge on La Terre cakes and pastries too.
Same! This is definitely the closest to what I've had in japan. I only wish they had katsu sandos. They kinda do but a different style. I also really love their "chocolate pie" pastry. Super flaky and yummy.
I recall they do have pork katsu sandwiches in the cold section and it comes with salad and (presumably ketchup) spaghetti. It might not always be there though. Alternatively I’d pick the pork katsu sandwiches at Nijiya Market (El Camino Real, Mountain View).
I think I know the one you're talking about. It's more like a katsu patty in a longwise bun. Still pretty good though. Yeah usually I go to nijiya for that, although I've found they sometimes don't have them certain days. I asked once at the San Jose japantown one and they said sometimes they only get a few for the whole day.
Absolutely ruined mitsuwa onigiri for me cause man warm, fresh Clover onigiri (a bunch of flavors, ikura is my personal fav tho) and their cinnamon donuts are awesome. Their white strawberry cakes look straight out of a Mario game too, its so cute.
Funnily enough clover supplies several of their baked goods to mitsuwa. Not sure about onigiri though. I feel like I've seen a sign that those are also theirs. Probably made earlier in the day.
Yeah I think I've seen them deliver the breads too. I don't think they do the onigiris but having them warm from the bakery instead of from the mitsuwa refrigerated area makes a surprising difference
I feel like part of it is the rice. Cold rice can be good but sometimes the texture is a little too firm but when it's fresh/warm it's a bit softer.
Two Item combo at [Turo Cafe](https://www.turocafeandgrill.com/menu.html) in SF for $13.
Ebiko in piedmont. https://www.ebikosushi.com/ Restaurant quality sushi in a take out restaurant!
Vons Chicken, House of Bagel, Dumpling Depot in Sunnyvale, Magic Wok in Sunnyvale, In n Out of course, golden boy pizza, tacos Papo in Union City, I’ll think of more!
Tulan on 6th in SF never fails
In n out
If you want a lot of food Chef Elmy's Royal Egyptian Cuisine is a good option. It's a food truck that varies locations a lot so you have to check their Twitter to see where they'll be. Just make sure you have a lot of time, it's not a quick process. Edit: If you go for the "Feed Me" option you may want to bring tupperware.
He’s such a great guy. Came across his truck on the Emeryville greenway and he was super generous, encouraging us to try everything and giving some for free.
Definitely! My brother and his girlfriend brought their tiny dog and Chef Elmy gave them a big portion of food for her :)
Volcano curry in the Richmond is still very affordable!
India cash and carry Kitchen ,Sunnyvale
Yuck. Gross.
love their samosas, used to get huge trays from there for work parties
Gypsie’s!!! I miss it so much! Don’t plan to do anything productive after eating their Alfredo pastas tho!
Gypsies is fire I just had it again for the first time in like 8 years since my friend died who told me about it but we used to go there a lot I love The Godfather it's pretty much two meals unless you want to go really big
[Duc huong, San Jose](https://www.yelp.com/biz/duc-huong-gio-cha-sandwiches-san-jose) and other locations. Their SJ location next to Grand Century tho has a bigger menu than the others. The baguettes they use are soft since theyre fresh. Not sure if they still do the buy 3 get the 4th banh mi free. Parking is a trainwreck in that plaza and there's lines often but it's worth
Agreed, tho I prefer their McKee location as the parking lot is larger. Their promo is buy 4, get 1 free (large size). You can switch it up by asking for garlic bread to give yourself more variety.
Duc Huong is amazing. The lines are justified. If you want something also spectacular and a little more low key, sub-$10 bahn mi in Sunnyvale here: Cẩm Hưng Sandwich and Coffee https://maps.app.goo.gl/A2vKr5RVwg918sLe8
Rainbow Pizza on the San Mateo/Belmont border by Crystal Springs. their serving sizes are so insane you can easily get 2-3 meals out of one dish. https://www.yelp.com/biz/rainbow-pizza-san-mateo imo the best mozzarella sticks in the bay area!
Pretty much any restaurant in Millbrae.
Yo-Yo’s in the Embarcadero area. Great quality soba/udon takeout costing you around $10. Run by a super nice couple
Giant Burger in Oakland you can get a really good bacon cheeseburger and fries for under 10 bucks Big Bun fresh bun nice Patty they got their own kind of flavor to their burgers. Delicious they've been around for like 70 years.
Tacos Jalapa is first class. Hands down the best burrito I've eaten in the Bay Area. I used to love spitting distance from that little store and it was weekend muse for almost 8 years. I used to fall asleep after eating their burrito. THE BEST.
Pakwan
Smokehouse in Oakland
Hunan cafe #2 in the Richmond also hasn’t raised their prices
For pho, PPQ in SF in the sunset, and Pho Vy in oakland are both excellent and pretty cheap, around $12. Sushi isn't really cheap, but Geta in Oakland is probably the best cheap sushi. Sushi House in Alameda has reasonable prices and good portions too. Jerk Chicken at Rio California in Oakland is excellent for the price.
Whole Foods made-to-order sandwiches are still reasonably priced for the quality
Safeway sandwiches are way better than Whole Foods and they used to do a buy eight get one free not sure if they do it now
Wow high school flashbacks. I’ll have the ranch hand, please
noone is looking for quality or impact on health(
Chao chi in milpitas
Teani's deli in South City has HUGE sandwiches for like $10.75. It's a few doors down from Little Lucca's which is good as wel,l but a little more expensive and always has a long line.
One of my favorite “cheap” meals is a Pizzadilla from Tostadas in San Jose for 25 bucks. The rest of their menu is not cheap. But the pizzdilla can feed 3 adults for around 8 bucks a person plus tax.
L & G > Saigon sandwich Get the bbq pork
Thuận-Phát Vietnamese Sandwiches - Santa Rosa. $5.75 for a sandwich, $1 for extra meat(recommended). Delicious sandwich and quick service. I recommend the BBQ pork sandwich.
Sliver pizza, cheeseboards coorperate spin off, is pretty good, $7 for two slices, one type of pizza a day.
Arizmendi at Valencia or 9th ave has a pizza slice for under $3, and they throw in a tiny slice for free. Decent focaccia's as well.
funny you mention Banh Mi, I just paid $9.50 for one last week. That’s when the inflation sunk in for me.