Cheap eats in BOS
 

I was recently in town for work and if you like dim sum, you have to try the Empress in Chinatown. The setting is an old theatre. The service is fantastic and the best part, it is cheap. Eight plates cost me $13.75.

I have to return in a few months. Any else got any suggestions?

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BOS is the airport, not the city. "Cheap eats in BOS" means sandwiches in a terminal. The city is "Boston."

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If you're in the near western suburbs, try Captain Marden's on Linden Street in Wellesley for seafood. The last time I was there three of us ate dinner, including soft drinks and a shared dessert, for $44 including tax and tip. You can spend more if you want lobster, but still in the "cheap eats" category - and pretty good.

It's not in Boston, but just across the river in Harvard Sq. is Charlie's Kitchen. You can take the T red line to Harvard Sq. if you don't have a car or don't want to drive.

http://boston.citysearch.com/profile...s_kitchen.html

It's not fancy, but the food is really good and cheap. They have a huge selection of good quality beers too. They had Hoegaarden on tap, amongst others. I strongly recommend the twin lobster roll plate. You get two hot dog rolls overstuffed with lobster meat and a side of fries for $9.95. Got a Hoegaarden for $4.75 (but it was enormous, almost a liter I think, because my wif'e's beer was 20 oz. and looked tiny by comparison) My wife got the twin crab roll plate with fries for $8.50, which was very good, but we both agreed the lobster tasted a little bit better. You can't go wrong with either. Our bill after the certificate was only $4.09 + tip. Not bad for dinner and a beer for two.

If you want an even better deal there, visit www.restaurant.com where you can get a $25 certificate for this restaurant for only $12.50. The certificate can only be used Sun-Thurs., and restaurant.com usually runs out of the certs as it gets closer to the end of the month (they have a limited number of certs each month), but you can use the cert towards the purchase of alcohol, at least at Charlie's Kitchen. Some restaurants only allow the cert to be used towards food.

I checked out restaurant.com - seems like a good deal.

PM me if you want the referral bonus.

Edited to delete what I was going to say.

If in the mood for a burrito on the go, Anna's Taqueria is hard to beat. It's kind of like a Chipotle or Qdoba, but better. It's gotten a bit ridiculous with the popularity lately (I remember when the first one opened up!), but still worth checking out.

I was in Boston a few weeks ago. I was impressed with a stop ay Feniul hall (sp?). There is a long building called Quincy hall that is loaded from one end to the other with various food vendors. A large food court with a nice selection of eats. Off the top of my head there was Mexican, Greek, Sushi, fresh seafood, Italian, Chinese and much more.

It's Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. It is rather touristy but still one of my favorite places.

Just to the north is Union Oyster House. Although pricy, sit at the oyster bar and suck down some oysters or clams and drink draft beer. My experience has always been they shuck oysters and clams fresh when you're at the oyster bar. Sit in the dining room and they send an already shucked platter away. I could spend and afternoon and $200 there.

McCormick & Schmicks has a great "happy hour". For those who don't know, we Bostonians are not allowed to have happy hour, so to draw people in, they serve really good food cheap because drinks can't be discounted. I used to work in Faneuil Hall and always found the food a little iffy. Union Oyster House is good, but touristy (overpriced). Haymarket Pizza, around the corner from Union Oyster has great pizza as does Regina's about a 10 minute walk from Union and in the North End. The Barking Crab on the waterfront has good inexpensive food. Tim's Tavern in the South End is the home of the $3 huge burger, but you should call to make sure the kitchen is open. The Paramount at the base of Beacon Hill has fabulous inexpensive food and serves breakfast all day. Breakfast at Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe in the South End is also pretty inexpensive.

The Pour House!
 

The Pour House Bar and Grill has great food at cheap prices, and a wide selection of beer. One of my favorite places to go. It has a young/alternative feel. Located 907 Boylston St, Boston. A short walk from the Hynes Convention Center T station on the Green Line. http://www.pourhouseboston.com/

Ehhh...I've found Anna's to be HIGHLY overrated. In fact, I don't think that Qdoba has the best burritos out there, but I would go there any day of the week before choosing Anna's (just my opinion). One thing that I don't understand about practically all of the burrito joints in the Boston area is their use of sliced cheese on burritos/quesadillas/etc. I don't know exactly why, but shredded cheese works SO much better.

I agree, Anna's is OK as a 'basic' burrito. Use shredded cheese please. Qdoba has a bit more bite and a better selection of salsa but still not excellent either.

If any of these restaurants actually had 'chipotle' sauce it would move up a couple notches in my book. It seems like all the burrito places in Boston are stuck in 1998.

I went to Blue Ribbon BBQ recently and they always have a wide selection of sauces (I know Blue Ribbon is BBQ, but they do have a bbq chicken burrito). My favorite is the Chipotle Mustard.. mmmm so tasty!

Eh, you're out in left field. :)

Anna's, in my book, is still a better bet than Qdoba or Chipotle (who isn't in Boston). The sliced cheese is money, it melts right onto the tortilla for sublime texture.

I'll second this. They have half-price food some nights too. Saturday from 6pm - 11pm(?) is half price burgers and fries. They're surprisingly good and plentiful considering it's like $3-4 total. If you go early you'll have to fight the MIT kiddies for a table though. A little further up the block, Whiskeys has half price appetizers from 5-7 and $0.10 wings until 11 (Sundays through Thursdays).

Anna's is ok I suppose, but nothing in Boston/Cambridge comes close to Boca Grande. Very cheap, very good.

For those unfortunate ones who find themselves stuck on the Rt 3 corridor NW of town, the Mambo Grille in downtown Lowell (of all places) is definitely not bad. Not only are the burritos more than passable (though they ought to learn how to drain the beans a lot better), but beer and even limited outdoor seating is available.

Tim's is closed down - looks like for good this time. Rent dispute with the owner and they were evicted. Devastating!!

I LOVE Charlies - keep in mind that they are not open on Sundays. I also love Anchovy's - about three doors down from Charlies. Great Italian food - and really cheap for dinner. All entrees come with salad. The pizzas and pastas are very tasty.

Bukowski's has a $1 burger that is very tasty. They are on Dalton Street between Summer Shack/Kings and Boylston Street. Very close to the Pour House - which is also great!

If you want to venture out - or are staying at an airport hotel - there are many amazing restaurants in East Boston that are dirt cheap. There is a sandwich shop on Bennnigton Street called Carlo's where I had the best sandwich I have ever eaten - the Juliana, eggplant parm with prosciutto on your choice of fresh rolls - gigantic sandwich for about $5. I now will volunteer to pick people up at the airport so I can make a side trip to Carlo's. Santarpio's is famous for its GREAT pizza. Get the BBQ lamb and sausage as a appetizer - fantastic. Taqueria Cancun near Maverick Square is also delicious.

No one has mentioned Al Capones. When I first got out of school my friends and I took advantage of the giant slice and a coke for $2.25. I have not eaten there since they moved to Downtown Crossing but I can not imagine prices have gone up that much.

agreed about the Empress, had very good dim sum on Saturday^

Had two excellent sandwiches in the City Hall area:
Sam Lagrassa's serves a good corned beef sandwich and an excellent Romanian pastrami (good garlic kick). The pastrami rueben was terrific.
Sam Lagrassa's
44 Province St
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 357-6861

Also dined on the Chilean sliced grilled beef sandwich is Chacarero. The sandwich calls for green beans, grilled chicken or beef, avocado spread, sliced tomato, muenster cheese and hot sauce on soft, round bread baked on premise. I must admit, I had to skip the green beans on my sandwich. another GREAT sandwich.
Chacarero
26 Province St
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 542-0392


In the North End, there is a place called Galleria Umberto (http://www.hiddenboston.com/GalleriaUmberto.html), which makes a great Sicilian pizza. They are only open until the pizza runs out. Only cheese is served from what I understand, a really good slice for sure. To date my favorite Sicilian slice is from spumoni gardens in Brooklyn but Galleria Umberto is well worth it if in the area. I think a slice goes for $1.25

Across the street from Galleria Umberto is Mike's, an excellent Italian bakery.

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Is Carlo's on Brighton or Bennington ?

My favorite pizza anytime anyplace is Haymarket Pizza - about $2.50 will buy you a coke and a huge slice. Don't bother putting a lot of stuff on it - plain cheese or pepperoni is all you need.
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguid...pizza_boston-i

No one has mentioned the Border Cafe in Harvard Square. Delicious food, the menu is a nice mix of Tex-Mex, Cajun, Creole, and other stuff. A plate of taco with rice and beans is about $6.50. Also, they make the best margaritas around. I've had margaritas all over the US and compare every one to a Gran Gold margarita from the BC. I've come close, but no equal.

567 Bennington Street, East Boston, MA (corner of Moore St.); 617 567-0058.

Flour Bakery in the South End and Southie has some pretty good sandwiches and other bakery items (soups, quiche, what have you) at a reasonable price.

This is one of my favorite sandwiches anywhere. If you like spicy, ask for extra hot sauce (or, in my case, "extra extra" hot sauce). The request does not result in just more of the same, but rather the addition of a second, more spicy hot sauce. Mmmm. And although it may sound weird, I highly recommend that you do not skip the green beans.

I ate at the McCormick and Schmicks happy hour and got dollar oysters. Yum!

I'm sure Yum, I love oysters, but $1 oysters are not a cheap eat IMO.

thanks, I wanted the address of Carlo's per TrishBOS's post below