New York’s best cheap and good eats for student travelers on a budget!
Undoubtedly, New York City has some of the world’s best food scenes. Across the five boroughs and its many neighborhoods, you can eat your way from taco food trucks and old-school pizza joints to fine-dining restaurants next to glitzy bars. But for us students, we know that the Michelin-star restaurants sprinkled across Manhattan is well, not quite within our budget.
So, from two broke students to another, here’s a list of where you can indulge in classic New York style pizza, steaming dim sum in Chinatown, and many other mouth-watering good eats for less than USD$10, tax included. 😉
Breakfast
1. Leo’s Bagels
Bagels – the quintessential New Yorker breakfast. Chewy and thick, Leo’s bagels filled with generous portions of cream cheese and toppings is bound to help you start your day right. Their menu covers a wide selection of sweet and savory options, with the option to build your own bagel if you’d like.
We tried their Two Eggs on a Bagel ($8.98) from the breakfast menu, adding crispy slices of bacon for a savory crunch. The bagel was served warm and toasted, and fillings were generous. The bagel was surprisingly filling, serving as brunch for us and we had an early dinner instead.
Leo’s Bagels | 3 Hanover Square, New York, NY 10004, United States
2. Four Season Café
When we say you will be spoiled for choice, we mean it. The menu at Four Season Café spans the entire length of the shop! From breakfast omelets and sandwiches, to salads and pastas, there are plenty of options to choose from. Our sandwiches were made fresh on the spot, and you can see the smoke escape when you first open the wrapping.
The BLT Sandwich ($10.79) we ordered had the juiciest tomatoes and the bread was toasted just right.
Four Season Café | 67 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10010, United States
3. Lucky King Bakery
This Hong Kong-styled diner in Chinatown serves freshly-baked Chinese buns and cakes, including the Hong Kong classic – polo bun. The polo bun ($1.50) we tried has a sweet and crispy outer crust with a fluffy center, comparable to those we’ve tried in Hong Kong!
Other items on the menu include fried desserts from $1.75, and various meat buns for $2.50 and under. While the menu is exclusively in Mandarin, but you can view and select the bakes from the glass display counter. If you don’t know which is which, trust us and just ask for a polo bun. Given the price point, a few buns and bakes can make up a filling meal too.
Lucky King Bakery | 280 Grand St, New York, NY 10002, United States
Tip: Most shops in Chinatown are cash only, so do keep some cash with you when you visit the area! If you are short on cash, there are multiple ATMs around as well. (Remember to stay safe when using outdoor ATMs.)
Lunch & Dinner
4. Shu Jiao Fu Zhou
Chinatown NYC is gem when it comes to cheap eats. This no-frills shop serves peanut sauce noodles ($3), beef noodle soup ($5.50), dumplings (10pcs for $4.50), and many other dishes with nothing over $5.50. The service is fast and it is always busy when we visited on different occasions, so you know the food is good.
It is easy to eat till you’re full without breaking the bank, and we found ourselves revisiting the place in the same trip! The dumplings were so good, we had to come back to try the different flavors. The pork & cabbage dumplings were our favorite.
Shu Jiao Fu Zhou | 295 Grand St, New York, NY 10002, United States
5. The Halal Guys
What is NYC without food trucks? With more than 12,000 reviews and a whopping 4.3 stars on Google, The Halal Guys food truck is one of the best in NYC. If you visit during the lunch hour, be prepared to join a queue with the office lunch crowd!
The small-sized Chicken & Beef Gyro Platter ($9) came with rice, tortilla and greens and was frankly filling enough for a meal. If you have a bigger appetite, the regular sized platter sells for $11. The rice was flavorful, and the meats were tender. Don’t forget to add the holy grails, the white sauce and hot sauce too!
The Halal Guys | 6th Avenue &, W 53rd St, New York, 10019, United States
Tip: Try to pay in cash, as they charge a $1 fee for card purchases :(
6. 2 Bros Pizza
Saving the best for last, here is a bare-bones pizza joint serving up pizza slices larger than the size of our faces. A true New York-style pizza. See how big one slice is next to a finger!
A slice of cheese pizza goes for $1.50. Yup, $1.50. Other flavors such as pepperoni costs $3 a slice, and you can get a set of two cheese slices with a soda for $3.99. There aren’t many seats in the shop, so you’ll see everyone standing outside on the street corner eating their pizza slices. It’s a vibe on its own and that’s what drew us to the shop in the first place.
2 Bros Pizza | 542 9th Ave, New York, NY 10018, United States (Multiple locations)
Which of these would you love to try? Let us know in the comments below!
If you are looking for other ways to save some $$ in NYC, check out our NYC ultimate budget travel guide for more tips and hacks!
Comments