Ryan Wisniewski
Casetta Kitchen’s pasta fagioli: a masterpiece.
Whenever I think of “cheap eats,” I remember my friend Mimi. In our undergraduate days, she was so broke heading home for Thanksgiving one year that all she could do was ask the server at the airport restaurant for a glass of water — she didn’t have any money left to buy a sandwich. The server kindly gave her a handful of Saltine packs as well.
I’ve noticed that the price point on “Cheap Eats” features (like this one!) in newspapers and magazines has crept upward in the past decade, to $10 or even $15. I am distressed by this, not that I begrudge restaurants their profits but it seems that the people (like me!) who come up with these cheap eats features are not trying hard enough if they can’t hold the line at a Hamilton.
This column attempts to collect the best bargains and come in well under that at $7.
It’s no secret but it bears repeating: The best deal in town are the avocado spring rolls at any one of three carts on the Library Mall: Fresh Cool Drinks, Luang Prabang and Natural Juice.
Luang Prabang wins for lowest price, $3, for a burrito-sized roll overstuffed with lettuce, cucumber, carrot, cabbage, mint, rice noodles and a sweet/spicy peanut sauce, all barely contained by a thin rice paper wrapper. Fresh Cool Drinks charges $3.50, but it’s worth it for the addition of tofu, chicken or shrimp. Natural Juice also offers several protein add-ins and is also $3.50. All three make the wraps to order.
Generally speaking, you expect to find less expensive food at food carts. But mobile food prices have been creeping up as well. Among the carts, Cali Fresh’s “Giant Taco” is still a bargain. Choose either chicken or steak, which comes plopped in a double corn tortilla and dolloped with cheese, avocado, pico de gallo and your choice of pinto or black beans. It’s considerably larger than the usual cart taco and worth the $3.50.
The Slide cart’s one-slider lunch with a choice of side and hand-made potato chips is still a good deal at $4.50. I like the extremely tart vinegary housemade coleslaw and the Powerball (mozzarella stuffed meatball). A classic.
Wrapping up the best in cart values, King of Falafel (now located on Library Mall instead of its long-standing perch at East Mifflin and North Pinckney) scores with the hummus sandwich combo. The hummus sandwich is a sloppy but delectable pita wrap filled with hummus, lettuce, tahini, tomatoes and pickles. That’s $4, but upgrade to a $6 combo and you get choice of drink and plenty of the cart’s crisp, just-greasy-enough fries.
Paul’s Pel’meni recently moved from Gorham Street to the former Mezze at 414 W. Gilman St. The menu and reasonable prices remain the same. The half-order of ground beef- or potato-stuffed Russian dumplings is just $5 and comes with the works — a rich, savory sauce of butter, yellow curry, chili sauce, cilantro and sour cream. (If you say you don’t want sour cream, I’ve actually had them offer to throw in a few more dumplings!) The full order is $7. The half order is plenty. If you order the full, you will eat all the pelmeni. Just saying.
The a la carte serving of the daily entree at Sweet Tea, 122 State Street, is also $5. This is real home cooking with a menu that changes every day. You might encounter baked chicken, catfish, white chicken chili, jambalaya or even pork neck bones. The jambalaya is quite spicy and comes with plenty of green and red pepper and big hunks of sausage.
Teddywedgers transforms the classic Cornish pasty; a substantial half order of any of the eight varieties ($5.50) fulfills the pasty’s original intent of keeping miners well fed underground between breakfast and dinner. The Big Cheesy (essentially pizza in a pastry pocket) is a fan favorite, though you can’t go wrong with the traditional beef, potato and onion. I go for any of the breakfast pasties, especially the spicy southwest.
Casetta Kitchen & Counter bills itself as an Italian Deli, and with good reason: Casetta’s pasta e fagioli soup is a masterpiece, and vies for title of the best soup in town. It’s light on the pasta, heavy on the Italian sausage and dotted with cannellini. Neither the tomato broth nor the fennel in the sausage is overpowering. The bowl size, $6, is a filling meal that doesn’t weigh you down.
A salad or bowl at Forage Kitchen can get pricey once you start throwing in the more expensive add-ons, but there’s little reason to stray from the build-your-own bowl, which starts at $6.50 and can also end there, as it includes a choice of two bases, four veggies and dressing. A bowl of quinoa and mixed greens, lentils, beets, sweet potato and tomatoes and topped with Forage’s outstanding green goddess dressing is as satisfying a salad as can be had downtown.
The blind special at Short Stack Eatery costs $7 if you don’t ask what it’s going to be. If you ask, the same plate costs $11, so you saved $4 right there. Picky eaters might object, but if you’re an omnivore, go for it. It’s better than going for broke.
Lest you think bargains are only available midday, check out the late night hot dogs at Merchant. A wagyu beef Chicago dog with or without kraut is $4; gussied-up versions with added toppings (the Seoul dog, the Mad dog or the Randall Cobb, are $5-$6. That’s from 10 pm-1 am Sunday-Thursday.
