Fact number one: Times is tight. Fact number two: Tight times need not restrict your dining life to tap water and Top Ramen. The proof you hold in your hands—Cheap Eats, a less-than-attractive phrase that sums up a most attractive concept: availing yourself of the life-affirming pleasures of dining out without succumbing to a soul-crushing state of poverty.

Specific delights: Bethany Jean Clement on lower-price offerings at Seattle's upscale eateries, Lindy West's tour of duty on the battlegrounds of fast-food dollar menus, Angela Garbes on the International District's over-the-counter cuisine, Ari Spool's experiment in keeping herself well-fed on $20 a day, Marti Jonjak's night-by-night guide to the week's best happy-hour food deals, and Steven Blum on the cheapest food of all: free food. Got a thrifty-dining secret to share and/or dispel? Weigh in at The Stranger's reader-review-powered restaurant guide at www.thestranger.com/dining. Now dig in.