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.
