Prime | Cheap Eats

Los Angeles is an expensive city to live (and eat) in, but there’s no need to go around spending $15 on every meal out ““ who do you think you are, a newly hired investment banker? Your mother taught you better than that. Look harder and you can find flavorful, exotic cuisine at more than reasonable prices. As long as you don’t mind eating off a paper plate or sitting in a folding chair, and you can handle service that consists of terse conversation and a harried waiter kicking chairs out of your way, you can easily fill your belly for less than $5.

Pho Vinh Ky 2

It’s about an hour’s drive to Garden Grove, but it’s worth it. This is probably the only place in the greater Los Angeles area where you can find a bowl of authentic, flavorful pho for the absurdly cheap price of $3. Pho Vinh Ky 2, situated in the middle of Little Saigon, features a half-off menu that has several varieties of pho. The restaurant is open until 2 a.m., but the quality of the service declines sharply as it gets later.

14390 Brookhurst St.

Garden Grove, CA 92843

714-531-4965

Philippe’s

This Chinatown restaurant is supposedly the originator of the French dip sandwich. Whether you believe this or not is irrelevant, because Philippe’s offers an impressive assortment of cheap French fare. You can get aromatic slices of roasted lamb, beef, pork, chicken and turkey, tucked in crusty baguettes soaked in au jus for around $5 to $7. They also serve banana cream pie, cheesecake, purple pickled eggs and a variety of other cakes and pastries.

1001 N. Alameda St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

213-628-3781

Gui Il Bun Ji

At $15 to $18, Gui Il Bun Ji isn’t the cheapest all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue joint in Koreatown. (That honor goes to Sanya Restaurant, at $10 a pop.) But with excellent cuts of meat, charcoal grills and competent service, it offers the best value by far. For those who take the phrase all-you-can-eat seriously, the waiters are extremely patient with your gluttony. However, after a few plates of meat, you’ll be able to tell if you’ve overstayed your welcome when you start receiving that “get out of here” cut of low-quality meat. $15 grants you access to standard fare such as chicken barbecue and beef brisket, but for $3 more you can order the more exotic cuts: neck, stomach and galbi, which is a cross section of pork rib.

3055 W. 7th St., Suite C

Los Angeles, CA 90005

213-380-6606

Tacos Don Jorge

Tacos Don Jorge began as a humble taco truck that moved into a permanent location in Culver City after experiencing runaway success. The restaurant features some of the most traditional Mexican flavors on the West Side. The menu is refreshingly simple: Choose your meat and the configuration of your tortilla, then pick up the food at the counter. There’s no guacamole or sour cream, but you can ask for their spicy red sauce, onions and jalapenos. Tacos are $1.25, burritos are $4.50 and the price of everything else falls in between.

8693 Venice Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90034

310-558-8127

Jasmine Halal Meat Market & Deli

Jasmine Market is both a kosher grocer and a Burmese restaurant that features primarily Indian flavors. That’s a little confusing, but what’s important is the prices on the menu. The keemah curry, a bowl of Indian seasoned chili served with a heaping plate of naan, is just $4. Lunch specials, which include tandoori chicken and tikka masala, are $5. Mohinga, which is rice vermicelli noodles in fish broth, is just $3.49. In addition, the owner, who is also the greeter, the waiter and part-time cook, will treat you like a member of his own family.

4135 1/2 Sepulveda Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90230

310-313-3767