Vatos Tacos + Tequila is a mexican budget eat in Old Town, Fort Collins.
Editorially verified August 18, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Tip: It opens at 07:00 for breakfast service, unusual for a taqueria; gluten-free items are flagged on the menu board.
Address: 234 North College Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80524
La Piadina griddles Emilia-Romagna flatbread sandwiches from a container kitchen at The Exchange in Fort Collins, with Italian wine and local beer.
Try: Piadina flatbread sandwiches
Tip: A piadina crisped to order plus a glass of Italian wine on the plaza is one of the city's best cheap dates.
La Piadina griddles Emilia-Romagna flatbread sandwiches from a container kitchen at The Exchange in Fort Collins, with Italian wine and local beer.
Try: Piadina flatbread sandwiches
Tip: A piadina crisped to order plus a glass of Italian wine on the plaza is one of the city's best cheap dates.
Rainbow Restaurant has cooked breakfast and lunch across from CSU in Fort Collins since 1976, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free boards.
Tip: Daily to 14:00 only; the vegetarian and gluten-free menus are full menus rather than afterthoughts, rare for a diner.
Star of India, a six-time NoCo Style best-Indian winner, has been cooking North Indian and Punjabi curries on Harvard Street in Fort Collins.
Tip: Closed Tuesdays. The lunch window is the value play; dinner service starts at 17:00 sharp.
Avogadro's Number pairs inexpensive sandwiches and a shaded beer garden with jazz, blues and comedy nights on Mason Street in Fort Collins, weekly.
Try: Garden-patio sandwiches
Tip: The back garden is the venue: live acts most weeks, weekend breakfast from 09:00, and nobody hurries you out.
Petra Grill carves certified halal shawarma and grills kabobs on West Elizabeth Street in Fort Collins, a family room that feeds the CSU crowd.
Try: Halal shawarma and kabobs
Tip: Everything on the menu is certified halal and there is no alcohol; the falafel-hummus sandwich is the vegetarian sleeper.
Waltzing Kangaroo sells five-inch Australian meat pies in Campus West, a handheld meal in handmade pastry that undercuts most sit-down lunches nearby.
Try: Australian meat pies
Tip: Every pie is also sold frozen to take home; the lamb and rosemary is the sleeper order.
