Taqueria Durango is a budget eat in Overland, St. Louis.
A family-run Overland taqueria, Durango plates a chile-drowned torta ahogada and tacos with big portions, where a full meal lands under ten dollars.
Tip: The torta ahogada is the signature; tacos round out a cheap feast. Everyone can eat for under ten dollars.
Address: 10238 Page Ave, St. Louis, MO 63132
A Cherokee Street taqueria with a patio, La Vallesana serves cheap tacos al pastor, tortas and aguas frescas, a budget anchor of the Mexican Cherokee strip.
Try: Tacos al pastor and tortas
Tip: A few al pastor tacos and an agua fresca make a cheap, satisfying lunch. The patio suits a warm afternoon.
David Choi's Korean-Mexican counter griddles cheap bulgogi tacos and kimchi-fried-rice bowls, a fast and affordable food-truck-born local favourite.
Try: Bulgogi tacos and gogi bowls
Tip: The gogi bowl feeds two lighter eaters; add chips and queso. Fast counter service keeps it quick.
Snarf's toasts its sub rolls and piles on deli fillings at a South Grand counter, a fast cheap sandwich stop popular with the SLU and Grand Center crowd.
Try: Toasted oven subs
Tip: Get any sub toasted, the house move; the hot giardiniera adds heat. A half sub is plenty for a cheap lunch.
Open since 1920 near the brewery, Gus' Pretzels hand-twists cheap soft pretzels and salami-stuffed pretzel sticks, a Benton Park snack-counter bargain.
Try: Soft pretzels and pretzel sticks
Tip: A fresh hot pretzel or a salami pretzel stick is a few dollars. It is a snack stop, not a sit-down meal.
Grand Bistro carries on the Trinh family's South Grand Vietnamese legacy in the former Pho Grand space, with pho and com tam at neighbourhood prices.
Try: Vietnamese pho and rice plates
Tip: Order the pho dac biet or a rice plate; the family ran Pho Grand here for decades before reopening as Grand Bistro.
Mama Fazio's Shaw Avenue shop builds cheap foot-long Sicilian subs and soups on The Hill, a lunch-only counter where a sandwich easily feeds two.
Try: Sicilian subs and soups
Tip: One foot-long Sicilian sub splits between two for a cheap Hill lunch. Lunch only, and the line moves fast.
