Tortilla Cafe Eastern Market in Washington DC is the Capitol Hill 7th Street Salvadoran-Mexican counter with three-pupusa plates under $12 and Salvadoran tamales served from a tight kitchen.
Tip: The combo platter of three pupusas with rice and beans is $11 and feeds one large appetite; share for $7 each.
Address: 210 7th St SE, Washington, DC 20003, Washington DC
Toki Underground in Washington DC is the H Street NE upstairs ramen and dumpling room from Erik Bruner-Yang, the city's anchor ramen shop with bowls under $18 and a tight 30-seat dining room.
Try: Ramen bowl ($14-17)
Tip: Lunch on weekdays is the quickest seat; the dumpling combo with a half-bowl of ramen is the value play.
Florida Avenue Grill in Washington DC is the LeDroit Park 1944 diner with breakfast all day, the city's cheapest soul food sit-down with eggs-grits-biscuit plates under $15.
Try: Breakfast plate with eggs, grits, biscuit ($13)
Tip: Breakfast runs all day; the half-smoke breakfast plate at $13 is the editorial value meal of the menu.
Halal Guys Farragut in Washington DC is the K Street halal cart-format dining room with chicken-and-rice platters at $12 each, the city's lunchtime federal-worker staple under $15.
Try: Chicken and rice platter ($12)
Tip: Lunch line moves fast 12:30 to 13:30; ask for both the white and the hot sauce on the side for the canonical setup.
Purple Patch in Washington DC is Patrice Cleary's Mount Pleasant Street Filipino dining room since 2014, with lumpia, pancit and an adobo plate that all run under $18 a head.
Try: Filipino lumpia and pancit ($14)
Tip: The lunch combo of lumpia, half a pancit and an adobo is the editorial value at under $16; the brunch tocino at weekends is similar.
Shouk Mount Vernon in Washington DC is the K Street plant-based Middle Eastern counter, with mushroom-chickpea shouk burgers under $13 and tahini-heavy bowls under $14 a head.
Try: Plant-based shouk burger ($12)
Tip: The bowl format is the most filling per dollar; double the falafel for $4 to push it to a full evening meal.
Dukem in Washington DC runs a $16 vegetarian combination platter at the U Street Ethiopian dining room, a round of injera with misir, shiro, gomen and beet that feeds two with extra naan.
Try: Vegetarian combination ($16)
Tip: The veg combo for two with extra injera at $4 is the city's best Ethiopian value at under $25 for the table.
