When I’m eating in a restaurant, an active inner dialogue is in progress. And with menu prices inching up lately, that dialogue has been spicy! I grew up with the world’s most frugal father, so I’ve always been hot-wired for a bargain. But now more than ever, we all need a reprieve from menu sticker shock. Readers, you have come to the right place!
Instead of focusing on a word that begins with “C” and has an unsavory connotation (I’ll only say it once – cheap), but this guide is all about value. Here, you’re going to find gold-mine meals for around 25 bucks that will feed you and a couple of hungry friends.
Here, you’ll travel up and down the East Side’s Farwell Avenue and discover the economical riches in the many storefronts running from North Avenue to south of Brady Street. You’ll learn about the pizza-by-the-slice sorcery occurring inside a little convenience store in Riverwest.
You’ll experience maximum fulfillment at five local food trucks, and learn whether all-you-can-eat tapas for $49 is really worth it. Gather round, frugal foodies. This one’s for you!
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Ono Kine Grindz
One of the ways to say something is tasty is to say one – that poke is so ono. Ono grinds is Hawaiian slang for tasty food. Tosa’s Ono Kine Grindz (translation: delicious specialty foods) lives up to its name. Hospitality is really important to owners Guy Roeseler and David Lau, who opened their charming, one-of-a-kind shop/restaurant in 2010. They’ve been talking about retirement, but it won’t mean the end of this place – they’ll leave it in capable hands (i.e., new owners who get it), Roeseler says. Whew! In the meantime, love up what chef Roeseler is doing in the kitchen – ahi poke, char siu chicken, kahlua pig, baby back ribs, some offered in combos, and all served with purple sticky rice and two sides (carrot-pineapple slaw, macaroni potato salad). A great deal and so ono!
$10-$24. 7215 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa
Pita Palace
Contrary to its name, it’s not a palace of pitas – but rather a kingdom of great any-day-of-the-week Middle Eastern cuisine. One of the masterpieces here is the kofta kabob – grilled, seasoned ground beef molded onto a skewer. You can order it as a plate (with rice, hummus and Arabic salad) or wrapped in flatbread. The plate ($18) is the better deal, plus everything on it is great. Shawarma – marinated meat roasted on a vertical spit – is Pita Palace’s other area of expertise. Like the kofta, shawarma (beef or chicken or a mix) gets the plate treatment ($17-$18) or becomes a handheld ($10-$15). Pro tip: Order your shawarma on shrak – a gossamer-thin Levantine bread that’s delicate yet sturdy and incredibly delicious.
$7-$28. 789 W. Layton Ave.
Vientiane Noodle Shop
When people talk about Vientiane (named for the capital city of Laos), it’s to rave about the pho. And don’t get me wrong, the pho ($12-$16) – deepened by toasted spices like whole star anise – is wonderful, amply sized and, like everything else, affordable. But that’s only the beginning. Start with fresh spring rolls with sweet-sour peanut sauce ($5), the bánh seo Vietnamese crepe filled with BBQ pork ($11), larp (an uber-flavorful Laotian meat salad, $12-$16) and khao poun (a red curry rice-noodle soup with chicken, $12).
$5-$21. 3422 W. National Ave.
Who doesn’t love some AYCE action? Movida, the Walker’s Point Spaniard, will give you your money’s worth if you have a bottomless pit of a stomach. My friend and I had 75 minutes (they time you) to order as many dishes as we wanted from the appetizer side of the menu – a selection of 21 things ($8-$15 a la carte). You can share, of course, but it’s $49 per person. We both ordered three things. First, we had two versions of the tosta – a slice of grilled bread with a savory topping creation. We expected a small toast, but the bread was overwhelmingly thick and heavy. The serrano burger sliders (a la carte, it’s $13 for three) and flatbread tacos packed with Moroccan beef (two for $14) were quite tasty – but the tacos especially were large enough that I could only eat one. The smashed patatas bravas ($13) was also a comparatively large portion. There was no requirement that we finish what we had before we could order more, but by the 60-minute mark, we’d hit a wall of fullness. My three menu items came to $36 a la carte. My friend’s, $39. While AYCE was not a bargain for us, I’d come back and order the sliders and tacos individually – they are definitely worth the trip. 600 S. Sixth St.
Carnitas Don Lucho
The Friday mornings I come here – my hopes set on pork carnitas to enjoy at home all weekend long – are magical. Don Lucho, a half-block from St. Josaphat Basilica and open just Fri-Sun, is usually busy with others on a similar mission. There’s a small menu for in-house dining, too, but the action is at the side counter flanked by a big lighted case filled with glistening hunks of pork carnitas, the edges crispy from slow-cooking in lard. Meats are sold by the pound – but I didn’t see any prices listed anywhere. Pint deli containers of fresh salsa, in various colors, are stacked on the counter. They might have a big plastic tub of cactus salad (nopales, with tomato, red onion, cilantro and a little queso) – if they do, buy some; it’s great on the make-at-home carnitas tacos with Don Lucho’s fabulous fresh corn tortillas. Don’t leave without a quart of consommé de Borrego ($18 a quart), an aromatic and irresistible roasted lamb-chickpea soup. Meats $14-$22 per pound.
565 W. Lincoln Ave.
Todd I Believe I Can Fry
Distinguished by its peculiar earworm name, this little tucked-away concept is doing amazing Asian street food inside a tiny red building behind Room Service in Bay View. The inside is almost all counter (a few seats facing out) with a modern/Asian pop culture motif. Virtually the whole menu is fun fried food, reasonably priced. My faves are the takoyaki (breaded octopus balls with kewpie mayo, six pieces for $10), six-piece Todd wings (double-fried, with excellent sauce choices like mango habanero; $10), and katsudon (breaded pork cutlet, rice, egg and sauce, a complete meal at $16). About that name: Todd is a play on the Thai word for fry (tod) while the rest of the name is, yes, a cheeky riff on the R. Kelly song. $6-$21. 2159 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
IVR Restaurant & Bar
In late 2024, the turnover of a former sports bar resulted in a fusion concept that is unlike anything else in town. That’s IVR – which stands for “International Variety Restaurant” and offers Indian cuisine with flashes of Mexican, Italian and Middle Eastern folded in. The best dishes don’t stray too far from IVR’s foundation cuisine, Indian. The lamb birria biryani ($21) has tons of flavor, lots of tender lamb and easily feeds two. Also delicious: elote pizza on a naan crust, a fusion leviathan (two sizes, $20 and $26); guacamole chaat ($14); and chicken malai tikka, served on a sizzling plate with an incredible spiced yogurt sauce (it’s an $18 appetizer, but it could easily be an entrée with a side order of rice or naan).
$6-$26. 10950 W. Good Hope Rd.
Give it up for a fried chicken deal! Only it’s better than conventional deep-fried, because this bird is Broasted – pressure-fried in an ingenious Wisconsin-made cooking contraption that keeps the seasoned exterior crispy and crusty and the inside moist and rich. This Brookfield sports bar offers their deal four days a week (Wed-Thurs, Sat-Sun): Broasted chicken (four, eight, 12 or 16 pieces) along with tater tots, cornbread and coleslaw. (The sides won’t blow you away, but the chicken brings everything else up a notch.) The eight-piece ($25) satisfied my trio of eaters, with enough for a second meal. Our creative director Chelsea Mamerow’s family often orders the 16-piece deal ($40), saying it’s the perfect size for her family of five – including two teenage boys. 12760 W. Burleigh Rd.
Sweet Basil
Wherever you live around the metro area, Sweet Basil should be in your dining rotation. This 6-year-old family business with soulful Thai- and Lao-style mom cooking will get under your skin. It’s gotten under mine, partly because of the street eats and family platters. Lao cuisine’s spicy, sour and sweet flavors are beautifully rendered in Sweet Basil’s jeow bong marinated steak ($15), which I like to eat with a side of its spicy chile paste. It’s tradition in Lao cuisine to dip sticky rice in jeow (as these sauces are called) – that’s a custom I fully get behind! I could make a meal of lemongrass chicken skewers and herby Lao pork sausage ($12 each). Although the starter platter is meant as an app, it could also be a delicious meal for two (with eggrolls, meat skewers, crab Rangoon, $40). They have Thai curries, fried rice and noodle dishes. Do you tend to order pad thai? Try pad see ew ($15-$19) – the wide noodles have the customary delectable springy bounce.
$6-$20. 6509 S. 27th St., Franklin
Immy’s African Cuisine
Before Immy Kaggwa opened her East Side brick-and-mortar four years ago, locals knew her for her farmers market pop-ups. Her cooking – wonderfully aromatic African and Caribbean stews – drew hungry crowds. Kaggwa brings immediacy and approachability to her counter-service restaurant. Can’t decide what to order? She offers samples of everything. The daily menu always features a couple of meat-based stews and several vegan dishes, which you can eat with white rice, jollof rice or fufu – pounded African yam the texture of mashed potatoes. There are just a couple of appetizers, both great – fried plantains and sambusas (pastries stuffed with veggies or turkey, $3-$5). The daily stews change – I look for smoked jerk chicken ($13) and the chicken egusi ($14), which is thickened with ground melon seeds and has a nut-like flavor. I also like to add jollof rice, its tomato/scotch bonnet pepper base typically making it very spicy, but not overly so here. Generous portions and great quality.
$11-$15. 2847 N. Oakland Ave.
Shah Jee’s
This Pakistani spot, open only for lunch Monday-Friday, has operated in the same almost barren Downtown food court since 1997 – a subterranean space, I should add, with a loyal following. But life hasn’t been easy post-pandemic, and a GoFundMe established in late 2024 to help keep the business afloat reinforces that. But Shah Jee’s is still chugging – and as good as always. The menu is succinct: five entrées with rice that you can order solo or in combos. The combo ($16) of chicken masala (in a thick, spicy tomato-based curry) and aloo palak (spinach and potatoes, lightly spiced but very flavorful) is a fallback for me. For an extra $2, you can add another small entrée portion to your order. And the tender roti is a worth-it $2 add-on as well. Hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m., but come before noon as certain dishes may sell out.
$14-$18. 770 N. Jefferson St.
El Tlaxcalteca
A large sign inside this Mexican spot adjacent to an El Rey supermarket advertises “Los Famosos Tacos of Milwaukee.” Red tacos – I am perpetually haunted by these creations stained red from the chile consommé they’re dipped in. El Tlaxcalteca (named for the Mexican state of Tlaxcala) does them very well (three tacos, consommé, rice and beans, $16), but a lot of the locals come here for soup – for very good reason. The red posole ($20 for a quart) – with hominy and pork in a smoky, chile-enhanced broth – is fire. The garnishes make it a full-bodied meal: radish, raw onion, avocado, lime wedges, tortilla chips. Want dinner for the next three days? Order the birria machete ($30) – a 2-foot-long handmade corn quesadilla stuffed with meat of your choice named for its resemblance to said oversized knife. Divine!
$10-$30. 1300 W. Burnham St.
Waiting in line (45 minutes wasn’t unusual back in May, the month it opened) is part of the experience at this pop-up inside Riverwest convenience store Clarke Foods. But these slices – built on an airy, crisp and chewy crust made with five artisan flours – are worth waiting for. Owner/pizzaiolo Brian Cripps, who is best known locally for his stint as Tre Rivali’s executive chef, has made a back corner of the store his own, a simple arrangement of workstation, oven, sink, cooling racks, checkout area. Ferney’s offers six different slices, each served simply on a paper plate. It’s hard to play favorites here but OK, twist my arm. Cream City Brick, with three cheeses, thyme and roasted garlic, is my jam! $4.50-$7. Open Fri-Sun noon-8 p.m. (or when they sell out). 832 E. Clarke St.
5 More Places to Love
Thai A Kitchen
It makes two versions of pad thai (the “new,” $9, is best) and a good green curry ($9). Order mild if heat is not your thing. 2851 N. Oakland Ave.
The Vanguard
Love the Thai Breaker ($14), a lemongrass-ginger pork sausage topped with peanuts and “crunchy bits”! 2659 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
Golden Gyros
The gyro supreme special is special, all right – extra meat, tomatoes and onions in a pillow of a pita, plus fries and a soda ($20, cash only). 7233 W. Lincoln Ave., West Allis
Groppi Food Market
Warning: The deli’s pressed-to-order panini with prosciutto and Gouda ($15) could become habit-forming. 1441 E. Russell Ave.
Camino
You’ll yearn for Monday here. That’s when their half-pound burger with fried onions is only five bucks! 434 S. Second St.; 7211 W. Greenfield Ave., West Allis
