In any given city there are a ton of fantastic, cheap restaurants, so unless you're just concerned with convenience there's really no excuse to have to go out to fast food chains.

Even if you're just getting a burger or a slice of pizza there are inevitably going to be way better places than McDonalds or Pizza Pizza in the same price range. And if you're that broke that you can literally only afford fast food...you probably shouldn't be eating out anywhere anyway.


Some of my favourites in that "cheap n' cheerful" category in (central) Toronto - the type where you can get a great meal for $10:


New Treasure - best dim sum in town, complete with requisite plastic tablecloths, flourescent lighting, and dingy basement location.

Kabul Express - Afghan with the all charming ambiance of a Tim Hortons.

Tiffin Box - Top-notch Indian food served on cafeteria trays.

Banjara - Indian in an old donut shop.

Sam's Philly Steaks - Philly cheese steaks!


Also, places that I can't make any snarky comments about:

King of Chicken, Pho Hung, Pho Tien Thanh, Pho Linh, Golden Turtle, Salad King, Nazareth, Gandhi Roti, Bacchus, Gordo Ex, El Fogon, Jumbo Empanadas



And some not-so-cheap places to add to niwell's excellent list: (some of these are kind of obvious, but...)

Sabai Sabai, Khao San Road, Amaya, The Host, Zucca, Momofuku, Electric Mud BBQ

I've never been, but a friend of mine from the 905 likes this place a lot. She recommends the Vatican burger.

There's a really good Mexican restaurant I've been to on Queen Street in Toronto, I think near Bathurst, I can't remember the name of it for the life of me. They serve Negra Modelo beer, which you don't see much in Canada. The head chef is from Xalapa, Mexico, if I recall correctly.

Vancouver:

Rangoli's, La Quercia, The Eatery, The Acorn, Bestie's, Phnom Penh (sp?), Tacofino, Peaceful, Santouka, Sushiyama (not the best, but amazing value), Basho, The Red Wagon, Dynasty, West.

Toronto:

Oddseoul, the Black Hoof, Tavoos (brunch only), Joso's, Enoteca Sociale, The Stockyards, Porchetta & Co.

Actually, I'm a little out of date on Toronto restaurants. There are a lot of new restaurants that I'm excited to try out on my next visit.

I've always braced myself for the lineup but I have never experienced it first-hand. I guess I've gone at odd times. It's one of the places that is famous because it's good and worth going to.

La Banquise gets similar notoriety but I don't find it stands out as much compared to what you can get in other places (also worth noting that I've never gone there sober -- does anybody?). This may not be politically correct to admit but I'm not that into poutine in general.

Everybody I know who's gotten a table at Joe Beef or Au Pied de Cochon has liked them but I never managed to get a reservation.

Some Vancouver suggestions:

Cheap places - Lin, Shaolin Noodle House, Peaceful Restaurant, Baoguette, Saravanaa Bhavan (has changed now, not sure how good it is), Foundation, Sal y Limon...

Others- La Taqueria, Vij's, Via Tevere, Red Wagon, Biercraft, Peckinpah, Green Lettuce, Marutama Ramen, Fable. I kinda like De Dutch too (it was the Cora analogue before they started opening up around here). The Eatery is fun as a gimmicky tourist type spot. Pidgin and Wildebeest were pretty good.

Halifax suggestions: I went to Edna last time and thought it was good. They had a lot of local stuff that's worth trying if you're visiting. I've never been to a pricier (~$25+/plate) place in Halifax that hasn't been pretty solid. Halifax has a lot of Middle Eastern places; a lot of pizza places are Lebanese and sell Lebanese food. Mezza has a slightly up-market version of this food. I used to like the Turkish places too but they have changed (one of the new ones on Dresden Row is called Efendy). I also bring back pepperoni from Brothers Deli on Agricola Street from my visits. The farmers' market is good too.

Thanks for all of the Toronto suggestions. My wife and I have standby places that we typically go to, but it's good to have all of these new places to try.

Rousseau, I've been told that there are a couple of good places in New Hamburg - have you ever had occasion to check any of them out in your travels between Stratford and K-W.

Also, what's good in Stratford these days? I haven't been out for dinner there in years, but there have always been a few good choices, it seems to me.

I'm not a foodie. The slop served at the local waterholes are sufficient enough. Surprisingly, I have been to many of the places on the list but, that's not why I'm commenting. I've been to the Burger Priest by Coxwell and Queen. I believe it to be the original location. It is definitely an overpriced, over hyped burger.

This really isn't true. Most of those "fantastic, cheap restaurants" are still charging $10 a plate, which is more than what you'd expect to pay at fast food chains.

Its really hard to beat the value menu in terms of affordability. It usually ends up being cheaper than cooking food on your own.

You're correct it is the original. I was house sitting last month near there so gave it another shot. A double bacon cheese burger no sides or drink came in at around $11.50. I'll never go back, it was a greasy mess and pretty small. parts and Labour makes a decent burger as does the BQM on Ossignton.

To be fair, I've only had Burger's Priest a few times, and that was a few years ago when it was still newish and only had the east end location. It's certainly possible that it's gone down in quality since then (and up in price!).

I'll second the above mentions of Khao San Road, although it's gone down in quality as well which is why I recommend Pai for Thai food. It's run by the former owners of Khao San! Enoteca Sociale is great as well.

If you want to watch sports and have a few beers I'd highly recommend the Dock Ellis on Dundas near Dovercourt. The honey glazed chicken sandwich is amazing, and the prices are reasonable. Although I still find the concept of a hipster sports bar amusing.

If anyone has any cheap, good Chinatown recommendations I'd be interested! I used to live near East Chinatown and had that area figured out pretty good (not difficult), but the main one is still a bit of a mystery to me. I know the best places are in up in Markham but that's not happening.

no Bull Burgers are comparable in style to Burgers Priest but they use better ingredients and have better service.

I'll check it out! Also I think hands down the best burger I have had in the city is at Allen's on the Danforth. Doesn't count as cheap though.

I bet they make a good burger. The best I ever had was at Gusto on Portland. $17 but worth it.

From urbanspoon
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pr...D=w443-h332-nc

I really like the Himalayan, on 17th ave in Calgary. The Coup isn't bad for some healthy and great tasting food.

Toss up between Red Lobster or subway

Last Christmas I wanted to take my mom out for a nice meal in Calgary and ended up and NOtaBLE, which is a bit out of the inner city in Montgomery (but close to us). I would highly recommend it and may go back again this year. I also wouldn't mind trying Model Milk which an acquaintance highly recommended to me.

To be honest, I don't know. My wife and I are basically East Asian food aficionados concerned with finding authentic stuff without caring much about decor or atmosphere. In fact, we've found that any evidence that more than a bare minimum of thought has been put into the ambiance of a Chinese restaurant is a surefire sign that the food won't be authentic.

Another sign of a good East Asian restaurant is when you see a jumble of bags, containers, purses, coats and other detritus piled up around the counter where the cash register is. Or along the hallway to the restrooms. The lack of a clever storage regimen and any attention to neatness in the environment means that the focus is on the food and only the food. This approach has served us well over the years.

But we dip our toes into non-East Asian food now and then. When it comes to Stratford, there are a thousand and one sandwich shops that will get you set up for a picnic along the lake before the theatre starts. The Mennonite sandwich at York St. Kitchen is a stalwart choice. Summer sausage, corn relish, mustard, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce on sour dough bread. During some stretches I'll find myself ordering one of these at least once a week.

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/med...g-1096-jpg.jpg

For finer dining where the surroundings are more suited to a nice evening, a pizza done in the wood-fired oven at Pazzo is a decent choice. Bonus trivia: fairly renowned author Timothy Findley lived with his partner in the well-appointed condo on the third floor of the same building for the last years of his life (when he wasn't at his other house in France).

http://www.pazzo.ca/images/pizzas.jpg

Otherwise, there are three super expensive restaurants in town where the per-person cost goes well into the three figures. Which seems insane to me, and I will never darken their doors, but enough theatre patrons are flush enough with cash to keep them in business. They are the Church, Rundles and the Prune. I'm sure their food is probably more than nice enough.

As expected, this thread is making me plan my next trip to Toronto sooner than I expected. Thanks guys :rolleyes:

One of the benefits of being such a multicultural city has turned out to be the vast amount of dining choices that can be found city wide. Last night I went to the Indian/Pakistani Bazaar on Gerrard street East and ate for the first time at the Tikka Lahore. Best Pakistani food I've eaten so far. They had 7 different types of Naan bread.

I remember eating at Pazzo a good number of years ago and enjoying it very much - the trendy atmosphere then was like a bit of Toronto that had got lost and strayed out into the heart of central south-western.