Cheap Eat Guides: Discover cheap eats from across the world, every Monday on the BudgetTraveller
Our latest serving of awesome cheap eats comes from the city of Boston courtesy of Tom and Meg Rulli: the duo behind the travel & food lifestyle blog: Landing Standing .
Meg and Tony
Tom and Meg left their jobs in January 2012 to go RTW and try out the whole location independent thing. They are aspiring entrepreneurs & digital nomads that blog about travel, food, and anything ridiculous.
Introduction
Tony and I are true fat kids (at heart!) and love all things food. It had been a joy travelling around the world sampling all the local cuisines, but we often miss our favorites from back home. Our home city of Boston, MA was the place where our passion for food really kicked into full gear.
Being a huge university town, Boston is a city where you can find a wide variety of quality eats on a college student’s budget. If you live in Boston or are travelling to “Beantown”, be sure to check out all the great affordable dining hot spots – It’s a great way to see this historical city, warm up in the cold Boston winters, and fill up your stomach before a night bouncing around the famous pubs!
Here are five of our favorite cheap eats in Boston.
Let us know if we missed any and please share below your top picks!
Type: Mexican
Tony at Anna’s Taqueria
With six locations spread throughout the greater Boston area, Anna’s is a religion in Beantown. Anna’s is famous for serving up GINORMOUS made-to-order burritos (and other Mexican treats) with the freshest of ingredients… Which obviously means they are healthy, right?!
For roughly $5 a burrito, you can stuff yourself silly with Mexican goodness.
My personal favorite is the Chile Verde with LOTS of hot sauce. In recent years, Anna’s has also started serving up breakfast burritos. I haven’t tried them yet, but a warm tortilla filled with eggs, sausage, potatoes, beans, cheese, and salsa sounds like a perfect way to start any morning!
Quincy Market ( Source: Wikipedia )
Type: Everything!
Quincy Market is a landmark in Boston… And for a good reason. Constructed in the 1820’s as an indoor pavilion of vendor stalls, Quincy Market is a Historical building in the heart of Boston that offers up a wide variety of affordable food stands that will please anyone’s appetite. Indian, Italian, Chinese, Seafood stands… this market has it all!
Quincy Market is also conveniently located right next to all the wild bars in Faneuil Hall, so it is a great place to fill up on cheap eats before a night on the town.
La Verdad Taqueria Mexicana
Type: Mexican
Every Tuesday, select Mexican restaurants around the city open their doors for Taco Tuesday.
What is Taco Tuesday you ask?
Taco Tuesday is the one fine night each week where you can get tacos for $1 a pop.
Roughly eight restaurants in Boston participate in Taco Tuesday, but I have only been to La Verdad.
Since it’s only $1 a taco, you can go wild and sample a variety of kinds.
I always opt for a mixed batch of Carnitas, Cochnita Pibil, or Tinga (chicken). Your meal will only set you back a few dollars, so be sure to spend your extra cash on a much needed post-work margarita!
Type: Italian
Prosciutto Caprese- Il Panino
Located directly across the street from its daddy (the original Il Panino), Il Panino Express caters to those without the time or budget for a sit down meal in one of Boston’s most famous neighborhoods, The North End.
Inexpensive Italian meals served in larger than expected portions while still being tasty?
How could an intrepid traveler pass up such an opportunity?
Bonus: The famous bakery Mike’s Pastry is right down the street, but if you want to avoid the lines there, stop in next door at Vittoria Caffe for some of the best Cappuccino’s and Tiramisu Boston has to offer.
Type: Bakery
When Pigs Fly
“When Pigs Fly” is a carb lovers heaven.
This bakery has three locations in the Greater Boston Area, and while it sells cookies, brownies, muffins, and coffee, it specializes in its all-natural bread that is jammed packed with anything grown under the sun – Think Mango, Pineapple and Raisin bread with Toasted Sesame and Ginger – NOM!
Each loaf goes for roughly $5 a piece, but is dense and filling enough to last for days… Unless, you have the appetite of a baby dinosaur, like myself (Tony and I have been known to consume one loaf in a sitting).
Top tip: What is great about When Pigs Fly is that they offer unlimited samples of their bread in store.
You can taste these breads to your heart’s content without shame or eye rolling from the store attendant. Tony and I love going there on empty stomachs and stuffing ourselves silly with all the free samples… Of course, we always are polite and end up buying a loaf (or six) to show our appreciation.
Absolutely love Anna’s and Quincy Market! Also love the Hong Kong restaurant in Cambridge for their Crab Rangoon!
Quincy Market is great i would highly recommend great page well thought out ! keep it up