Eating out and saving money in the Baltimore area

[Whitemarshjohn]

What are some great/very good restaurants that you really love where the check is actually shockingly low? With the way the economy seems to be heading I'm thinking that often times I still want to go out but it's nice to save money too. Places I really enjoy that are cheap are:

Chicken Rico
Giovanna's
Fiesta Mexicana
An Loi
Szechuan House
Amicci's
Double T Diner Rt 40 in White Marsh
Damons in Perry Hall
Panera Bread maybe?
Bertucci's
La Cazuala (only been here once but it was good and inexpensive)
Eichenkranz
Canella's Deli in Perry Hall (great subs at luch time)
Kitchen of India
Mt Everest on Belair Rd
Chaps Pit Beef

I'm sure everyone is not going to agree with all my choices, but what places do you really like that are surprisingly cheap?

[a70wilson]

A couple that came to mind. Not always the excellent food, but always solid:

El Salto (both north and south) - we always make it out for around $20 without alcohol
Pasticccio in Canton - pastas are typically around $10
Ding How - their lunch special for less than $6.00 can't be beat
And for specials $10 pasta night and $1 martini (at the bar) at Pazza Luna is really nice

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Pazza Luna
1401 E.Clement Street, Baltimore, MD 21230

El Salto
5513 Ritchie Hwy, Baltimore, MD 21225

Pasticcio
2400 Boston St, Baltimore, MD 21224

Ding How Restaurant
631 S Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231

[cece_balti]

Ale Mary's on Fleet St.

Mama's on the Half Shell

Rocket to Venus

Does IKEA count? :)

James Joyce Pub (1/2 price appetizers, yes, it is slightly an Inner Harbor tourist trap)

[kelarry]

Just revisited Gecko's for the first time in years. 2 beers, nachos with chorizo, & an (enormous) mango chipolte bbq burrito. Check was $23 before tip. The food made us both happy & we had plenty left over for a midnight snack later. awesome bargain.

[bawlmeroryuls]

Riconcito Peruano
Dutch Pot Cafe
Mammas on the Half Shell
Kooper's (1/2 price Burger Night)
Duda's
Tortillaria
DiPasquales
Il Scalino (take out only)
Trinacria (take out only)
San Sushi Thai Jai Dee (for Thai)
Attman's

[bmorecupcake]

I second DiPasquales. For lunch, I would also add Atwater's to the list. I can't get enough of their soups. And, of course, Faidley's.

[maddogg280]

This topic is of particular interest to me as my husband and I had a SERIOUS visit from the tax man this month and the purse strings are very tight.
Generally, we save by going to BYOB places since the biggest part of our dining out bill usually comes from wine.
So, our dining out choices are:
HON bar on Wednesday nights (half priced wine night)
Iggies (BYOB)
Orchard Tree Market & Cafe (BYOB)
Victor's Cafe in Timonium (BYOB)
Carry out from almost anywhere tends to make the bill go down for us as well- ordering less food and not tipping on the added treats lowers the final tab

[Whitemarshjohn]

Wangus brings up a good point - the word cheap means different things to different people. In retrospect, the only restaurant of the ones I orgionally posted where the check was over $40 was Eichenkranz - the bill for dinner was $41 for 2 people.

[hotel]

Samos, Iggies, Thai Arroy.

I'll second Rocket to Venus.

Trinacria is one of my favorite places in Baltimore. It's such a unique and cool place.

[bmore_flavor]

John-
What do you rec at Canella's? Specifically, what subs/sammiches?

[Whitemarshjohn]

I really love the roast beef sub at Canella's. All the sub rolls are very good and the roast beef is never over done and the provolone is good. One odd thing is that you have to order a whole sub - you can't purchase a half.

[bmore_flavor]

I went to Canella's on Saturday. I ended up ordering my favorite default sub that I usually get from any deli/sub shop, Italilan Cold Cut. The sub good, above average even. Plenty of meats, along with right amount of peppers, spices, and not too much mayo. My only complaint is that I would like to have seen it on a crustier roll. While the roll was good and soft, the bottom of the sub became a tad soggy from the oil. I think a bread with a little more crusty outside would really make this a great sub. I would def go back and try more of their menu.

[gibber]

I used to love Canella's but once it changed to Tuscano's they changed their bread (now it is just an average sub roll) and their cheese steak meat.

[Whitemarshjohn]

gibber: "I used to love Canella's but once it changed to Tuscano's they changed their bread (now it is just an average sub roll) and their cheese steak meat."

MY RESPONSE: Is that the old location on Harford Road? You can't blame Canella's for that - the only Canella's location currently is on Belair Road in Perry Hall. They closed their Harford Road location.

[KAZ]

Trinacria. Their wine deals alone can improve any "cheap" take out meal.

[Wangus]

I suppose the word ‘cheap’ is very dependent on past experiences. I have a few friends who have moved to Baltimore from big cities that still consider $15-$20 entrees as ‘cheap eats’. That said, a few extra places do come to mind in terms of decent food for great prices:

Dizzy Issie's
Pho #1 and Pho Nam
Andy Nelson's
A number of the Indian Lunch buffets (if you're into that) have above-average food.

I second Chaps and Amicci's as good deals.

[rudmansjmu]

I'll second Dizzy Issie's. You can't beat their $5 burger.

[JonParker]

The wings are excellent too. I love that place.

[pmody]

Hampden has a lot of inexpensive eats that I enjoy, like Rocket to Venus, Holy Frijoles, and Golden West.