Boston Cheap Eats Comfort Food Joints

[FrugalDanny]

I've been creating a Google Map of above average cheap eats comfort food places on my website:

I need more ideas. If you have any please post here. Thank you Danny

These are the ones I have so far

Boston Beerworks
Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe
El Pelon Taquieria
L Street Diner & Pizzeria
Lower Depths
Mike's City Diner
Pizzeria Regina: Faneuil Hall Food Court
Pour House
Silvertone Bar & Grill
The Tam
Uburger

[hotoynoodle]

cafe jaffa --especially the falafel.

bukowski's
kai ten at fugakyu on sun-mon-tues nights

[teezeetoo]

shanghai gate, especially the pork buns
gitlo
paris crepes
new england soup factory
baza's hot bar (veal meatballs for 6.99 a pound)
cafe polonia
vietnamese banh mi at the little vietnamese place at Super 88

[galleygirl]

Are the prices for kaiten any cheaper than usual?

[hotoynoodle]

yes. the prices are like dim sum, and you pay by the plate. either $3 or $4. maki portions are smaller, usually 2 or 3 pieces, but you get the normal 2 pieces of sushi and 2 pieces of sashimi.

[galleygirl]

Thank you, that's great, it doesn't show up on their website...
For those reading along who may not know, kaiten, or kaizen sushi is the conveyor belt sushi that I didn't know we had in Boston! The sushi goes by on a little conveyor belt, and you pick the plates you want, and, as hotoynoodle says, it's like dim sum, because you're charged by your stacked plates, of different colors. TC loves this control of price thing....;)

[hotoynoodle]

fugakyu actually does it by plate shape -- square or rectangle. the plates go by on boats in the little moat that usually carries the plastic look-a-like sushi.

you can also make requests off the kai ten menu if what you want doesn't float by during your visit. $4 for hamachi or uni!

it's weird though, sometimes it's mobbed and sometimes i'm one of a just a few diners. and plenty of people sit there, order from the menu and are totally unaware of the concept.

[MC Slim JB]

Lomo saltado at Rincon Limeño
Short rib shumai at Ecco
Banh mi bo kho (beef stew, not to be confused with the sandwich) at Xinh Xinh
BBQ pork banh mi at Pho Viet
Shamday at Martsa's on Elm
Veal paprikash at Jasmine Bistro
Beef cheek tacos especiales at Taqueria El Amigo
Homestyle soup noodles with shredded pork at Beijing Star
Tofu kimchee jeeyook bokum at Buk Kyung II
Larb moo at Dok Bua
Potato pancakes at Cafe Polonia
Roast beef hash at Auntie B's (RIP, Locke-Ober lunch, hope you come back someday)
Pork torta at Mike & Patty's
Gyros plate at Farm Grill & Rotisserie
Pupusa plate at Mi Tierra, Waltham
Plato montañero at El Paisa

Boy, there's a lot of animal fat on that list!

[FrugalDanny]

beautiful going to get hungry checking these out

[another_adam]

A few other votes for things I find reasonably priced and reasonably comforting:

Grilled cheese @ Hi-Rise (Cambridge)
Various soups & stews @ Izzy's (Cambridge)
Miso ramen @ Ken's Ramen (Super 88, Allston)
Biji jjigae @ Wuchon House (Union Sq, Somerville)
Wafu set @ Cafe Mami (Porter Sq)
Hot chocolate @ LA Burdick (Harvard Sq) (not cheap for hot chocolate, but cheaper than a meal!)

[FrugalDanny]

great..i'll add these to a greater boston map i got in the works...

[pollystyrene]

Parish Cafe - Back Bay
Picco - South End
Veggie Planet - Harvard Sq.
Johnny D's - Davis Sq.

[FrugalDanny]

mapped parish picco
will map vp johnny d on greater boston map
Thanks

[FrugalDanny]

veggie planet johnny D's on new Greater Boston map..thank you

[hotoynoodle]

sandwiches at the parish are in $15-$18 range. with a drink that's close to $30 a person. is that cheap?

[pollystyrene]

I don't remember the prices from the last time I was there a couple of months ago, but the online menu says the sandwiches are $9-12, and they all come with salad or potato salad or something. Have prices gone way up?

[hotoynoodle]

i have no idea what the on-line menu says, nor how accurate it is. just know what i've spent last few times i was there. yes, the sandwiches come with potato salad or cole slaw -- i don't like either.

[bluestbluesea80]

I would add:

Z Square
Audubon Circle
Penguin Pizza

[bakerboyz]

Z Square may have closed.

[Allstonian]

Walked past Z Square at 6 last night - it was closed. No sign up, though.

[bluestbluesea80]

Wow - that was fast!

[Allstonian]

No, Circles in the South End was fast - barely 2 months. Z Square (the Harvard Square one - should have specified that was the one I meant) was there for better than 2 years. For that matter, the BU branch had been there for a year.

[FrugalDanny]

Audubon Circle
Penguin Pizza

on the map

[hiddenboston]

Lewis' Bar and Grille in Norwood
Cronin's Publick House in Quincy
Taqueria El Amigo in Waltham
Classic India in Kenmore Square
Farm Grill in Newton
Qingdao Garden in Cambridge
Monte's in Lynn
Family Restaurant in Brookline

I can probably think of about 100 others, but I'm running on fumes right now (just got back from Manhattan).

[FrugalDanny]

dear hidden I'm going to save these and others on thread that lay outside boston for my mass map or maybe a greater boston map...want to keep this centered pretty much on boston just to keep it from getting unwieldy

[hiddenboston]

Oh ok, sorry about that. I was kind of thinking about that as I posted the list. Here are a few others, then:

Don Ricardo's, South End
Villa Mexico, Beacon Hill
Waterfront Cafe, North End
Orinoco, South End
Chacarero, Downtown Crossing
Sultan's Kitchen, Financial District
Woody's, Fenway area
Squealing Pig, Brigham Circle

[FrugalDanny]

don orinoco chacarero sultan woody's mapped thks!

[FrugalDanny]

able to add cronins farm qingdao family to new greater boston map thks!

[hiddenboston]

So when will we be seeing these maps you're making? ;-)

[justbeingpolite]

http://www.BestCheapRestaurants.com

[BobB]

Boo hiss! That was impolite. ;-)

[ghostcat]

Thank you to MC Slim JB for reminding me of the original Tam. I spent many a night there when I first moved to Brookline and enjoyed the food as well as the music. I think it became Koka Pelli (sp?) before it became the Public House. I just wanted to add that McCormick's has more than good burgers for $1.95. They probably have the best bar menu in town, so you might pay $5. for mussels or a grilled chicken sandwich for the $1.95.

[brianhfree]

Anchovies in the South End.

[FrugalDanny]

anchovies added thank you!

[fredid]

Anyone who knows me knows what I'll be adding to the list - Angela's! Guacamole, tacos, and her wonderful mole all certainly comfort me!

[FrugalDanny]

added thks

[bakerboyz]

Didn't the Tam close years ago??

[galleygirl]

And El Pelon burnt last month....

[TPistrix]

The Tam is alive and well. Reasonably price beer... not sure about the food quality. Maybe someone else has details on that.

[Allstonian]

Different place called the Tam. The one in Brookline, near Washington Square, had pretty decent food, and has indeed been closed for years. There's a dive bar in downtown Boston, across from the Emerson Majestic, also called the Tam. (Although its sign is in a weird Gothic font, so that for many years I thought it was called the Cam.) Don't know if that one has food at all, or whether it's in any way chow-worthy.

[FrugalDanny]

Yeah I have the dive bar one - seems to be more of a "comfort beer" joint?
i may drain it from the map.

el pelon thks - hearing about more "burned" places lately..they say they will reopen

[MC Slim JB]

Shame about The Tam (Brookline), which occupied the Publick House's current location for at least 10 years. It was a great live-music venue, and the food was indeed decent. That was a handy brunch spot when I lived nearby. Then they moved into a larger space in Coolidge Corner that was just hideous, like a dungeon, and the end came pretty swiftly.

[TPistrix]

That makes so much more sense.

[BobB]

Not as cheap as it used to be, but I'd add Carlo's Cucina to the list. Well above average traditional red sauce Italian.

[hyde]

does speeds count?
hen house, (chicken and waffles)
the victoria diner (they got grits)
pit stop barbeque

[FrugalDanny]

Hyde - yes thks. added Victoria & Speeds - a wagon! - I even found it using google's street view

I'm open to the following to quote my blog:

I'm On A Mission. I Want To Find Tasty Good Cheap Comfort Food Offering Good Value And Good Digestion In America's Top Rated Affordable Classic Restaurants Diners Roadhouses Drive-ins Joints Dumps Dives Drivethrus Driveups Drivebys Stickups Greasy Spoons Hole-In-The-Walls Honky Tonks Barbecues BBQs Barbeques Bar-BQs Bar-B-Qs Bar-B-Ques Bars Broilers Cafes Cafeterias Cantinas Carts Chop Houses Clubs Coffee Shops Delis Dining Cars Dinner Houses Fish Camps Fish Houses Fountains Grills Grocerys Ham Houses Huts Inns Kitchens Lobster Pounds Luncheonettes Lunchcounters Lunchwagons Markets Meat-And-Threes Nests Nooks Pantrys Parlors Pits Pizzerias Pubs Rail Cars Rib Houses Saloons Shacks Shantys Sheds Shops Smokehouses Stands Steakhouses Supper Clubs Taps Taquerias Taverns Trailers Trucks WhatChamacallits WhatNots and WhatEvers! (have I left anything out?)

The Places That Help Make America The Unique Place It Is.
The Places Worth Spending My Time, Effort, Money, and Digestion on.

I'm Not Looking For Perfection. I'm Looking For Satisfaction.

[galleygirl]

edited.....

[pamalamb]

Love the sweet potato fries at Beerworks!

There's plenty of discussion on Pizzeria Regina on this site, but I'd say the North End location before any of the others.

Also:
-Happy Hour at McCormick & Schmick's offers good comfort food, including a $2 burger
-Galleria Umberto
-The Paramount
-Bottega Fiorentina
-Canto 6
-La Papusa Guanaca
-Pho Viet
-Chacarero
-Petsi Pies
-Bostone Pizza
-Spike's Junkyard Dogs
-New England Soup Factory

[FrugalDanny]

pama - wow! thks i'll start checking them out.

added umberto paramount & bostone - look great