Eating Through NYC Without Letting it Eat Through My Wallet
I like to consider myself a food connoisseur, but it’s honestly just part of our human nature to love good food.
It’s hardwired into our very core to crave things that satisfy us.
New York City: the land of pizza, bagels, expensive salads, and more cultural cuisines than two hands can hold count for. Can reasonably be called home to good food and can also slyly strip you of all financial resources should you not be careful.
Don’t worry, I’m careful. I did the work so you don’t have to!
Maybe a better way to describe my knowledge of good food is narrowed down to the type that doesn’t make your wallet feel too much lighter after ordering.
Quality isn’t sacrificed on this list of cheap eats. Neither is a hearty meal.
Below are some of the stops I made in Manhattan that filled me up and made me briefly forget that I am what I am: a college student with a conscience for smart-spending. I included what I paid so you can see this city really is doable with spare change (seriously, I saved change for a few months in this huge jar and that’s what I used as a budget for my trip. Ingenious). There’s also a few that I didn’t make my way round to but still sit high on my list for next-time-must-stops.
Coffee Stops
Gregory’s Coffee: We stumbled into this place fresh off a red-eye with staticky hair and a looming hanger if we were forced to wait another minute for sustenance. Best vanilla latte in town (per my sister’s judgement) for $4, spicy avocado toast for $7, and steel cut oats for $2.95. I had a few add-ins on hand that bulked the oats up a little bit (I’ll explain this more in a general budget-travelers’ guide coming soon).I noticed there are roughly a trillion of these throughout Manhattan. I guess the people know what’s good.
‘Essen Fast Slow Food: Cheapest bananas in town!!! Fifty cents a piece. No, I didn’t purposely sleuth my way through local markets to find the cheapest bananas, but I happened to realized other places charged nearly double (even triple) the price. I figured I’d share incase anyone’s looking for a cheap snack while strolling around the city. They're everywhere, cue Google.
Bagels
Ess-A-Bagel: I paid about $6 for the biggest bagel I’ve ever held in my two hands and a quarter pound of herb tofu spread. Mind you, we waited about 20 minutes in line for what (I pray that Bourdain does not roll over in his grave as I say this) may be the best bagel in town. After waiting another 15 for a seat, I happily schmeared that herby spread all over my bagel and felt happier than someone who’d just summited Everest. Lots of bagels, lots of spreads. Avoid an even longer wait time if you don’t want a full on sandwich and hop in the express line if you’re keen for a bagel and don’t mind slicing and smearing yourself. I expressed and was a happy customer. I’d recommend!
Bowls, Bowls, Bowls
Dig Inn: Huge bowl, great food, $13. Home to what was probably my favorite meal of the trip, if I’m being honest. The one off of 28th and Broadway is rad. You order upstairs then head down what feels like — and what may be — and old subway stairway to a cute little dining area with a window view of the entire kitchen. I love how transparent this place is! The serve seasonal, as-local-as-possible foods that are so darn good. Their food is actually seasoned and cooked, too. The greens aren’t fresh out of a bag and the rice isn’t bland. They know flavors — well. I got half greens, half brown rice, roasted sweet potato (so crispy, so good), chicken breast, and charred broccoli with tofu garlic aioli. Loved it so much I grabbed another bowl before heading to the airport to come home!
The Little Beet: Beet falafel: good, avocado dip: good, roasted sweet potato: gooood)
The little beet
Quinoa and salad base, beet falafel (I strangely felt it would’ve been weird to not order something with beets), charred broccoli, sweet potatoes, pickled onions, avocado bean dip.
A huge bowl of great quality food for a decent price, not mad!
Inday
Their coconut tahini… groundbreaking.
Money-Saving Hacks
To ease the lifestyle jump from nearly never eating out to eating out for X amount of days while traveling, I try to keep one meal as physically cheap as possible.
We all know my adoration towards oats… this feeling doesn’t change when across the country.
Packed oats + flavored protein/collagen packets + bananas from ‘Essen + hot water from the cafe downstairs = breakfast for less than $3! Heck, I even packed some travel nut butters, things got fancy some mornings!
Even if I didn’t pack the little things I did, NYC isn’t a cultural stretch from my home, so I could have gone into grocery stores for individual oat packets or could have even bought as much as I wanted in bulk! Also, many coffee shops carry little collagen packets, too, so that’s easy!
Breakfast is the easiest meal to save on since fresh fruit and oats are so cheap. It’s also super convenient because it gives me the rest of the day to eat wherever!
