Delicious food for less than $10?
Though it doesn’t sound feasible, out of the more than 300 licensed eateries in this city by the sea, there are places that offer a complete meal for less than $10.
“It depends on what you select on the menu, but there are quite a few places,” said Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce President Jim Lynch. “The further you get away from the beach, the better luck you’ll have.”
The Daily Press went out in search of those hidden gems, those neighborhood spots that still cater to the not-yet famous and the diehard denizens, talking to local residents, workers and people just walking around about where they go to grab their favorite eats on the cheap.
DOWNTOWN DINING Downtown Santa Monica seems to be the most difficult place to find a meal for less than $10.
“I work in a restaurant and I can tell you there is no place around here [downtown] where you can eat for less than $10,” said Rodrigo Vega, a server at Rosti on Montana Avenue.
Waiting for a bus to pick him up for work on Friday morning, Vega, said the only affordable places he knows of in Downtown Santa Monica are the chain fast food establishments.
But there are hidden gems located here and there in downtown, bargain hunters just need to expand their horizons and food preferences.
Whenever Camillia Zecchetto and her coworkers at Wasteland want to grab a bite to eat, they head over to the Promenade Cafe or Le Pain Quotidien, both located on Santa Monica Boulevard. At Le Pain, Zecchetto orders the soup, priced at below $5, and at the Promenade Cafe, she usually orders the daily special — a sandwich and salad for about $8.
“It’s all organic and vegan and it actually tastes good,” Zecchetto said of the soup at Le Pain.
Some downtown workers can’t seem to find their way out of the cheaper chain restaurants.
“I just go to Subway or Jamba Juice if I’m not that hungry,” said Alyssa Tuthill who works at Bay Cities Beauty Supply. “I can’t afford to have an expensive meal. I’m limited to those restaurants.”
NO MO EXPENSIVE EATING In the North of Montana neighborhood, Il Dolce Cafe seems to be the consensus hot spot to grab a tasty meal for less than $10.
A New York City native, Susan Holland, who owns a boutique on Montana Avenue called The Quilted Monkey, was saddened when she moved to Los Angeles 3 1/2 years ago to find that the food here just couldn’t hold a candle to Manhattan.
But then, she visited Il Dolce, an Italian restaurant located across the street.
“I said,‘this is it’,” she said of her visit to Il Dolce, now one of her favorite restaurants.
The restaurant received similar rave reviews from other workers of Montana Avenue stores.
Sitting on the steps in front of the Montana Avenue doctor’s office where she works, Dawn Dooley was eating a salad she purchased earlier from Whole Foods Market. Whenever Dooley’s in the mood for some cheap eats, she heads over to Pioneer Boulangerie, a bakery she praised as serving “great sandwiches.” Other options include Rosti, where Dooley orders the turkey chopped salad, priced at under $9, or the Blue Plate for some soup and sandwiches.
For Quinn Hoefferle, an employee of Kids Bizz on Montana Avenue, there’s no better place to grab a cheap and delicious meal than from Patty’s Gourmet Pizza, which offers a delectable selection of sandwiches.
“Everywhere else on the street is more pricey,” Hoefferle said.
MID-CITY DELIGHTS Follow the work force. From the outside, the Water Gardens and the Yahoo! Center appears to be huge complexes stacked with offices. While both centers are stacked with offices, they also offer a number of dining options for their employees.
A Yahoo! employee, Clark Cummings said he enjoys dining at Cafe Bizou in the Water Gardens. Though the regular menu is considered to be on the expensive end, the bar menu offers cheaper selections, allowing patrons to order a grilled chicken sandwich and a soda for less than $10. But not including tip.
“It’s not just regular bar food, like French fries and fried zucchini or something like that,” he said. “They have some pretty good selections and they are open pretty much all day and into the evening so I can grab lunch or an early dinner without having to spend too much... It’s pretty solid.”
Located in the same complex is Il Forno, where Lupe Mendoza was waiting to pick up her lunch on Wednesday. For under $10, she can order a Linguine Alla Trevi and a Coke at Il Forno.
Finding an affordable meal in the Mid-city region is not an easy task, Mendoza said, who added that eating out does put a dent in her finances.
“But it’s hard to cook for yourself,” she said. “Often, it’s cheaper to just go out because you end up buying a bunch of groceries and then half of it goes to waste because you’re just cooking for one person.”
“I’m not a big fan of leftovers,” she added. Another favorite restaurant is Star Wrap, where Matt Elias, an employee at MTV, often buys the rotisserie chicken wrap and soda for about $8.
Appearing like a dive from the outside but known to serve some of the best burgers in Mid-city is Big Jo’s, where architect Jason Chu loves to grab the chili cheese burger.
“It’s not pretentious at all,” Chu said. “It’s a place where you really just pig out and not care about who’s eating around you.”
NORTHEAST FAVORITES Locals in this region of the city seem to love Snug Harbor, serving American dishes like hamburgers and sandwiches.
It’s one of the restaurants of choice for Scott Harrington, who was spending an afternoon at Douglas Park on Thursday.
“I really don’t go out much for food any-more,” Harrington said.“I’ve resorted to eating at home.”
Restaurants like Snug Harbor and Bread and Porridge aren’t exactly inexpensive, they are more decently priced than many restaurants, Harrington said.
Though it might be difficult to find food in this region of the city, there are some hidden gems that do whip up affordable meals, including Earth Wind and Flour, said Max Roblatt.
“It really depends on where you go, but there are still a lot of cheap places around that sell good food,” he said.
PICO IS A CHEAP EATER’S PARADISE From Gilbert’s to Campos, the Pico Neighborhood is filled with good cheap eats.
An Ocean Park resident who spent Wednesday afternoon in Virginia Avenue Park, Lisa Martines listed Lares Restaurant and the Lazy Daisy as affordable restaurants. But Lazy Daisy, serving sandwiches and soup and other cafe menu items, comes with a warning.
“You see customers waiting outside because it’s not big inside,” Martines said of Lazy Daisy.
A Pico resident of five years, Delilah White-Clayton loves Gilbert’s, a Mexican restaurant on Pico Boulevard that serves good enchiladas and margaritas, she said.
Rivaling Gilbert’s is Campos, another Mexican restaurant on Pico Boulevard. The restaurant serves delicious tostadas, burritos and tacos, said Esmeralda Lopez, who has lived in the neighborhood for seven years.
SUNSET PARK Perhaps one of the most famous restaurants in Santa Monica and in this neighborhood is The Counter.
Praised by talk show queen Oprah Winfrey as being one of the best burger joints in America, The Counter offers its customers countless burger combinations through a small sheet listing different condiments and ingredients.
For less than $10, excluding tax and tip, a meat eater can feast on a 1/3 pound burger that will keep them coming back for more.
OCEAN PARK CRAVINGS Perhaps one of the best taco stands in this neighborhood, receiving rave reviews from Ocean Park residents, is Main Street’s very own Holy Guacamole.
For less than $10 and under 20 minutes, a Mexican food lover can chow down on a carne asada burrito and drown it in the restaurant’s wide selection of hot sauces.
Another local favorite is Caribbean restaurant Cha Cha Chicken, located on Ocean Avenue.
“Since I’m a vegetarian, I get rice and black beans, potatoes, carrots, celery and onions with a side of plantains,” Brittany de Guzman said of Cha Cha Chicken.
She washes down her Caribbean meal with an agua fresca, flavored water with chunks of cantaloupe.
“It’s really good, especially during the summer,” deGuzman said.
Located further east in Ocean Park is Pancho’s Tacos, where almost everything in the menu is under $10.
For Marcos Salazar, Pancho’s Tacos serves the best menudo pozole, a soup that he says is “great for hangovers.”
“There’s not that many places in Santa Monica to go for menudo pozole,” he said.
PRICES ON THE RISE?
Menu prices for restaurants in general are on the rise, mainly due to the recent minimum wage increase, which raised the minimum wage to $7.50 on Jan. 1, said California Restaurant Association spokeswoman Jordan Traverso.
Other government-required regulations like labor law and health care mandates will also cause restaurants to adjust their menu prices.
About 160 restaurants in Santa Monica are members of the association.
“The cost of business is increasing for restaurants,” Traverso said. “Those kinds of things are going to be seen in the consumer market by pushing prices up.”
Even though there are expensive restaurants in Santa Monica, the majority of eateries are reasonably priced, Lynch said.
“They wouldn’t be in business if they were unaffordable,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 14, 2007. Read the original PDF.