Pensacola cheap eats: 11 places to grab a meal that won't break the bank
With food prices up across the board, it’s getting harder to eat out without spending nearly $20 a person.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
Below you’ll find delicious meals that won’t break your budget.
Tops Burgers
Where: 401 E. Cervantes St.
Tops Burgers tops the list with its brown bag special. For just around $8, you can get a double-meat burger with fries and a drink. And this isn’t just any burger, it’s one of the best burgers in town, and arguably the best burger for the price.
New Yorker Deli
Where: 3001 E. Cervantes St.
New Yorker Deli is a restaurant frequently found on our lists of best places to eat in Pensacola in a variety of categories. That alone should speak for the quality, but the price is another reason to go. A 12-inch sub will run you about $12 and you can get a full plate of various pastas for under $15. Split a 16-inch pizza with friends or take some home for leftovers for between $18 and $22.
El Asador
Where: 7955 N. Davis Highway
If you haven’t already had El Asador tacos, do yourself a favor and get out there today for lunch or dinner. El Asador was rated as the 4th best taco throughout the country by Business Insider and lives up to the hype. You can grab some of their delicious tacos for just $2.50 a taco, a quesadilla for $6 and a good-sized burrito for $8.
Bien Dong Oriental Market
Where: 3510 Mobile Highway
The Bien Dong Oriental Market is one of the largest markets along the Gulf Coast, but it’s more than a market. Tucked away inside the shop is a full-service restaurant that serves up traditional Vietnamese foods with fresh ingredients. The beef pho is a favorite and sells for about $10.
Goat Lips
Where: 2811 Copter Road
Goat Lips is just as much about belting out karaoke or listening to live music as chowing down on the food. Specialty subs like the popular Caribbean jerk chicken will run you just under $12, the most expensive burger on the menu is $10.95 and dinner entrees that include pot roast and BBQ pork dinner are $16.95. Don’t forget to check out the nano brewery inside called Redneck Riviera Brewing Project.
Coffee Cup
Where: 520 E. Cervantes St.
The Coffee Cup is Pensacola’s oldest continuously run restaurant and it specializes in breakfast foods. Biscuits with gravy, eggs benedict, build your own omelets, we’re talking good ol’ southern breakfast foods. Most of the breakfast classics on the menu are under $10 with a few exceptions, like the hamburger steak. Seafood breakfast items will cost a bit more but are still under $13.
Elbow Room
Where: 2213 W. Cervantes St.
The Elbow Room is a fantastic pub and a great place to hang out with friends while you play board games over drinks and food. All of the sandwiches on the menu will run you less than $10 and you can grab a pizza with “the works” for $20.
The Garden
Where: 501 S. Palafox St.
The Garden is technically four food trucks at one location: Calavera, MELT, Flip-n-Yaki and Champ’s Nashville Hot Chicken. Each restaurant offers a completely unique menu with Calavera focusing on Tex-Mex, MELT offers up gourmet macaroni-based meals, Flip-n-Yaki serving Pan-Asian food and Champ’s Nashville Hot Chicken frying up delicious tenders. The majority of each’s menu can be had for right around $10, with a few outliers like the Korean short ribs at Flip-n-Yaki.
Smokey’s BBQ
Where: 6475 Pensacola Blvd.
Where can you go for a plate of barbecue for under $12? Smokey’s BBQ. Lunch specials, including sliced pork, turkey, beef and more, will run around $9. You can grab sandwiches for just about $6, with a few exceptions, and combo plates are $14 and $15 for two- and three-meat plates, respectively.
Hub Stacey’s
Where: 312 E. Government St.
Hub Stacey’s is a local lunch and dinner favorite that specializes in sandwiches affectionately named after local streets. Most sandwiches on the menu are about $10 and come with a side of chips or potato salad. Some of the local favorites are The Tarragona, which is smoked turkey on lightly grilled wheat bread topped with swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and Hub’s own dill mayonnaise; and The Government, a lean tender ham grilled with American cheese served on a hoagie bun and topped with lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise.
Mr. Shawarma
Where: 6215-C N. Ninth Ave.
Mr. Shawarma is a fast-casual take on Middle Eastern foods that will have you absolutely hooked. You’ll find chicken and beef shawarma wraps and bowls, falafel, lamb gyro and soups. The most expensive item on the menu is the beef Shawarma Bowl, which currently runs about $12.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola cheap eats: 11 places to grab a delicious meal
