Your 2025 Roadmap to Philly’s Best Budget Bites

You find yourself in one of the biggest cities in America, you're hungry, but you don't want to spend an arm and a leg on something to eat.

What do you do?

The good news is several of the top restaurants for cheap eats in America can be found in Philadelphia and one of them is in the top ten.

And even better, if you're in the mood for pizza or something from a great mom-and-pop corner deli, those options are plentiful, too.

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Best Cheap Eats in Philadelphia

Not too long ago, editors at USA Today looked at Google ratings for more than 28,000 restaurants across 50 cities in America and they included everything from fast food joints to little mom-and-pop places.

The only qualifiers are that a restaurant has to be designated as one dollar sign on Google’s cost scale and have 200+ reviews.

With those benchmarks in mind, here are the best places for food in Philadelphia when you only have a few bucks in your pocket.

Cucina Zapata at 3101 Ludlow St.

We'll start this culinary journey with a great Mexican food truck in the city, Cucina Zapata.

Over the years, the quality of food that you can find coming from a food truck has skyrocketed and a prime example of that is Cucina Zapata, which is now nationally ranked on this list.

Fish tacos, coffee, sweet potato curry chicken, Cap'n Crunch burritos, and much more.

Cucina Zapata can be found on the campus of Drexel University at 31st and Ludlow.

Al-Baik Shawarma & Grill at 3217 Willits Rd.

If you are in the mood for Mediterranean food, Al-Baik Shawarma & Grill is worth a visit.

One reviewer recently commented,

Best mediteranean food in the city handsdown.

Others have commented that the staff is simply amazing -- "Excellent fresh food, bright & clean atmosphere, and the owner and staff were so gracious and welcoming. Prompt & friendly service."

Frankford Corner Store & Deli at 7544 Frankford Ave.

Frankford Corner Store and Deli is one of those great little neighborhood spots. While it looks rather monotone on the outside, what you can find inside is anything but.

Amazing breakfast sandwiches, French toast, BLTs, giant pickles, and more. And from what the locals say, if you stop by a few times, you'll be treated like family.

You can find Frankford Corner Store & Deli right on Route 13 about a minute north of Cottman Avenue.

Czerw's Polish Kielbasa at 3370 Tilton St.

And in the top ten is a place that you need to try just on looks alone.

Czerw's serves, of course, kielbasa in any number of flavors along with sausages, pork butt, bacon, and even good old-fashioned hot dogs.

For the past 84 years, Czerw's has been the purveyors of old-fashioned Polish foods. Using the "Old World" technique, our kielbasa is smoked in traditional brick-oven smokehouses.

You can find Czerw's in the Port Richmond section of the city, just minutes from the Allegheny Avenue exit off of I-95.

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