She has over 15 years of writing and editing experience, and her restaurant reviews and recipes have previously appeared in Serious Eats, Thrillist, and countless publications in her home state of Wisconsin. Fast-food restaurants have been quietly axing dollar menus over the past few years in favor of combo meal deals.

You pay more, but get multiple items at a discount from the regular menu price. Family-friendly restaurant chains, too, are cutting back on coupons and specials. Just remember that many are offered for only a limited time. The golden arches logo of the largest chain in the country is just as iconic as its Big Mac and Happy Meals.

Though fans of Taco Bell are upset about recent menu reductions, you can still grab some cheap meal deals , even late at night. The home of the Whopper always has meal deals available, and they change often; navigate to the " Offers " section of the BK app to see what's good. For more great restaurant guides and deals, please sign up for our free newsletters.

Square burger patties? You bet. But Wendy's is better known for its spicy chicken sandwiches and nuggets now, not to mention a cult following for chili and Frostys.

Though the 11 herbs and spices in the seasoning are still a mystery , it's no secret that KFC is one of the go-to fast-food restaurants for fried chicken.

Related: Fast-Food Deals to Feed the Whole Family. Related: Best Cheap Pizza: Deals and Price Comparison. The things that make Papa Johns' pizza so good are the extras you get in the box: creamy garlic sauce for dipping the crust, and tangy pepperoncini peppers.

Popeyes created a phenomenon when it released its chicken sandwich, but the restaurant's classic fried chicken pieces are still the star of the show see how we like to pair them with Popeyes sauces.

Related: From Cajun Fries to Buttermilk Biscuits: 6 Popeyes Side Dishes, Ranked. Detroit's Little Caesars is well known nationwide for selling inexpensive pizza that's always hot and ready to be picked up.

Panera has made a name for itself with fresh breads and bakery items, sandwiches, coffee shop beverages, and great soups. Related: Secret Menu Items at Your Favorite Family Restaurants.

Probably America's favorite Italian chain , Olive Garden has been dishing up pastas, salads, and those famous breadsticks for decades. Tex-Mex is king at this casual sit-down chain with a chili pepper in its logo.

Chips and salsa, queso dip, and barbecue ribs are favorite menu items. Dairy Queen isn't just for soft serve and Blizzards, especially in rural areas where there's a DQ in practically every town. Found mostly in the western United States, Del Taco is another reliable bet for cheap, fast Mexican eats.

Almost everyone has celebrated a special event at Red Lobster, a seafood chain that's as good for families as it is for date night. Which one of these two names you'll see on the sign depends on which part of the country you're in, but whether it's known as Hardee's or Carl's Jr.

BJ's gets its Brewhouse moniker from the microbreweries at some locations, but every location of this casual sit-down chain has a menu of pizza and homestyle favorites. Found mainly in the Southwest, El Pollo Loco is the place to indulge in Mexican favorites based around savory grilled chicken, including grilled chicken breasts.

Dating all the way back to , Bob Evans serves up hearty comfort food in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic in a country living-themed atmosphere. Cooking up sliders since , White Castle is often credited as the first fast-food burger chain.

Now it can be found in 13 states, mostly in the Midwest. Named after the football huddle, Huddle House is a hour family restaurant that was founded in the s and is concentrated in the Southeast. Spaghetti, lasagna, and garlic breadsticks are crowd-pleasers, so it's no surprise this Italian restaurant chain is a hit with families.

Best known for its outlandish slogans, commercials, and having "all the meat," Arby's satisfies its customers with roast beef, curly fries, and fresh deli sandwiches. Biscuit and fried chicken lovers adore this Southern fast-food chain that serves breakfast all day.

You can add a swipe of creamy pimento cheese to any biscuit — and you should. Looking for a healthier breakfast option? Check out these healthy fast-food breakfast items. It's a little bit about the most food you can get. It's a meal, right? Also, we're not paying attention to limited-time offers that won't be around in a few weeks.

Sorry, Nacho Fries and unicorn thingamajigs. Build your own combo. What to order: It's a little tricky to get the price down while filling up at your favorite mall-based restaurant. Nonetheless, you can get pretty close, especially if you opt to skip a soda and get some water.

You probably need to hydrate anyhow, right? It's pretty damn solid all things considered. While this meal is put together with menu prices, you can pretty reliably find a deep discount in the Wendy's app and occasionally even land a free burger.

Nonetheless, to get your meal, skip the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and grab two Jr. You haven't really eaten at Wendy's until you've dipped your fries in a Frosty. The money goes to charity and you wind up getting free Frostys for an entire year.

What to order: If you're looking to maximize your caloric intake for the buck, the Sausage Egg and Cheese on a croissant has a whopping calories. The bagels at Dunkin' tend to survive life before your mouth a little more intact than the croissant. No, you aren't getting a coffee, but Dunkin' isn't fooling anyone with the name change.

You still came there for the donut. What to order: Chipotle is not the go-to spot for a budget-conscious eater. You really can't get anything there's a kid's menu. The same thing less the juice box from the adult menu costs slightly more.

However, it's entirely possible if you think outside the Mountain. Yeah, the Jamocha Shake is only available here, but these are the best damn fries in the game.

It's also worth checking if they're offering anything for signing up for the Arby's email list. Sometimes handing over your email lands you a free sandwich or gyro. What to order: If you've ever been to a White Castle or have seen a film with the words "Harold and Kumar" in the title, you know the drill.

What to order: No, the Colonel still isn't bringing back the long-dead Double Down. Though, the nuggets would substitute well and keep you in the same price range.

Plus, you'd be getting those sweet, sweet sauces. Sometimes the classics are classics for a reason. What to order: Jimmy John's hasn't always been the best place for a super-cheap lunch.

However, in late , JJ added the Little John. Plus, there are seven varieties of the Little John, which gives you options, but the 6 is a solid choice if you're looking to get the most out of the smaller sandwich. The vegetarian sandwich comes with avocado, provolone, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.

You're getting a lot more flavor there than with the spare Slim 5 and a few more calories than with the other Little John options. If you're ordering anything but the salt and vinegar chips, you're doing it wrong. What to order: You're going to have a tough time pulling this one off.

That's the highest calorie soup they offer. For the same price, you can come close with the Summer Corn Chowder or the Bistro French Onion. What to order: You'll run into the same problem here that you ran into at Chipotle.

You could turn to the kid's menu, but that can get awkward.

Let's go a different direction. What to order: The Dollar Menu is dead; long live the Dollar Menu. That's the best you'll do unless you're dining with the Hamburglar. What to order: Get dressed like you're making stops at the sock hop and Makeout Bluff, then try not to spill chili cheese down your chest.

So, there's really only one option to make it all happen here. Load it up with your favorite fixings and add in a bag of Sun Chips, because that's what you do at Subway.

What to order: Yes, you could blow your budget and more on any of its ridiculously sweet Frap du Jour surprises. But you can actually get a decent breakfast as well. Not to mention you should be checking the Rewards app to get points and see if there's a Happy Hour going down.

What to order: You could blow the budget on the new Impossible Whopper , which is really a pretty good choice. That'll land you a bacon cheeseburger, four-piece order of chicken nuggets, cookie, value-sized fries, and a ounce soft drink.

What to order: Look, you know where this is going. You can't just go to Popeyes and not get that chicken sandwich. That almost puts you up to you budget's ceiling. You're going to want that drink to cool your mouth if the sandwich proves too spicy for you. Skip to main content News.

By Dustin Nelson. Here are the three principles driving the food selection for this list: 1. Now, dig in. Taco Bell. Panda Express. White Castle. Jimmy John's. Burger King. Want More Free Food? You're welcome.

Dustin Nelson is a Senior Staff Writer at Thrillist. Follow him dlukenelson. A post shared by MOMO HOUSE momohouse. The key: the fluffy, impossibly buttery mashed potatoes that bind together the lightly cooked veggies inside, from peas to carrots to onions.

The house special chili chicken is another knockout, a Tibetan-Indo-Chinese dish with lightly breaded chicken, caramelized onion, and bell peppers stir-fried in a gingery, spicy sauce with a side of veggie fried rice. Get it spicy for best results. Tart-sweet slices of pickled mango, crunchy kimchi, and a generous amount of kimchi mayo take this dog over the top.

The bread is housemade and fluffy like a giant, thin English muffin, split apart and stuffed with a generous quarter pound of lamb and beef or chicken shaved straight from the spit. Equally impressive are the toppings: pickled pepperoncini, tomato, red onion, lettuce, pickled red cabbage, and yogurt.

Let the party begin. Dessert picks range from a chewy layered green and yellow pandan and mung bean cake to silken tofu pudding with ginger sauce to banana cake with coconut cream.

Take home a package of onion tofu or meat-stuffed fried tofu pockets for the centerpiece of your dinner—stews, noodle soups, or salads—or grab a container of refreshing, lightly sweetened soymilk for breakfast. A post shared by Los Angeles LA Socal Food cuisinewithdean. every night at that yes, even Mondays.

It might be the best bang for your buck of any restaurant in the city. There are so many places to get affordable, excellent Mexican food in the Mission District.

That said, newcomer Tacos del Barrio is sitting somewhere in the middle of the various price points. Or, one could purchase a plethora of pupusas, a timeless cheap eat. The 14 Restaurants in San Francisco Changing the Narrative for Gluten-Free Diners.

This friendly Bayview waffle and coffee house has stellar prices. The 11 San Francisco Legacy Businesses to Add to Your Eating and Drinking List. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

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