Cheap Eats

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Harbor Fish Restaurant

3179 Carlsbad Boulevard, Carlsbad, 760-729-4161
Lobster Dinner, $14.95

Where else this side of the border can you watch the sun sink into the Pacific while feasting on a complete lobster dinner—with soup, salad and a thick slice of fresh-baked sourdough bread—for less than $15? Probably nowhere, which is what makes the Harbor Fish Restaurant so popular with seafood-loving locals and tourists. The décor is surfer casual, with premium seating outside on the thatch-roofed deck, at oilcloth-covered tables and wooden benches. The cheapo lobster dinner, served October through March, is the restaurant’s calling card, but the place also serves a sinfully creamy clam chowder—$3.49 small, $5.99 large—and spectacular fish and chips, $5.49-$10.49. The gigantic fish tacos, $7.49 with fries, brim with batter-dipped fish fillets, cabbage, onion, cilantro, cheese and homemade taco sauce, wrapped in a whole-wheat tortilla.

Gus' Subs & Pizza

1166 Rosecrans Street, Point Loma, 619-224-5105
Vegetarian Pizza, $11.75

Sailors with big appetites, shipyard workers and locals make a beeline to this eatery, just a short hop from the old Naval Training Center, for the hefty 11¼2-inch-tall pizzas, each loaded with options. A big seller is the vegetarian pizza: 12 inches feeds one to two, $11.75; 14 inches, two to three, $13.75; 16 inches, at least four, $15.95. This pizza comes out of the oven bubbling over with layers of tomato sauce and melted cheese, green peppers, tomatoes, black olives, onions, mushrooms and more.
Meatball lovers’ alert: Gus’ meatballs are baseball-size. One’s more than enough, split and covered with tomato sauce, to fill a 9-inch sandwich, $5.95.

Chin’s Szechwan

2958 Madison Street, Carlsbad 760-434-7115
(other locations in Encinitas, Escondido, Oceanside,
Rancho Bernardo, San Marcos, Scripps Ranch and Vista)
Szechwan Hot Braised Delight, $8.55

There are plenty of inexpensive Chinese restaurants in town, but few can match the Chin’s of North County for taste, flavor and price. The décor is old-school Chinese eatery, equal parts elegant and cheesy, but the food is anything but ordinary—indeed, some regulars say Chin’s ranks right up there with the best of San Francisco’s Chinatown. The Szechwan Hot Braised Delight is a tantalizing combo of jumbo shrimp and sliced chicken breast cooked in chile tomato sauce. Other best bets include the lunch specials, like Hunan chicken strips, $6.55; early bird dinner specials such as chicken chop suey, $7.25; and the house special, fried soft noodles, $6.95. All served with soup, rice and the chef’s choice of salad and fruit.

Costco

2345 North Mission City Parkway, Mission Valley
(and seven other county locations)
¼ - pound Hebrew National
Kosher All-Beef Hot Dog
and 20-Ounce Refillable Drink, $1.50

There’s a trick to eating cheap at Costco: Go directly to the outside walk-up window, put down your order, collect your food, eat it, and leave. If you decide to enter the giant discount warehouse, you do so at your own risk. That buck-fifty hot dog and Coke could cost you $432.68. Sure, if you go at the right time, you might find a half-dozen or so demonstration kiosks with free samples of everything from artificial cheese blintzes to soy-based imitation caviar (really). But you can fill a shopping cart faster than your belly inside Costco. Stick with the walk-up, and try the huge Caesar salad ($2.95) or whopper pizza slice ($1.99) and a double-tall iced latte or mocha ($1). Nothing sold by the case out here.

The Fishery

5040 Cass Street, Pacific Beach, 858-272-9985
Swordfish Tacos, $7.50

Look for these swordfish tacos under the Latino Nuevo dishes, disguised as “Mr. Brown’s Tacos,” named after the owner, Judd Brown. Sit down inside this inviting fish market/restaurant, order these upscale fish tacos, and you get two corn tortillas filled with thick slivers of deep-fried swordfish, topped with a colorful mix of cabbage and tomato, queso fresco and a mildly spicy mayonnaise sauce. A generous portion of refried beans and rice fills out the plate. Check out the expansive fish counter filled with fresh fish from around the world.

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