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A picture of a margherita pizza at Life of Pie.
A margherita pizza from Life of Pie, which clocks in at $7.
Brooke Jackson-Glidden

20 Knockout Spots for Affordable Dining in Portland

Find the city's best inexpensive meals around town, from fried chicken to banh mi

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A margherita pizza from Life of Pie, which clocks in at $7.
| Brooke Jackson-Glidden

In the not-too-distant past, Portland was famous for incredible food deals at bars, restaurants, and food carts. Today, various consequences of the pandemic have made it much harder to stretch a dollar. Restaurants have been accumulating massive amounts of debt just to stay afloat, inflation has spiked the cost of everything from takeout containers to canola oil, and restaurant workers have learned that they can’t work sustainably at the wages they were making before the pandemic. These factors have, understandably, raised the cost of a meal across the country, including Portland. Consumers should recognize that affordable food — whatever that means — is an extra level of service that restaurants can choose to provide, but shouldn’t always be expected to.

With that in mind, there are still a number of affordable dining options in the Portland area. Many chefs and owners believe in making food accessible to a larger population and recognize that the pandemic left many people financially struggling. Access to delicious, high-quality food should be available to all people, and many in the restaurant industry design their menus to make that possible.

This map showcases restaurants, food carts, and bars slinging filling meals like sandwiches, fried chicken, noodle soups, and more for $15 or less. If you’re looking for happy hours specifically, we have a map for that.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

Beto's Taqueria

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This St. Johns food cart is one of the more underrated Mexican spots in the neighborhood, stuffing burritos with tangy adobo-marinated pork and whole chiles rellenos. Burritos live in the $9 to $11 range, while most tacos are $2; the cart even offers breakfast options like $12 chilaquiles and huevos rancheros. The cart is home to an indoor seating area, for those who want to dine there.

Spitz is a bit of a lesser-known Mediterranean food empire in Portland, franchised with locations throughout the West Coast. Offering a modern take on the cuisine, Spitz’s only Portland branch on Killingsworth stuffs wraps and gyros with crunchy veggies, smoky doner kebab, and zesty sauces for $13.50 and $10.25, respectively. Sides like the stacked street cart fries and Doquitos (“think Mediterranean taquitos, but better”) could easily serve small groups, and the bowls often end up becoming leftovers thanks to the healthy portions. Although Spitz is a popular takeout destination for locals, it also has a full bar onsite, making it a cheap place to grab a drink, as well.

From the team behind Afuri Ramen, this casual katsu sandwich shop serves crispy-fried meats and burgers on house-made shokupan milk bread. The grab-and-go nature of Tanaka’s counter service makes it easy to choose your own adventure (and budget); options range from savory vegetable curry buns and pork sausage croissants from the pastry case or stacked $13 pork cutlet sandwiches. If you’re especially hungry, you might benefit from the combo option, which tacks on savory sides like togarashi-seasoned Brussels sprouts and a fountain drink for an extra 6 bucks when you order any breakfast item, sandwich, burger, or nuggets. If you go for the katsu nuggets as a combo, you’ll stay under $15.

Love Belizean

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This Belizean restaurant is a favorite among Portland State University students, thanks to the combination of fall-off-the-bone chicken, rice, beans, salad, and habanero hot sauce for $11. Any of the above are available a la carte for about $4, and additional dishes like yellow coconut curry or a soup-salad combo are priced in the single digits. It’s hard to think of a better, tastier deal in that part of town.

Los Gorditos

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The local Mexican restaurant group started as a food cart on 50th and Division, and now has five locations across Portland, including food carts and restaurants. Every Gorditos location is casual and counter-service, and none of them break the bank, serving dishes like a $10 tinga burrito stuffed with chicken and grilled onions. It’s not just for meat eaters, though — Los Gorditos also has a sizable vegan menu at each spot with a variety of protein options to satisfy all diets.

Mid City Smashed Burger

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One of the city’s most lauded smash burgers may also be one of its least expensive. This mini-chain of food carts smashes its Painted Hills beef patties with a cast-iron press for ultimate char, slathered with sauce and American cheese; a single burger clocks in at $6, with a $4 “junior” option. Add fries for $4 and stay at $10 or less for lunch; the cart also offers similarly inexpensive things like $6 rockfish sandwiches and $5 chicken nuggets.

Life of Pie Pizza

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Outside of happy hour, a margherita pizza for one at the casually rustic Life of Pie costs $15, but during happy hour, that drops down to just $7 — with the optional add-on of a $6 beer or wine. The best part? Happy hour runs every day for seven whole hours, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s best eaten on the patio of the restaurant, as the extra-thin crust doesn’t hold up to travel for long.

KPub Grill and Beer Tap Room

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KPub Grill complements its neighboring pod Park the Carts well, offering equally low prices for stacked servings of killer Korean dishes. KPub has barely changed its prices since 2019, serving chicken bulgogi with rice, banchan, and house-made kimchi for just under $11. Bibimbap sports the same price, along with most of the appetizers. For something even less expensive, hearty portions of pajeon (scallion pancake) and mandu (dumplings) are less than $10. 

Bao Bao

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This Northeast Couch Chinese restaurant specializes, of course, in bao, fluffy steamed buns stuffed with curried chicken, sweetened red bean, and juicy pork. One $3.50 bao is filling enough for a snack or light lunch, but a steamer basket of three is only $10. For something even heartier, the zha jiang mian noodles, wonton soup, and congee all clock in under $12.

Sushi Ohana

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The number of conveyor belt sushi restaurants in Portland is frustratingly small, especially in an era of COVID-influenced dining. Sushi Ohana, however, has maintained the integrity of this dine-in-centric style of cuisine, offering stacks of rotating California rolls, nigiri, and tempura. Thanks to the classic five-tier pricing style, it’s easy to spend less than $12 while dining in, since even the “priciest” plates of higher-quality fish remain less than $5. During the busier lunch and dinner rushes, the trays are loaded, making it possible to get a meal in less than 30 minutes.

PDX Sliders

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The sandwiches at these two laid-back counter-service locations in Southeast barely count as sliders — at around $6.50 or $7.50 each, they’re practically the size of an average fast food burger, especially with options like the Steel, a double cheeseburger that easily dwarves the average burger patty in town and comes in at $7.50. Those who want fries can add them for a few more dollars and stay around $12; the combo easily makes for a filling meal.

Basilisk

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This micro counter-service restaurant in the hip, industrial Zipper complex serves a mammoth fried-chicken sandwich for $11; the crispy behemoth is one of the best versions of the quintessential sandwich in Multnomah County. For those who want some spice in their lives, the Nashville-style hot chicken comes decently close to the real thing, served searingly hot on a thick slice of white bread with pickles, also for $11. Vegetarians will save a buck with the fried tofu sandwich, a honey brioche bun layered with crispy tofu, cabbage slaw, and buttermilk sauce.

Portland Cà Phê

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This Vietnamese coffee shop from roaster Kimberly Dam generated serious buzz when it opened in April 2021, slinging cà phê sữa đá, ube and cardamom-flavored lattes, and inventive pastries. Like other restaurants on this map, the move here is sandwiches, in this case bánh mì. Provided by Dam’s mother’s House of Bánh Mì, the sandwiches are just $9, with several grilled meat options and a tofu option available for vegetarians. The bánh mì come slathered with rich egg butter, pickled vegetables, cucumbers, and soy sauce — refreshing on a hot day. Add a cold brew, and you’ll only end up spending $13.50. The cafe also operates a Northeast Portland location.

La Bonita

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Alberta’s burrito stalwart offers options as cheap as $7 with beans and rice — carnitas and chicken burritos still under $10.25. For those willing to spring for the extra dollar, the restaurant’s tender suadero may be the best item on the menu. Other cash-conscious dishes include tacos with house-made tortillas, poblano tamales, and carnitas quesadillas.

Mai Thai Portland

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Mai Thai has been a cornerstone of the Belmont neighborhood for years, adding to the plethora of reliable fast casual Thai spots in Portland. Mai Thai slings crowd favorites like pad Thai and green curry on the regular for less than $15, along with dishes like khao moo dang (red roasted pork with rice) and khao soi (Northern curry noodle soup). However, its lunch time special has barely budged in price since the pandemic. For $10.50, you can get most of the standard Thai dishes on the regular menu, like drunken noodles and pad see ew, which comes with complementary sides of rice.

Happy Bibimbap House 2

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This sweet Hollywood Korean restaurant may have some of the lowest prices in town, without sacrificing quality. Meals of silky soondubu jjigae (tofu stew), colorful bibimbap, and kimchi jjigae all clock in under $10 for dinner and under $8 for lunch, while Korean barbecue-style meats — bulgogi beef, kalbi short rib — appear in combination meals with rice, salad, mandu, and a four-piece California roll for only $12.95. The best deal in the restaurant, however, is the rotating daily lunch special, which comes with rice, mandu, and a salad for just under $7.

An Xuyen Bakery

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This cramped, family-owned bakery packs its shelves with all sorts of baked goods, from Thai green tea cakes and Chinese almond cookies to steamed bao and fluffy wrapped hot dogs. The show-stealer is the bánh mì sandwich on fluffy house-baked bread, which is one of the city’s best. Options like Vietnamese ham, barbecue pork, and pâté will satisfy those who eat meat, while a few vegetarian options round it out for those who don’t; none of them are over $6.

Bui Natural Tofu

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This Vietnamese tofu shop, cafe, and deli is a standby among families in the Portland area, who stop in for crispy fried tofu, salad rolls, and bánh cuốn. The menu is littered with stuff under $10, including filling portions of flavorful sticky rice, and bánh tiêu, or Vietnamese doughnuts. Offerings change often, but it’s hard to go wrong with what’s in the case.

Kenny's Noodle House

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A cozy, busy little diner just past 82nd Avenue on Southeast Powell, Kenny’s Noodle House is all about the soups — steaming bowls of wontons, noodles, pork bits, and bok choy, not to mention the dozens of other varieties of noodle soups. Basically everything here clocks in between $10 and $13, even the “large” size bowls which are more than enough for the average diner. There’s also customizable congee, making Kenny’s an easy place to fill up.

Birrieria PDX Division

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It may be physically impossible to leave this Centennial birria cart hungry. With a foundation of tender, methodically spiced birria, the menu of this cart ranges from crunch wraps with hot Cheetos, to traditional quesabirria oozing with cheese, to ramen made with the braised beef’s consomé. Three birria tacos is less than $10, a cheesy beef-filled burrito is under $11, and the gargantuan crunchwrap is under $12; however, it’s hard to beat the classic quesabirria, which clocks in at $8.

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Beto's Taqueria

This St. Johns food cart is one of the more underrated Mexican spots in the neighborhood, stuffing burritos with tangy adobo-marinated pork and whole chiles rellenos. Burritos live in the $9 to $11 range, while most tacos are $2; the cart even offers breakfast options like $12 chilaquiles and huevos rancheros. The cart is home to an indoor seating area, for those who want to dine there.

Spitz

Spitz is a bit of a lesser-known Mediterranean food empire in Portland, franchised with locations throughout the West Coast. Offering a modern take on the cuisine, Spitz’s only Portland branch on Killingsworth stuffs wraps and gyros with crunchy veggies, smoky doner kebab, and zesty sauces for $13.50 and $10.25, respectively. Sides like the stacked street cart fries and Doquitos (“think Mediterranean taquitos, but better”) could easily serve small groups, and the bowls often end up becoming leftovers thanks to the healthy portions. Although Spitz is a popular takeout destination for locals, it also has a full bar onsite, making it a cheap place to grab a drink, as well.

Tanaka

From the team behind Afuri Ramen, this casual katsu sandwich shop serves crispy-fried meats and burgers on house-made shokupan milk bread. The grab-and-go nature of Tanaka’s counter service makes it easy to choose your own adventure (and budget); options range from savory vegetable curry buns and pork sausage croissants from the pastry case or stacked $13 pork cutlet sandwiches. If you’re especially hungry, you might benefit from the combo option, which tacks on savory sides like togarashi-seasoned Brussels sprouts and a fountain drink for an extra 6 bucks when you order any breakfast item, sandwich, burger, or nuggets. If you go for the katsu nuggets as a combo, you’ll stay under $15.

Love Belizean

This Belizean restaurant is a favorite among Portland State University students, thanks to the combination of fall-off-the-bone chicken, rice, beans, salad, and habanero hot sauce for $11. Any of the above are available a la carte for about $4, and additional dishes like yellow coconut curry or a soup-salad combo are priced in the single digits. It’s hard to think of a better, tastier deal in that part of town.

Los Gorditos

The local Mexican restaurant group started as a food cart on 50th and Division, and now has five locations across Portland, including food carts and restaurants. Every Gorditos location is casual and counter-service, and none of them break the bank, serving dishes like a $10 tinga burrito stuffed with chicken and grilled onions. It’s not just for meat eaters, though — Los Gorditos also has a sizable vegan menu at each spot with a variety of protein options to satisfy all diets.

Mid City Smashed Burger

One of the city’s most lauded smash burgers may also be one of its least expensive. This mini-chain of food carts smashes its Painted Hills beef patties with a cast-iron press for ultimate char, slathered with sauce and American cheese; a single burger clocks in at $6, with a $4 “junior” option. Add fries for $4 and stay at $10 or less for lunch; the cart also offers similarly inexpensive things like $6 rockfish sandwiches and $5 chicken nuggets.

Life of Pie Pizza

Outside of happy hour, a margherita pizza for one at the casually rustic Life of Pie costs $15, but during happy hour, that drops down to just $7 — with the optional add-on of a $6 beer or wine. The best part? Happy hour runs every day for seven whole hours, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s best eaten on the patio of the restaurant, as the extra-thin crust doesn’t hold up to travel for long.

KPub Grill and Beer Tap Room

KPub Grill complements its neighboring pod Park the Carts well, offering equally low prices for stacked servings of killer Korean dishes. KPub has barely changed its prices since 2019, serving chicken bulgogi with rice, banchan, and house-made kimchi for just under $11. Bibimbap sports the same price, along with most of the appetizers. For something even less expensive, hearty portions of pajeon (scallion pancake) and mandu (dumplings) are less than $10. 

Bao Bao

This Northeast Couch Chinese restaurant specializes, of course, in bao, fluffy steamed buns stuffed with curried chicken, sweetened red bean, and juicy pork. One $3.50 bao is filling enough for a snack or light lunch, but a steamer basket of three is only $10. For something even heartier, the zha jiang mian noodles, wonton soup, and congee all clock in under $12.

Sushi Ohana

The number of conveyor belt sushi restaurants in Portland is frustratingly small, especially in an era of COVID-influenced dining. Sushi Ohana, however, has maintained the integrity of this dine-in-centric style of cuisine, offering stacks of rotating California rolls, nigiri, and tempura. Thanks to the classic five-tier pricing style, it’s easy to spend less than $12 while dining in, since even the “priciest” plates of higher-quality fish remain less than $5. During the busier lunch and dinner rushes, the trays are loaded, making it possible to get a meal in less than 30 minutes.

PDX Sliders

The sandwiches at these two laid-back counter-service locations in Southeast barely count as sliders — at around $6.50 or $7.50 each, they’re practically the size of an average fast food burger, especially with options like the Steel, a double cheeseburger that easily dwarves the average burger patty in town and comes in at $7.50. Those who want fries can add them for a few more dollars and stay around $12; the combo easily makes for a filling meal.

Basilisk

This micro counter-service restaurant in the hip, industrial Zipper complex serves a mammoth fried-chicken sandwich for $11; the crispy behemoth is one of the best versions of the quintessential sandwich in Multnomah County. For those who want some spice in their lives, the Nashville-style hot chicken comes decently close to the real thing, served searingly hot on a thick slice of white bread with pickles, also for $11. Vegetarians will save a buck with the fried tofu sandwich, a honey brioche bun layered with crispy tofu, cabbage slaw, and buttermilk sauce.

Portland Cà Phê

This Vietnamese coffee shop from roaster Kimberly Dam generated serious buzz when it opened in April 2021, slinging cà phê sữa đá, ube and cardamom-flavored lattes, and inventive pastries. Like other restaurants on this map, the move here is sandwiches, in this case bánh mì. Provided by Dam’s mother’s House of Bánh Mì, the sandwiches are just $9, with several grilled meat options and a tofu option available for vegetarians. The bánh mì come slathered with rich egg butter, pickled vegetables, cucumbers, and soy sauce — refreshing on a hot day. Add a cold brew, and you’ll only end up spending $13.50. The cafe also operates a Northeast Portland location.

La Bonita

Alberta’s burrito stalwart offers options as cheap as $7 with beans and rice — carnitas and chicken burritos still under $10.25. For those willing to spring for the extra dollar, the restaurant’s tender suadero may be the best item on the menu. Other cash-conscious dishes include tacos with house-made tortillas, poblano tamales, and carnitas quesadillas.

Mai Thai Portland

Mai Thai has been a cornerstone of the Belmont neighborhood for years, adding to the plethora of reliable fast casual Thai spots in Portland. Mai Thai slings crowd favorites like pad Thai and green curry on the regular for less than $15, along with dishes like khao moo dang (red roasted pork with rice) and khao soi (Northern curry noodle soup). However, its lunch time special has barely budged in price since the pandemic. For $10.50, you can get most of the standard Thai dishes on the regular menu, like drunken noodles and pad see ew, which comes with complementary sides of rice.

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Happy Bibimbap House 2

This sweet Hollywood Korean restaurant may have some of the lowest prices in town, without sacrificing quality. Meals of silky soondubu jjigae (tofu stew), colorful bibimbap, and kimchi jjigae all clock in under $10 for dinner and under $8 for lunch, while Korean barbecue-style meats — bulgogi beef, kalbi short rib — appear in combination meals with rice, salad, mandu, and a four-piece California roll for only $12.95. The best deal in the restaurant, however, is the rotating daily lunch special, which comes with rice, mandu, and a salad for just under $7.

An Xuyen Bakery

This cramped, family-owned bakery packs its shelves with all sorts of baked goods, from Thai green tea cakes and Chinese almond cookies to steamed bao and fluffy wrapped hot dogs. The show-stealer is the bánh mì sandwich on fluffy house-baked bread, which is one of the city’s best. Options like Vietnamese ham, barbecue pork, and pâté will satisfy those who eat meat, while a few vegetarian options round it out for those who don’t; none of them are over $6.

Bui Natural Tofu

This Vietnamese tofu shop, cafe, and deli is a standby among families in the Portland area, who stop in for crispy fried tofu, salad rolls, and bánh cuốn. The menu is littered with stuff under $10, including filling portions of flavorful sticky rice, and bánh tiêu, or Vietnamese doughnuts. Offerings change often, but it’s hard to go wrong with what’s in the case.

Kenny's Noodle House

A cozy, busy little diner just past 82nd Avenue on Southeast Powell, Kenny’s Noodle House is all about the soups — steaming bowls of wontons, noodles, pork bits, and bok choy, not to mention the dozens of other varieties of noodle soups. Basically everything here clocks in between $10 and $13, even the “large” size bowls which are more than enough for the average diner. There’s also customizable congee, making Kenny’s an easy place to fill up.

Birrieria PDX Division

It may be physically impossible to leave this Centennial birria cart hungry. With a foundation of tender, methodically spiced birria, the menu of this cart ranges from crunch wraps with hot Cheetos, to traditional quesabirria oozing with cheese, to ramen made with the braised beef’s consomé. Three birria tacos is less than $10, a cheesy beef-filled burrito is under $11, and the gargantuan crunchwrap is under $12; however, it’s hard to beat the classic quesabirria, which clocks in at $8.

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