Cheap Eats: Delicious Meals Under $20

While the recession officially ended in 2009, our wallets haven't exactly bounced back to the Goldman Sachs excess of the early nineties. And when it comes to stretching our Benjamin Franklins, sometimes we'd rather blow our wad on a PS1 bag than a big, fancy dinner. In NYC especially, going out to eat can be more daunting than finding a cab at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night—yes, we've faked plans to avoid a $100 plus restaurant bill scenario. Enter our city guide to Cheap Eats, a list of local restaurants (there's a street car, grocery, and take-out joint, too) that are short on price, high on pure mmm-mmm goodness. Plus, all the meals we're putting on our wish-list clock in under $20, meaning there's a whole lot more bills for drinks, shoes, whatever whets your whistle. Splitting the check never sounded so good.