A bang for your buck!
As inflation sends NYC food prices into the stratosphere, eating cheap in the Big Apple has become a thoroughly retro concept — much like peep shows, or subway tokens.
But you can still dine for a dollar in some surprising places around town — and gouge-weary Gothamites are flocking to this slowly growing number of “unicorn” discount dining spots.
The surprising turnaround couldn’t come at a more urgent moment — where a fast food meal anywhere in the city can cost nearly $15, depressing salads in Midtown go for nearly $20 and the beloved dollar pizza slice, that weathered face of the buck bite scene, now typically costs $1.50 or more, thanks to soaring ingredient costs.
“I feel like everything gets more expensive,” Michelle Javier, a food lover who frequently shares hidden NYC nosh gems with her considerable social media following, sighed to The Post.
And while finding food for a George Washington might seem as outdated as heading to the video store on a Friday night, The Post scrounged up five popular dollar-dinner depots where people can fill their bellies — or at least have a snack — with nothing more than a handful of loose change.
Don’t call it a panini
Budget imbibers now have the hero they deserve in Smashiess, an East Harlem bodega offering a robust ham and cheese sandwich for a humble George Washington.
Located at 153 E. 103rd St., this bastion of the bill bite has been hawking the discount noshes for some time now.
But after getting featured in a viral video in April, they now sell over 100 of the simple, satisfying snacks a day.
Proprietor Roddy Duran told The Post that he’s doing it to “help the community” amid rampant price hikes.
“Prices are going up, I was, like, ‘Lemme help out a little,’” said Duran, whose store has been a fixture in the neighborhood for 18 years.
“I think everybody has a dollar,” he said, promising that he’d keep the deal going “as long as I can.”
As the name suggests, the throwback sandwich entails a compilation of ham and American cheese on a voluptuous roll that’s then pressed cardboard-flat on the grill like a poor man’s panini — but don’t call it that in front of Duran.
“Don’t say that word. Panini is downtown,” he joked.
Smashiess, 153 E. 103rd St., New York, NY 10029
Chubby chaser
A “dollar skewer” might evoke protein of dubious provenance used to soak up booze after a bender. But the newly opened Chubby Skewers — located in the Garment District at 252 W. 37th St. — is flipping the script by charging just that for the prized A5 Japanese wagyu beef on a stick.
Steak is one of many paradoxically priced offerings at this jam-packed restaurant from the California-based Chubby Group, a hospitality giant known for diverse and often carnivore-centric concepts.
Other cut-price kebabs at the DIY skewer restaurant — inspired by Northern Chinese street BBQ, seemingly both in flavor and price — include chicken, shrimp, squid, pork and lamb, with only premium items like abalone and whole yellow croaker (a Chinese delicacy) going for $2.
For reference, the chicken kebabs at food carts around town can clock in at upward of $9 a pop.
How can Chubby financially have their steak and eat it, too (a concept that seems as alien as buy-one-get-one-free caviar tins)? General Manager Kevin Li told The Post that the skewers are compiled from the surplus of high-grade beef flown straight from Japan — which the group’s other restaurants couldn’t use, allowing them to hawk it at giveaway prices.
Sometimes the steak’s “not big enough to serve at another restaurant,” he said. “So they keep it for us and ship to us, so that’s why we got a lower price.”
One caveat for eager diners: To buy skewers at a dollar, they’ll have to sign up for the restaurant’s membership program (which gets them 10 free skewers as a welcome gift).
Otherwise, they need to pay the extortionate price of — gasp — $1.20 per skewer.
Chubby Skewers｜Authentic Chinese BBQ, 252 W. 37th St., New York, NY 10018
Get into a pickle
The Pickle Guys, located at 357 Grand St. on the Lower East Side, have opted to preserve their prices in brine — proudly hawking a $1 gherkin the size of a game day bratwurst in Green Bay.
And while this might seem somewhat spartan compared to some snacks, these colossal cornichons have quite the following online.
“This is what I eat in New York City for only one dollar,” gushed influencer Gianna Christine in a TikTok video with over 100,000 views.
She then crunched the “thick,” embalmed cucumber, which she described as “crunchy and delicious” and the “absolute best snack.”
The Pickle Guys, 357 Grand St., New York, NY 10002
Steam heat
Chinatown is no longer the mecca of dollar-bin dining that it was — sadly, the once-popular dollar-for-six dumpling deals have gone the way of the dodo.
But there are vestiges of a “dime” gone by, namely the fried dumplings — high-octane envelopes stuffed with juicy pork — at the Golden Steamer at 210 Grand.
The seasoned spot also offers dollar sesame balls, fried glutinous rice-flour orbs that are studded with sesame seeds and filled with sweet red-bean paste, so they’re crispy on the outside with a soft, chewy interior.
Those in need of something more substantial should pop over to the original location on 143A Mott St. and drop 50 cents more on their pillowy pork bun.
Golden Steamer, 210 Grand St., New York, NY 10013
Sponge city
Spongies Cafe is a Chinatown oasis for affordable sweet treat seekers, offering Hong Kong-style sponge cakes for one buckaroo at 121 Baxter St., just north of Canal.
Baked fresh every morning, these pillowy pastries evoke a muffin combined with a cloud.
In a recent video, New York City foodfluencer Johnny Baesa dubbed Spongies “the best $1 you can spend in Chinatown.”
Those who find the original version a tad airy can spend 50 more cents and try one of their flavored options, such as the pandan coconut, purple yam or triple chocolate.
Spongies Cafe, 121 Baxter St., New York, NY 10013
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