Fall and the accompanying cooler weather mean apples, pumpkins... and comfort food like pasta. Luckily, Bottega Fiorentina (both on Newbury Street and the original location in Coolidge Corner) offers a multitude of fresh and fantastic pasta dishes daily to fill that need. You could eat at Bottega Fiorentina every day for weeks and never have the same thing twice. There are five specials a day (like Tuesday's lasagna with meat and bechamel or Friday's......

Aceituna is a Spanish word for olive, and considering the use of olives and olive oil in Mediterranean cuisine, it's a perfect name for Aceituna Cafe in Kendall Square. The restaurant features Lebanese and Mediterranean food hot and fast. The menu at Aceituna Cafe has lots of options, mostly under $10, ranging from pita roll-ups to heartier entrees with meat, rice and salad. The real deals, though, are in the vegetarian plate and the......

Fall has arrived. Celebrate with some cheap eats.......

Pizza is a quintessential cheap eat, and Crazy Dough's Pizza has a wider variety of toppings to choose from than usual. The counters are always spread with tons of gourmet pies in both thin crust and Sicilian-style, like the potato bacon cheddar, the buffalo chicken and bacon, and the rueben. Crazy Dough's also has some great specials that help you keep the costs down. A personal-sized (9-inch) pizza, paired with a soda, goes for......

Bakeries can be a great choice for delicious meal options, but it often seems that the meal doesn't justify the price. Not so at Canto 6, a small bakery in Jamaica Plain. Their menu boasts some great sandwich combinations, all for under $7. But the real value lies in Canto 6's pies and quiches. Personal-sized pies and quiches make a quick and easy meal that will definitely fill you up. The scallion, bacon, and......

Well, now you know how to get around and where to drink. How about where to get some cheap grub? There's lots of great food in this city, it just takes some exploring to find it. Want some pizza? Try Pizzeria Regina, one of the cornerstones of the North End since 1926. Order a Formaggio Bianco pizza and ask the waitress for some extra garlic olive oil. For Sicilian-style slices, visit Pinocchio's Pizza in......

Who doesn't love melted cheese? La Papusa Guanaca is a small restaurant on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain that focuses on the food of El Salvador, including the delicious, hot and melty papusa. The little crispy corn pancakes ($1.25), about the size of your palm, are stuffed with cheese, cheese and pork, or cheese and beans, and then fried on a griddle. They're really hot, though, when they come out, so save yourself from......

Besides burritos, falafel is another contentious subject matter in the Boston food world. Everyone seems to be in some sort of camp. Granted, this Bostonist hasn't done extensive research, but Shawarma King on Beacon Street in Brookline serves up one damn good sandwich. The falafel are made up of a mixture of chick pea and fava bean, flavored with plenty of parsley and garlic. The crispy little balls are served with tomatoes, a mild pickle......

Three dollars and change can't buy much - a coffee, a pastry, a slice of pizza... or a friggin' huge sandwich stuffed with great meat and veggies. At Pho Viet, one of the stalls at the Super 88 food court in Allston, a bahn mi sandwich costs almost nothing but is still super filling and relatively more healthy than some of your other "cheap" options. A large crunchy, crusty baguette is toasted and filled......

There's something very summery about barbeque, but when the weather is so hot and humid, the last thing you want to be doing is tending the grill or the smoker. That's where SoulFire in Allston comes along. The meat is expertly cooked and left unsauced so you can add your favorite from their line-up of sauces - the sweet sauce was this Bostonist's favorite. The pulled pork sandwich ($6.95) was piled high with tons......

Green beans on a sandwich? That was this Bostonist's first thought on encountering a sandwich from Chacarero. But the combination of ingredients that make up a Chacarero sandwich - chicken and/or steak, jalapeno sauce, munster cheese, tomatoes, green beans, guacamole - form a unique balance amongst themselves. The hot sauce makes your lips tingle, while the guacamole cools them off. The soft tomatoes and the slight crunch of the beans pair well, and the......

Japanese restaurants can get pricy pretty fast - sushi adds up. But Fin's Sushi + Grill (in Kenmore Square and Cleveland Circle) has a fantastic bento lunch special that severely cuts down on the cost. For between $7and $9, you'll get a heaping mound of healthy and delicious food that fills you up for the afternoon. Miso soup, salad, 2 pork gyoza, 2 pieces of California roll, a pile of fresh fruit, and more......

There are few places that will serve you a literal platter of food for under $10, but at Dok Bua, a feast is available every night of the week. Their nightly dinner special offers some of their most popular dishes, served with jasmine rice, tom yum soup, two spring rolls, and two pork dumplings, all for the low price of $9.95. It may not look like a ton of food, especially with the spring......

Forget that hard-as-a-rock square slice from your elementary school days. Bostone Pizza on Newbury Street knows how to serve a proper Sicilian pizza. While many pizzas serve as vehicles for cheese delivery, the dough is the real star of the show in this case. The edges are buttery and crispy, not at all dry. The bottom of the crust is also very crispy, and yet the top is soft and pillowy, a perfect bed......

Are pies the new cupcakes? This Bostonist hopes so. From cup-pies at the Piehole on ABC's Pushing Daisies to the opening of Pie Bakery in Newton a few months ago, it seems like we're on the verge of a new flood of sweet treats. But Petsi Pies, in Somerville and Cambridge, has been around since 2003, proving it's not a fad. Named after owner Renee's childhood nickname, Petsi Pies offers a vast array of......

With the temperature hanging in the 90s, this Bostonist forgets about hunting down cheap meals and only wants something nice and cool to drink. Be it iced tea, iced coffee, or ice cream, these drinks are the best way to keep cool. Bubble tea at Boston Tea Stop – There are so many flavor combinations to be had at the Boston Tea Stop, you could cool down with a new drink every day this......

There are few places in this city where you'll find locals and tourists lining up next to each other to wait for a table. But at Pizzeria Regina in the North End, this is a common occurance. True, it's not a classy place, what with the waiting outside, the old school booths, the pitchers of beer, and the occasionally surly waitstaff, but the food is good, and really, that's all that matters. If it's......

At first glance, Dave's Fresh Pasta in Davis Square may just look like a tiny market - there's a display case filled with ready-to-take-home meals, bottles of wine and beer, and freezers filled with assorted appetizers, pastas, and ice cream. Take a look at the wall above the cash register, though, and you'll see that there are plenty of options for eating right away. Sandwiches run from $6 to $8 and come in some......

At a restaurant named Flat Patties, the obvious choice is a burger. And sure, the burgers are cheap and tasty, but there are other winners on the menu that are just as good (if not better) and don't require much cash in your pocket. The grilled chicken sandwich ($3.25) is well-seasoned and super moist, a big plus for a dish that can often be dry and tough with poor cooking. The Shredded Pork sandwich......

Being as it's Cinco de Mayo, everyone in the city is going to be trying to grab some Mexican food and cervezas tonight. Most of the options are less than ideal, however. For truly great and authentic Mexican (no beer yet, though, but they're working on it), head to Angela's Cafe in East Boston. Angela's is a small storefront that focuses on food from the Puebla region of Mexico, but it also offers American......

There's been plenty of talk about burritos on Bostonist and in other local news media. And sure, this Bostonist enjoys a burrito now and again, but sometimes you want something that's not so heavy or rice-filled. The quesadillas at Anna's Taqueria are formidable competitors if you broaden the search for good Mexican in Boston. The tortilla is oiled and grilled to crispy perfection, while the cheese inside is creamy. The best choice for a......

Pizza is the quintessential cheap eats. A slice typically only costs a couple of bucks, and it's fast and portable. One slice, however, is often not enough, and you're left wanting more. At Pinocchio's in Harvard Square, however, one slice is filling, and two slices, for the low price of $3.95, makes a full meal. The Sicilian slices are hefty, especially if you snag a corner piece. The dough is crispy on the bottom......

When most people think of crepes, they think of the on-the-go snack from France, spread with sugar or Nutella, or the fancier flambéed Crepe Suzette, served for dessert in fine restaurants. But crepes can make an excellent meal, especially when they are stuffed with lots of fresh ingredients, like those at Arrow Street Crepes in Harvard Square. Arrow Street Crepes is a small place, with the kitchen and the crepe pans right out in......

Surrounded by Harvard University offices in the Holyoke Center Arcade, Oggi Gourmet offers a change of pace... and taste. Oggi serves up fresh pizzas, salads, and sandwichs in a hip and comfortable atmosphere. A variety of tables spill out into the concourse, where the wide windows let in plenty of light, and the chairs are comfortable enough for leisurely lounging over your meal. At first look, Oggi seems like a regular pizza joint -......

When a fast-food restaurant has a name like UBurger, the first choice is, obviously, to order a hamburger. And UBurger definitely has plenty of choices when it comes to burger toppings. But the hidden delicacy on the menu is the chicken. The marinated, grilled chicken breast is a fast-food of dreams. While most chain burger places use chicken that doesn’t always look like chicken, the meat at UBurger is always a whole chicken breast,......

Most taquerias in the Boston area are counter service, fast food-type places. You order your burrito and move down the line, making sure you get all the right fillings. But at Taqueria Mexico, in Lynn, Waltham, and Coolidge Corner, Brookline, a hot, cheap, delicious, and sit-down meal is only a few minutes away. The Brookline location is small, with only a handful of tables, so service is quick. Hot and fresh tortilla chips and......

Sometimes you want something nicer than a counter-service type of place but you don't want to spend a ton of money. Pub food is always a good choice in that situation. Many bars, though, have only standard (i.e. greasy) food to go with the drinks. Silvertone Bar & Grill, located on Bromfield Street near the Park Street T stop, serves up just what you need. On first entry, the subterranean room feels like a noisy......

The Publick House is known primarily for its beers – a selection of Belgian brews too vast to enumerate. The food menu is not quite as long, but there are some fantastic eats to go along with the great drinks. The Veggie Burger is the top cheap eat pick at $9. The burger is actually made of vegetables – a rarity in the land of veggie burgers. It’s packed with peas, carrots and zucchini, a......

Sandwiches can be a rather mundane lunch choice, grabbed on the go or because there aren’t many other options. But Hot Off the Press, in Central Square and Charlestown, serves more original sandwiches which are, yes, hot and pressed, not to mention delicious and cheap. The Baja Chicken wrap, with grilled chicken, tomatoes, red onions, lettuce, and corn in a wheat wrap, was very tasty, although a little messy to eat. The addition of corn......

Listen hard enough, and you'll hear it: a slurping noise from the next table over. Loud jazz and the clanking sounds of metal soup pots can't drown it out. Order your own soup, and you'll be making those same slurping noises in no time. Some people don't think of soup as a meal unto itself. The soups at the New England Soup Factory, however, are rich and filled with diverse ingredients, making them a perfect,......