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Food

Fast food & snack set isolated on white background: burger, dessert, pizza, coffee, chicken, wok, beef etc. Hand drawn sketch style, chalkboard drawing.

Cheap Fast Eats

We know. While we love living in SoCal, it can take quite a toll out of your pocket book, time and energy. That’s why we created Cheap Fast Eats — to give you a friend-in-the-know shortcut to finding tasty food you can grab quickly for $10-$15.We’ve been scouting out places for a couple of years now, and have gone as far afield as Santa Ana and the Valley, from Culver City to Pico Union. So check out our new fall edition — a curated list of places we think you’ll like for cool temps.

Cheap Fast Eats: 5 new meals to try for around $10 that are worth the trip

A Honduran baleada on a white plate, filled with mashed beans, sprinkled cheese, and topped with bright pickled red onions, all wrapped in a warm flour tortilla.

Cheap Fast Eats heads to North Hollywood for tasty food around $10

A toasted Guatemalan torta sandwich filled with shredded meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and guacamole, served on parchment paper with a side garnish of parsley and tomato. A small toothpick flag with “Muchá! Comida Chapina” is placed beside it.

Inventive, affordable bites in OC: Cheap Fast Eats visits Santa Ana

Smashburger meal served on a tray lined with classic black-and-white checkered paper, paired with a tall serving of golden fries in a playful Chinese takeout-style box

Cheap Fast Eats visits Pico-Union for globetrotting bites around $10

A plate with roasted chicken, potatoes, a salad, pita bread, and three different sauce containers against a pale blue tiled surface.

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Food Friday

Food

Heading to Solvang and Santa Ynez? Check out these great new eateries

Looking for a gastronomical getaway? The Santa Ynez Valley is chock-full of new restaurants to check out.
Food

Here are SoCal restaurants offering free food for SNAP recipients

We've updated this list with additional restaurants and organizations that have stepped forward to help.
Food

Grunge royalty at Erewhon? We tried The Smashing Pumpkins OG Goth smoothie

It's spooky season, and the upscale health influencer grocery store has a new smoothie.

More Stories

Yes, Mercado is a hit, but the rest of OC’s extensive food hall scene is also worth your attention

A comprehensive listing of OC’s food halls to use when Mercado Gonzalez is too crowded (or at any time, really).
How to split a check without turning friends (or restaurant staff) into enemies

Going out to eat with a big group is all fun and games until the server brings the check. What's the best way to determine how to split the bill?

Listen 23:24
How the invention of refrigeration changed what and how we eat

A new book explores how food gets from a farm to your table, and how it changed how produce thrives in California.

Listen 16:44

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A new book explores how food gets from a farm to your table, and how it changed how produce thrives in California.
Asian Angelenos have hardest time getting enough healthy food, study finds

The challenge is finding food that is both nutritious and meets their cultural needs.
Michelin adds 6 LA eateries to its guide

Michelin's complete guide to California dining will be announced next month, including who will nab a star.
LAist hype check: We tried the viral birria ramen at Del Taco

Del Taco’s birria ramen is back on the menu due to popular demand, but only for a limited time. Food editor Gab Chabrán and LAist Senior Editor George Kiriyama finally got to try it.
A new culinary workshop in East Hollywood helps refugees gain skills and, ideally, a job

The restaurant Flavors From Afar started an 8-week group program after training aspiring chefs one-on-one for the last few years.
Love Kuya Lord? Here are five more restaurants that celebrate Filipino cuisine in LA

Since L.A. Chef Lord Maynard Llera took home a coveted James Beard Award for Best Chef California, his Filipino-cuisine restaurant — and Filipino food in general — has become increasingly popular.
Your guacamole likely comes from a California avocado discovered by mistake

It all started with a horticulturally curious mail carrier in La Habra Heights.
Drumroll, please! We announce the winner of the LAist Tournament of Cheeseburgers

After a hard-fought couple of months, we finally have our LAist Tournament of Cheeseburger Champions. Oh, what a journey it’s been!

Listen 4:55