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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

‘This ain’t no damn fish and chips': OC pop-up brings Southern cuisine to SoCal

Asha Starks, owner of Hot Grease, is honoring a Black tradition on her home turf — the OC.
Food

Culver City meets Venice at Ciclavia this weekend. Here's 8 spots to eat, drink and refresh

From square pan pizzas to Oaxacan tlayudas and ceviche on the beach, we've rounded up a few of our favorite spots.
Food

We asked you: Is LA a coffee city? Here’s what you said

Yes it is! No it’s not! Okay, let’s call the whole thing off (while sipping coffee at this great spot we know).

Listen 1:39:01

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Downtown LA restaurants are closing early and pivoting to lunch in the face of curfews and protests

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Your top 20 SoCal cheeseburgers are now revealed. Is your favorite on the list?

All now have a chance to win the 2nd annual Tournament of Cheeseburgers crown in July, so get voting!
'Would you like a plant with that?' How a Culver City vegan restaurant supports bees and butterflies

Hey, Sunshine Kitchen is offering a free pollinator plant every Monday to improve native habitats.
Remembering the joy of a Thrifty ice cream trip, from 10 cent scoops to iconic flavors

As the beloved ice cream counter shutters along with Rite Aids across L.A. and O.C., folks look back at what made it special.
From LA food stand to billion-dollar brand, how Dave’s Hot Chicken got us hooked

Three young friends set up a fried chicken pop up in a Hollywood parking lot. The rest is the stuff of legend.
Dave’s Hot Chicken sold for $1 billion just eight years after starting in an LA parking lot

Not bad for a bunch of childhood friends with a dream.
How much is too much when it comes to eating out?

Setting the right menu price is all about customer psychology.