Travel Deals: San Diego on a Budget - Where to Eat

Did you know that over 90% of the animals at the San Diego Zoo eat specialized reddish-orange biscuits to make sure they are getting all the nutrition they need? It's true! You can see said biscuits in the accompanying  photo I've entitled "Monkey Has This Many Biscuits." 

Chances are, when you visit San Diego, you're going to want a little more variety than reddish-orange biscuits at every meal. You've been at Sea World all day, you swam at the beach, the kids are screaming that they're hungry. So what's for dinner? Read on for tips on delicious, reasonably priced eats in the San Diego area.

Gaslamp Quarter

If you are dining in the Gaslamp, your restaurant choices are nearly endless. I know my suggestions are but a smattering of the cheap eats available in this area, but if you are overwhelmed with choices, it is a good place to start. For breakfast (in the morning or any other time of day), Brian's 24 at the Ramada offers huge portions and tasty food at very low prices. If you're craving a burger for lunch, O'Brother's Burgers offers all natural beef and an organic salad for less than eight bucks. Or you could enjoy your lunch with a little rock and roll history at Croce's Restaurant, owned by Jim ("Bad Bad Leroy Brown") Croce's widow Ingrid. For dinner, half the fun is hearing the hostesses hawk their wares and checking out the menus as you stroll down the crowded streets, so I'll leave you to your own devices.

Hotel Circle

If Hotel Circle is your home base, chances are you will be gobbling down breakfast then getting on with your day in beautiful San Diego. If this is the case, you must eat at Ricky's Family Restaurant, and you must order the apple pancake. I'm sorry if that doesn't sound personally appetizing to you. You must. This "pancake" is the size of a deep dish pizza and is delicious. How will you save money at Ricky's? You will save money because you cannot possibly eat this apple pancake yourself. It could probably feed a family of four, as could all their other gigantically-portioned breakfasts. Word has gotten out about the apple pancake, so there is often a bit of a wait. But even when the line looks long, we have never found ourselves waiting more than fifteen minutes for a table.

Hillcrest

I love me some good Mexican grub, so I was delighted to discover Baja Betty's on a recent San Diego trip. Besides very reasonable prices and generous portions, Baja Betty's features specials every night of the week, such as Cerveza Saturdays (featuring $3 Baja Brew drafts and $6 for a bucket of six Bud Light stubbies) and $2 Tostada Tuesdays (self-explanatory). Warning to those looking for a quiet, romantic dinner or a place to take the kids: Baja Betty's is a very loud, very festive, very colorful place. So if you are not in the mood for a bachelorette party complete with obscenely shaped balloon animals at the table next to you, I would go ahead and dine elsewhere.

At The Zoo

Tourist attractions are not known for good or inexpensive dining options and unfortunately my beloved San Diego Zoo is no exception. A substandard burger and fries at any of the food kiosks will set you back close to $10 and it is, well, substandard. OR you can check out Albert's! Albert's Restaurant is tucked away by the primates (and named after one of the zoo's gone-but-not-forgotten gorillas) by a cool man-made waterfall. For just a few dollars more than what you would have spent on that soggy burger and fries, you can enjoy dishes like linguine with basil cream sauce or a portobello mushroom sandwich, either indoors or on the open air deck.

If you'd like a midday break from the zoo, head over to the nearby fine dining restaurant The Prado at Balboa Park, where the lunch menu features entrees that are a full $10 cheaper than the average dinner dish. Bonus: though it is fine dining, the fine folks at The Prado don't mind if you come in smelling like zoo. I asked.

Now that your tummy is full, why not check out my companion San Diego on a Budget posts, What to Do and Where to Stay. And be sure to follow me on twitter @SavingsHSimas for wine, food, travel tips and nonsensical ramblings.