How to eat in New York City for only $3 per day
October 11th, 2009 by Tim Uden
Eating in New York City can be expensive – really expensive – but there is cheap food if you dine at the ubiquitous food carts and cheap pizza places found throughout the city.
Street food stalls predominantly sell hot dogs, bagels and pretzels (three New York staples that every visitor should try), but there are many other types of food available from shish kebabs to waffles. Prices vary from one cart to another and, after paying $3 for a hot dog only to find a cart on the next corner selling them for $1, I recommend only buying from carts that have their prices prominently displayed. In general hot dogs cost from $1 to $3 and a bagel with cream cheese costs $1 to $1.50.
Avoid street food stands that don't display a price list
There are several other options for hot dogs including Gray’s Papaya, which is reputed to have the best hot dogs in the city. This local institution is famous for its hot dogs and fruit juice and has three locations (539 8th Avenue, New York; subway 34th Street-Penn Station (A, C, E); 402 6th Avenue, New York; subway Christopher Street-Sheridan Square (1); W 4th Street (A, B, C, D, E, F, V); PATH 9th Street & 2090 Broadway, New York; subway 72nd Street (1, 2, 3)) that are open 24 hours. A hot dog at Gray’s Papaya is $1.50 and their Recession Special (two hot dogs and a drink) is around $5. Papaya Dog and Papaya King are two other similar hot dog and fruit juice places that you will see around Manhattan.
Pizza by the slice is another New York City bargain. Although there are many places selling slices for $3 to $4, it is possible to get a slice of pizza for just $1. Try Two Bros Pizza (corner 9th Avenue and W 40th Street, New York; subway 42 Street-Port Authority Bus Terminal (A, C, E)), which has $1 slices and a combo with two slices of pizza and a can of soft drink for only $2.75.
A slice of pizza costs only one dollar at 2 Bros Pizza
If you’re travelling on a tight budget you can get by on a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast and a slice of pizza for lunch and dinner, which means a daily food budget of only $3.
4 Responses to “How to eat in New York City for only $3 per day”
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October 26th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
I spent a couple of months in New York on a backpackers budget and your post brought back memories of my diet. Glad to hear Gray’s Papaya is still going – their fruit juices are great.
December 26th, 2009 at 5:18 am
A personal favorite of mine is Hillstone’s Houston’s located on the corner of 27th street and Park Avenue. It is more expensive a dish will run you from 15 to 40 dollars. It is all American food and generally they have a lot of steak and burgers. But they are excellent. I guarantee you, you will not have anything better.
***REMOVED SPAM***
February 24th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Detroit-style Coney Island hot dogs FTW!
February 24th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
I don’t know about anyone else, but I grew up in Detroit with Coney dogs. They’re definitely the best in my opinion!