You don’t have to resort to fast food or eating dinner at 4 p.m. to cut the cost of dining out. Here are a few restaurants that will serve you a memorable meal without maxing out your Visa card. Most of these are pretty exotic for the money and as inexpensive as it gets without having your order shoved at you through a window.
Pollos El Paisa
989 Old Country Rd.
Westbury
516-338-5858
I can’t pass by this converted diner without stopping in and ordering their succulent, juicy Colombian-style whole rotisserie chicken right off the spit behind the counter, for the impossibly low price of $7.45. A half chicken, more than enough for one, is only $4.50, which leaves you plenty of bucks for those wonderfully sweet plantains (maduros) for $2.45, and for big plates of rice, beans, fries or boiled potatoes for $2 each.
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House Of Dosas
416 South Broadway
Hicksville
516-938-7517
www.houseofdosas.com
You don’t have to love Indian food or be a vegetarian to want a dose of these gigantic, cylindrical rice crepes, called dosas. They’re ferried to your table filled with potatoes, onions, cheese, lentils and more, at ridiculously low prices starting at $4.95. Served with coconut chutney and lentil curry called sambar. They all have a bit of a kick, especially the aptly named Gun Powder Masala Dosa.
Brazuca
76 Roslyn Rd.
Mineola
516-741-2741
This Brazilian churrascaria has an enormous variety of food at unbeatable prices, if you don’t mind serving yourself. There’s the unusual buffet, filled with vegetable potato salad, frango (chicken, both stewed and marinated), pork ribs, fried fish, shredded collard greens, fried eggplant, fried banana and much more. Step up to the miniature grill and start the difficult task of eating everything in sight. Choose from a dozen long skewers of sirloin, tenderloin, chicken legs, pork chops, bacon-wrapped chicken liver and even pineapple-all for an incredible $6.50 per pound ($5.50 per pound without the grilled meat).
Salsa Salsa
320 Maple Ave.
Smithtown
631-360-8080
www.salsasalsa.net
Trippy Day-Glo green and purple walls, behind tall, electric-orange, vinyl-covered booths, welcome the hungry in Smithtown to this sit-down sibling of the original counter service-only Salsa Salsa in Port Jefferson (142 Main St., 631-473-9700). Try the Roast Pork Burrito ($6.69), solidly packed with brown rice, black beans, Jack and cheddar, a meal in itself, for lunch or dinner. A Machaca Burrito ($7.99) is an outrageous combination of mesquite grilled steak, scrambled eggs, cheese, salsa, peppers and onions. A cup of Chipotle Chicken and White Bean Chili ($4.19), also available in a flour tortilla, thick with meat and colored by tomato, has just the right level of heat. The Grilled Quesadilla ($6.99), ordered with chicken, was also chock-full of tender meat and cheese and covered the plate like a pizza. Three soft BLT Tacos ($8.49), bursting with crumbled bacon, salsa, cheese and, of course, plenty of “L” and “T,” are authenticated by a smear of mayo in each tortilla.
