New york is famous for its fine dining options...or so they say. There are tons of restaurants, and I do not even plan to eat at all of them. Since I have a limited cash flow, I try not to eat out often. I will usually allow myself one night a week. When I do eat out, I try to find an inexpensive place that isn't fast food. On busy evenings I usually pick up a sandwich at a grocery store, but that can sometimes run a little pricey. But of all the cheapest places I've eaten, here are my favorites:

You may have heard of Grey's Papaya on a few different pro-New York films like Fools Rush In or You've Got Mail. Grey's Papaya is basically a hot dog restaurant. There isn't a place to sit down, but there is a shelter with doors. I guess that is what differentiates them from a cart hot dog. Hot dogs are very typical New York, and these are not bad tasting. (I hear the cart hot dogs are also very tasty. I have yet to try one.) The best thing about Grey's is that is it SUPER cheap. For $2.75 you can get a full meal. This meal is called the Recession Special and it is basically two dogs and a good sized cup of juice. I get papaya juice. It is good, filling, and to reiterate: CHEAP. It is close to the temple so I stop by there to grab a quick dinner before going to the temple.

A few weeks ago my roommates and I decided to go out on a Saturday night, and we headed to the Shake Shack at Madison Square Park. This little establishment is a hamburger/hot dog stand that also makes yummy shakes with frozen custard. I ate a Chicago-style hot dog (dog with a "salad" on top), the best crinkle-cut fries known to man, a diet Coke, and a shake with a vanilla custard base and mixed with peanut butter and chocolate truffle cookie dough. I know...YUM-O!

Last night my roommate Angie and I ate at Peanut Butter & Co. This is kind of a cute idea for a restaurant because the main dishes are all peanut butter sandwiches. They have classics like PB&J or PB and marshmallow cream. They also have a few odd ones like "The Pregnant Lady" - PB and pickles. Yeah I know, ew. I had the Elvis: pb, bananas, honey, and cinnamon. It was very delicious and sticky. Angie had the Jerry Seinfeld: pb with honey and cinnamon on a bagel. Both sandwiches were served with potato chips and carrot sticks, and we both opted to wash down our meal with a glass of milk.

One of these days I will make enough money to eat at One if By Land, Two if By Sea (a spendy and haunted restaurant). But my next dining adventure will mostl likely be street food. Hot dogs, soft pretzels, kabobs, ice cream, and maalox. Sounds good!