To be honest, I get a bit sticker shock sometimes too. Appetizers are12-20, main course 25-40, wine 10-15/glass. These are not high end restaurants in nyc. I go out few times a week, but I get taken out by vendors sometimes too. I personally prefer to eat in by myself.
When I go out to NJ to see my mom, I am always pleasantly surprised by the price.
I am going off the topic here. 
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It depends what you define as restaurant. For example, a large 1-topping pizza at Domino’s currently sells for $8 * (1 - 25% gift card discount) = $6. When they had the $3 tip discount promotion and $5.99 for 2 topping promotions earlier in the year, this dropped he price down to ($6 - $3 tip discount) * (1 - 25% gift card discount) = $2.25 for a large 2-topping pizza.
However, if you mean pay full menu price at a traditional sit down restaurant, options are more limited. I live in a VHCOL area. Outside of tourist trap areas, there are some restaurants that offer meals in that range, but the vast majority do not. Yelp, Google, and many other restaurant search tools have price range selection, which can identify restaurants where $12 may go further.
For example, if I do a search on Yelp for 1 $ restaurants near me, one of the highest rated restaurants is a chicken place with 4.5 stars and hundreds of reviews. Their menu shows a lunch special with variable selections for $7. Regular menu prices include things like $8 for a large chicken sandwich.
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I often order off the appetizer menu for my meal; it’s usually more than enough food for me. At the restaurant on campus, I order pork belly tacos.
At the local BBQ place, I order off the kid’s menu; the sandwiches are too big on the regular menu, so a child’s sandwich w/ jalapeño cheddar grits is the perfect amount.
DH and I love the Mexican grill food truck near our house; its so good. We get the house quesadilla which is packed with meat and veggies. It’s $15, BUT we order one and split it, and we still have leftovers for lunch the next day.
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It’s your $12 to spend! If a $5.99 pizza is what you want go for it! I’m guessing many people might use their $12 for something more “interesting “ than a chain pizza but I could be wrong. 
The l
Point isn’t cheapest meal wins…it’s more if you have $12 what and CAN you get something decent in your area.
It appears in some locations that $12 isn’t going to buy much more than a sandwich or a couple tacos - in other places, greAt sushi!
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Last week, I had a cup of soup and chicken satay at my favorite Thai restaurant. It was under $12. I just had water to drink. It was plenty for me!
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I live in a tourist town where most restaurants are pricey b/c the tourists are willing to pay. We do have some local favorites, but I’ve noticed even in the last year, those places have increased prices quite a bit.
That said, a few weeks ago, for a reason I can’t recall, we made a quick decision to get carryout one night. B/c there were a lot of tourists in town that week, we decided to just order from a nearby bar and grill we have never tried. Their menu never had appealed to me (they are known for their hot dogs) but we were all hankering for burgers. We were all pleasantly surprised not only with how good they were, but how cheap they were and the portion sizes! They came with fries, and way too many! Dh and I concluded that next time, and there will be a next time b/c the burgers were good, we will split a burger and fries b/c one was definitely enough for two people.
A picture of the menu - almost everything is under $12. We noted also, normally fries are a little soggy as carryout food b/c they ended up steaming in the carryout containers. Not sure how, but our fries made it home still crispy!
Except for one Mexican place nearby, pretty much everything else around us would not meet the $12 budget.
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Chili’s has a ‘3 for’ menu. It used to be 3 for $10, but now it is different prices for different entrees. Last week I had a chicken sandwich, fries, a side salad and a drink for $10.99. Friend had a burger, salad and drink for the same. A few other choices are $1-2 more.
On weekdays, for lunch (10-2?) there is a $10 menu for the entree and one side (no drink). I know the mexican bowl is the same size as on the regular menu (waiter told us it was the best deal).
I had a chop salad at Bird Call for $10. it is sort of a step above fast food but there is a drive thru because it used to be a Burger King, but inside they have a bar. It was pretty good and big, but I didn’t add chicken or extra protein (came with bacon) and I think the ‘add-ons’ could get you easily above $12.
We have a place near us that does $5 burger special on Wednesday. They are small burgers, no fries. I’d like to go back again some time.
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We can order just about anything from this local place and make a meal for under $12. The pizza is $11.99 and you get a second for $1 (which technically puts you over the limit, but it’s a WHOLE OTHER PIZZA) . For 2 people it would bring the price down to $6.50 each. I love that they have so many things for $2-$3 that you can mix and match. We tend to order from this place when we have a bunch of teens over.
Here’s the kicker. IT’S IN A GAS STATION! You can get a variety for free foods with your fill-up!
https://www.karinesdeli.com/menu
And just in case you’re wondering, the food is actually really good.
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We can get a chicken or tofu bahn mi sandwich for $10.50/ pork for $11.95 at a local take-out only Vietnamese place.
At our bagel place, you can get a bacon,egg, and cheese on a giant bagel for $8.75. The egg is a 3 egg omelet and it’s so big that my son eats it for 2 meals. You can get a number of sandwiches for $10-$12, including a smashburger. A bagel with cream cheese is $4.75
I’m bummed that with the grocery store exemption. At one store I can feed my whole family for $12 (The best fresh burgers and fries for $2.99) or get a HUGE pizza for $8.99. At another local store I can get fresh, fried seafood in that price range.
If you’ve never had Massachusetts South Shore bar pizza you’re missing out. Lynwood pizza is a weekly staple in our house. Most pizzas are $12 or less, and they only take cash.
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We have a Mexican sit down restaurant we’ve not tried. Per their menu, ttaco plates (3 decent sized tacos) range from $12/veggie to $15/shrimp. Today they had a Taco Tuesday post on FB - the deal is BOGO on the taco plates… along with $5 margaritas. Next week we may need to try that!
My D lived in Dallas for less than a year and hated it but boy does she miss Central Market!
We have a great barbecue place near us. They have a meat sampler platter for $20 that comes with several meats and a side and cornbread. We get a second side for $3 and share it all and take home leftovers, for $11.50 each.
There’s another place called Salad and Go in our area that is a salads drive through. Two people can eat there for about $15, including meat or some delicious tofu on the salad.
Wildflower Bread Co (similar to Panera but better) charges about $12 for the “you choose two” salad/soup/half sandwich combo
I feel like most lunches with friends are closer to $20+ each these days
We met some friends at a local brewery last week. I was expecting burgers or small pizzas for $15-$18. But they we’re participating in the city-wide “burger week” promotion and they had a pimento cheese and fried onion burger for $8! Not something I would normally order, but for $8 very tasty. Add tater tots for $3 and we were under 12. And also lucky to hit the promotion.
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In N Out Burger has lines all day and all night long here in CA. They have cheeseburgers for $3.50, fries for $2, drinks about $2.
For me, you can get a spicy tuna hand roll from Sushiritto for $8. A local BBQ place has breakfast tacos, with either pork, brisket, tri-tip, etc. for $4.50-$5 each.
A grilled chicken Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich) for $11.25. All sorts of burritos and 2-3-4 tacos for $12 or less.
A local bakery has these huge “breakfast bars” for $7, ham and cheese batons for $9/each.
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Is that what inspired your username? 
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Where is this? I just went online to my Domino’s and a large cheese pizza is $14.99.
We just ordered pizzas to be delivered. Two large. One cost $21 and the other $22. We also got two small tossed salads. $65 plus a $5 delivery charge, then I tipped $7. $77 total!! We won’t be doing that again. We were working late and didn’t have time to cook.
I’ve been to Fast Eddies!! My D (an actor) spent a summer at Theater at Monmouth—which is nearby. We had milkshakes.They were great!
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