According to the Official Visitor Guide for Greater Philadelphia, Philly cheesesteaks are a "civic icon, a tourist draw and a cultural obsession." Cheap Philly steak joints are a great way to experience the classic draw of the city while still saving plenty of money to enjoy other attractions. Rated the best by Philadelphia Magazine, basic cheesesteaks at Cosmi's Deli (cosmideli.com) are priced at $6.50 while everything on the menu is under $10, as of May 2011. Styles of cheesesteaks range from hoagies, diavalo with pepper cheese, verdi with broccoli rabe and pizza cheesesteaks. Open seven days a week, the restaurant is located on Eighth Street.
Another long-established place is Geno's Steaks (genosteaks.com), which claims to have the best steaks in Philly since 1966. Choose from steaks made with Cheez Whiz, provolone or American cheese with a side of "freedom fries" or cheese fries.
CNN says that the opening of cupcake shops in major cities has evolved past a trend into an industry. Philly has been on the bandwagon that CNN says is here to stay, offering lots of shops with both predictable and unique varieties for just a few dollars. With vegan, gluten free and sugar free varieties available, Philly Cupcake (phillycupcake.com) offers a host of classics like chocolate, vanilla bean and red velvet but Banana Split, Sweet Potato Pecan, Coconut, Eggnog and Twix Dream cupcakes are just some of the more creative offerings. With all offerings under $5, the bakery is located at Chestnut Street and open from Tuesday to Sunday.
Brown Betty Dessert Boutique (brownbettydesserts.com/) is another option with a variety of $3 cupcakes made from the "rich, decadent" recipes that their signature cakes are made from. Sweet Potato, Rum Nudie, Coconut and Almond Pound cake are a few of the choices from the dessert shop.
In a big city like Philly, cuisine from all different locations meets in one place and are often a bargain. With a location on Philadelphia's famous South Street, the festive Copabanana (copabanana.com) serves signature lime margaritas and offers "gourmet and exotic" signature burgers sampled from around the world. Award winning via CitySearch & City Paper, the restaurant serves a variety of half pound burgers like sausage, buffalo and lamb burgers alongside burgers inspired by Atlantic City, Cannes, Brighton and San Remo. The restaurant also offers veggie burgers and fries to boot, and nothing is over $11.
Serrano (tinangel.com) was founded with the intention of "serving international fare at neighborhood prices." In addition to an adjacent acoustic cafe, Serrano offers a mix of World cuisine with samplings of selections from Hungary, Thailand, Morocco, America and Celtic cuisine.
Philly has its share of internationally and domestically influenced vegetarian, vegan, plant based and organic offerings but the challenge is to try them all. Sazon (sazonrestaurant.com) is a Venezuelan spot that offers gluten-free and vegetarian offerings including empanadas, corn patties, salsas and soups. Other dishes include fried plantains with garlic sauce, slow cooked beef roast with garlic sauce and grilled hearts of palm with cilantro pesto on ciabatta bread. Located on Spring Garden Street, this B.Y.O.B. restaurant has most dishes priced under $10.
For a restaurant with only plant-based cuisine try the modern vegan restaurant Horizons (horizonsphiladelphia.com). Tuesday to Thursday, the restaurant offers a six-course prix fix menu for $55, an opportunity to sample an array of healthy dishes for the price of a bottle of wine at more expensive establishments.
