Walk through the streets of downtown Berkeley and many of your favorite businesses and restaurants are no longer there. The entire block of Shattuck Avenue between Allston Way and Kittredge Street which was once home to Shattuck Cinemas, Yogurtland and Tea Fever (where I tried my first ever milk tea boba), is now a desert of closed store fronts. Not even Starbucks or Papa John’s could stay afloat.
Berkeley has seen the rise and fall of downtown businesses and cheap eats have been disappearing year after year. Notably, for me, Fresco Mexican Grill was replaced by Oori Rice Triangles, both Top Dog and Bongo Burger on Center Street closed and of course, R.I.P. to John’s Ice Cream where I would pool quarters with friends for a $1 scoop of mint chip. For restaurants that have been able to stick around, prices rise with every year. What was once a $3.50 slice at Arinell Pizza in my Berkeley High School days is now $6. Even still, long standing restaurants remain and new businesses continue to open. In June and July each, three new food spots have popped up in downtown Berkeley.
Luckily, Nosh, with the help of Berkeley High School Jacket reporter Elsie Yuen, has put together a list of the best cheap eats in downtown Berkeley for $12 or less. In our guide, we will recommend our favorite dishes that won’t break the bank while you chow down.
Saigon Express, No. 6, BBQ chicken banh mi, $7.75
Sandwich Zone, Richard’s Dagwood, $11.49
The iconic Dagwood sandwich first debuted in the Blondie comics in the 1930s. In the comic strip, Dagwood Bumstead puts together comically towering sandwiches, multilayered with different meats and toppings. A more modern representation would be Shaggy’s sandwiches in Scooby-Doo. Sandwich Zone’s version, though not a multi-layered sandwich tower, has turkey and bacon with avocado, cheddar cheese and the usual veggie suspects one would expect in a sandwich and is recommended by Berkeleyside editor Zac Farber. If a stacked sandwich isn’t your thing, Sandwich Zone offers an array of different kinds or you can build your own…