When you are living by yourself, eating on a budget is a balancing act that takes a while to perfect. The reality of the situation is that, yes, you can save money by making your own meals.
That being said, as efficient as meal prep is, it’s impossible to always have food on hand. Sometimes you spend too many days back to back at the campus library to go grocery shopping and the easier thing to do — to prevent over exhausting yourself and burning out at a peak time like exam season — is to just grab something on the go.
We don’t suggest eating out every day or every weekend — but we all need a couple of places that we can rely on for a quick and cheap pick me up, or even just a Friday night dinner destination that won’t put you and your friends back 30 dollars for a meal.
These are the places in Waterloo that will give you and your friends a good value for your money:
This budget dumpling house offers a wide variety of dumpling types at a great price! You can normally get a big portion of dumplings for $15 max, and not even at the sacrifice of quality. Grace and Healthy Dumplings actually uses grass-fed meats!
Head over to this authentic restaurant for delicious eats and big portions for a fair price. For a dollar cheaper, you can even purchase a bag of frozen dumplings to make yourself at home for a quick dinner after a late class!
Head over to Ethel’s Lounge for Taco Tuesday! Four beef tacos for $2.22 after 4 pm? Sounds like a pretty good deal to us! There are even vegetarian taco options as well.
Who said that wing night needs to break the bank? Morty’s Pub has two wing nights a week. On Monday and Thursday head over to the pub for an $8 pound of wings or $15.49 for two pounds. Seems like a killer to deal for a night out with friends!
Bao Sandwich Bar is conveniently located in the centre of the Waterloo University District. The restaurant known for their traditional Vietnamese sandwiches and Taiwanese steamed buns does a great job of modernizing their approach to traditional food.
The items are the perfect light lunch and don’t cost all that much either! Let’s face it, we all need a spot for a quick, cheap bite in between classes when we just don’t have the time to prepare food.
Get awesome burger combos at Frat Burger for just under $10! That includes a burger, fries and a drink! It may be more than your average fast food burger, but it’s definitely fairly priced for a sit-down restaurant. They even have vegetarian options!
This shawarma joint sells sandwiches — shawarma, falafel, you name it — for roughly 5 dollars. With big portions and no lack of meat packed into your pita, this place is a steal! This makes the perfect quick lunch or dinner spot if you’re in a rush but also don’t want to spend 10+ dollars on a meal.