If you do a bowl at Cava it’s enough for 2 ppl

Five Guys is notoriously expensive and not good.

If you want healthy options and can stick to them, Golden Corral before 4 pm is a bargain on weekdays.

Banh Mi

We can get out of Chuy's pretty cheaply. We sometimes share a meal. I also find the kids meals to be on the cheaper side. Sometimes we even have leftovers.

Wendy’s $4 meal online.

Anonymous wrote:Silver Diner can be relatively reasonable if you take advantage of their frequent specials. Download their app and create an account to get on their mailing list. Decent variety and quality, and a step up from fast food.

Yes and they have a very affordable kids menu and cheap little milkshakes.

We get pupusas. At $3.50 a pop my kids eat 2 max (we get chicken ones) and some of the beans and whatever fruit we have at home. We get extra and keep for lunches too.

Silver Diner can be relatively reasonable if you take advantage of their frequent specials. Download their app and create an account to get on their mailing list. Decent variety and quality, and a step up from fast food.

Anonymous wrote:I feel like there is no such thing as inexpensive fast casual anymore. I just picked up Five Guys for my family (a single burger each plus shared fries, no drinks) and it was over $60!

Are you needing to eat on the go between activities or is it just that you need the occasional night off from cooking?

Okay, but how many people are in your family? Did you all share one order of fries? I can't gauge how egregious this is without more information.

I like Don Pollo chicken if you are near one or maybe LebTav? They have kids' meals but their regular dishes are filling and they come with a lot of pita.

If you’re near a little miner tacos, the large nacho box for $20 feeds three I would say.

Chipotle. A bowl is 2 servings, so you can either split one or make two last two nights. They're as heathy as you make them - load with cheese, sour cream, and high sodium beef = not healthy. Stick with lots of veggies, beans, and guac = the best you're going to get for filling and healthy fast casual. Going with veggie/beans only means means free guac and is cheaper. It'll be ~$11 for one bowl. You can add chips or tortillas on the side if you want to stretch further.

Pizza is still not too bad. Or, while the prepared food sections of a Wegmans or Whole Foods are expensive, if you pad the meals with fruit or vegetables you already have, or some bread, it's a lot less expensive and healthier than fast food.

I feel like there is no such thing as inexpensive fast casual anymore. I just picked up Five Guys for my family (a single burger each plus shared fries, no drinks) and it was over $60!

Are you needing to eat on the go between activities or is it just that you need the occasional night off from cooking?

I'm a single mom with an elementary school age child, and some nights we need fast casual food to dinner. We are on an extremely limited budget. What's the least expensive place for dinner? Not McDonald's or similar for health reasons, but needs to be inexpensive.