(4 out of 5 hot dogs)

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A few times a year I take the Fung-Wah bus from Chinatown in NYC to Chinatown in Boston for $15 each way.  It takes around 4 hours, and if you bring some good music and a thermos full of hot toddy, it goes by fast.  Apparently Megabus has a  $3 deal each way, but I’ve never taken it, and it sounds a little too good to be true.   In Boston, the bars close down at 2 AM citywide, and it is illegal to have happy-hours or drink specials, so this isn’t a place to party-party-all-night-long.  But the food is great, and it’s a perfect place for a relaxing getaway/ change of pace.

Border Café
32 Church St.
Cambridge, MA

The Border Café is in Harvard Square (right by to the University), so you can eat Mexican food and simultaneously feel very studious and academic.  Upon being seated, you are brought chips and salsa.  They are freshly-made and warm and amazing.  I may even say that they were the best tortilla chips I’ve ever had (although that is a bold statement, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to make that kind of commitment).  Anyway, I ate so many of them that I wasn’t hungry by the time my main course came.  The order of guacamole was $3.95, and the margaritas were $5.50 each, and I marveled that the prices here were half or even a third what you would pay in NYC.  For my main course, I got fish tacos for $7.50, which came rice and beans and pico de gallo.  The fish part of the tacos were fried nuggets, more of a Tex-Mex/ Cajun style than authentic Mexican food, but still good.  All that, and I still haven’t told you about my favorite part of the meal.  I’m a big water drinker, and usually need my glass refilled seven or eight times during a meal, especially if it’s spicy.  Border Café must have known that I was coming and gave us huge plastic cups of water, the size of pitchers, so I didn’t need to have it refilled at all!  This place is border-line paradise!

Regina Pizzeria
11 ½ Thacher St.
Boston, MA

The North End is the Little Italy of Boston, although more authentic and less theme-park-y that our Little Italy here in NYC.  Regina’s is famous for having the best pizza in Boston, but more importantly, it is much much cheaper than the other fancy restaurants in the area where entrees go for around $25.  Between four people, we split a large tomato, basil and mozzarella pizza and a small artichoke and olive pizza, which came to $9 a person including tip.  The servers and kitchen-staff all had Authentic Boston accents, and were yelling random Boston things really loud the whole time, like “These Hahvahd chowdaheads at the bah ordahed two wicked pahk the cah pizzas!”  Regina’s is the real deal; it doesn’t trump all NYC pizza, but it does make Patsy’s look like a patsy.

Sam Adams Brewery
30 Germania Street
Boston, MA

The Sam Adams Brewery is in Jamaica Plains, which is like the Brooklyn of Boston (cute and neighborhood-y but slightly ghetto), and they give free tours six days a week.  We took the 11:45 AM Monday tour, and our guide didn’t hide the fact that she had already put a few beers away for breakfast.  Her eyes were glazed over a little, but she didn’t slur or spill beer on anyone, which was classy. After about 25 minutes of walking through the brewery and learning how beer was made (blah blah blah), we got to go in the tasting room and sample the beer.  Everyone was given a 7 oz. Sam Adams’ tasting glass, which we were able to take home.  And we tasted four beers: Boston lager, winter lager, blueberry witbier and brick red (which is never bottled and only served at select bars in Boston!)  Technically we were only supposed to have three glasses, but pitchers were being passed around freely, and I was able to have five or six glasses, which kept me feeling toasty in the bitter Boston weather.

(5 out of 5 hot dogs)

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Blockheads
951 Amsterdam (at 106^th)
1563 2^nd Avenue (81^st and 82^nd)
954 2^nd Avenue (50^th and 51^st)
499 3^rd Avenue (33 and 34^th)
Worldwide Plaza (50^th between 8^th and 9^th)
250 Vesey Street (Courtyard at 4 Financial Center)
Time: Saturday and Sunday 11-3
Price: $12ish, chips and salsa, entrée and unlimited champagne and mimosa

With six locations, unlimited drinks, unlimited chips and salsa, all for the same price as a movie ticket, this is my go-to drunch in NYC (drunk + brunch = drunch).  The adorable little stuffed monkey decorations throughout the restaurant somehow makes it okay that you are getting sloshed on Sunday and it’s not even noon.  Good news: Blockheads also has a lunch special during the week  (Chips, Soda, and entrée for $9).  Better news: $3 frozen margaritas ALL DAY EVERY DAY.  They don’t take reservations, but despite the amazing-ness of this special, I have never had to wait for a table.  The waiters here are really nice too; they even came up with a nickname for my table, “los borrachos.”  I’m not sure what it means, but I like the way they roll the ‘R’s!’  The weekend is approaching, I suggest you hop on Google Maps and figure out the Blockheads that is closest to your apartment (or the apartment of your co-worker who is pretty hot, but really annoying, but you’ll probably hook up with anyway after the Holiday Party).

(0 out of 5 hot dogs)

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Check it out!   $30 for $60 of Mexican food on 14th and 2nd!

http://www.groupon.com/new-york/

(3 out of 5 hot dogs)

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Groupon.com

A groupon is exactly what it sounds like: a coupon for groups.  While it doesn’t quite have the ring of Bennifer, it does have a daily deal for things in NYC, often restaurants, but at other times spa treatments, events, shows, etc. Today there are two groupons up for grabs, $25 for a $50 coupon for Maya (a pricey little Mexican joint down the street from my apartment) and also $26 for a wine, beer and champagne included cruise around New York harbour (Yumm….Brrrrr…)  But the catch is: a minimum amount of people need to sign on for the deal before midnight, otherwise you don’t get it (but no worries, you are not charged for the coupon).  So check out Groupon.com today, or I’ll keep you posted on their other cheap food deals as they come!

http://www.groupon.com/new-york/

(2 out of 5 hot dogs)

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For all of you jetsetters on a budget, I bring you the first edition of ITJS Goes Global. I just returned today from a week in the city of angels, eating out two meals a day, and came to the conclusion that NYC trumps LA in most ways, but most definitively in the food department. Whether fruit picker or studio exec, you are doomed to eat crappy food almost wherever you go. I did however find a few specials worth blogging about, and the best part is they’re only a six-hour flight away!

Cabo Cantina
30 Washington Blvd
Venice, CA

I saw the giant margarita sign and the palm-tree decorations, and I knew I was destined to have lunch here. Luckily it was Taco Tuesday, which means unlimited tacos with rice and beans all day for $4.95. But there are similar specials every day of the week, usually pairing greasy Mexican food with tecate and tequila in different combinations. Happy hour is everyday from 4-8, where drinks are 2-for-1. I sat on the rooftop overlooking Venice Beach with old friends, guzzled a skull-sized margarita, listened to hip-hop on the jukebox, and couldn’t ask for more.

El Nuevo Rincon Salvadoreno
3827 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

A pupusa is an El Salvadorian bread that does not actually taste like poo-poo, as the title would have you believe. They are round, have the consistency of naan, and are filled with cheese and your choice of beans, pork, zucchini or loroco (an edible flower). They are $2 each, and you need only two or three to fill you up.  You can top them with cabbage and hot-sauce to spice it up. At this pupuseria, I also tried fried plantains, which had a perfect salty/sweet combo, and came in around $4. Although I prefer the more standard quesadillas, I’m happy to add the pupusa to my glorious list of fried bread and cheese dishes.

7-Eleven
4930 W. Pico
Los Angeles, CA

In LA, Bars close at 2am, there’s no public transportation to speak of, and you are more likely to strike gold than you are to catch a cab. Out on a Saturday night, like many Saturday nights, there was nothing I wanted more than a slice of pizza. But since everything was closed, my only option was stopping at the corner 7-Eleven, where you can get two slices for $3. The two slices combined were smaller than one regular slice you can find on the street anywhere in New York. The cardboard box in which they were served was softer and tasted better the pizza itself. In short, going to 7-Elevent for a meal was one of the great mistakes of my life. But next time I’m in LA on Saturday at 2am, I can’t say I won’t do it again.

(5 out of 5 hot dogs)

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ARRIBA ARRIBA
1463 3rd Ave (82nd and 83rd)
Time: Noon- 4:00 pm
Price: $7.25

Apart from being the signature exclamation of Speedy Gozalez, Arriba Arriba is a pretty great Mexican restaurant on the Upper East Side. So far, on my quest for lunch specials, this represents the ultimate deal, a perfect five hotdog rating, and the bar to which all other lunch specials will be judged. The meal starts off with bottomless chips and salsa. The chips, just salty and greasy enough. To accompany the meal, you get a complimentary frozen margarita or sangria. Both of which are delicious, and though served in a small glass, sufficient to get a good mid-day buzz going. For those of you New Yorkers who are not alcoholics (See: Losers), you could get a coffee or tea instead. There is a long list of delicious entrees for $7.25, including all the Mexican standards: burrito, enchilada, chimichanga, taco, etc. All of which are delicious and served with rice and beans. I’d suggest spending two more dollars on the Grilled Steak California burrito, it is almost the size of a football and has an attractive presentation. Arriba Arriba also a Hell’s Kitchen Location on 51st and 9th Ave, that I have not tried, and I think the prices and menu might be slightly different.