Las Margaritas on West 4th is an awesome place for a night of fun food and drinks – but it’s never exactly cheap. Add up a few pitchers of sangria, a round of tequila shots, and a platter or two of chimichangas, and you’ve racked up a hefty bill.

Living in the neighbourhood, we seem to visit almost once a week, and have become seasoned in the art of ordering cheaply at Las Margaritas.

The Taco Platter is one of Vancouver’s best kept cheap dining secrets. This is no longer on the menu, but ask for it by name. For under $20 you receive a large platter of fixin’s to make enough tacos (soft or hard) to feed two to absolute fullness, or to share with four with a few other appetizers on the table. You can have beef, chicken (or both) along with refried beans, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, cheese, rice, and lettuce. Likely there will be enough to take a little home! The experience of making your own tacos is fun, a bit messy, and perfect for the picky eater.

Las Margaritas knows how to do side dishes! For under $2 you can make your own basic vegetarian burritos. Order a side of either black or refried beans and a stack of 3 or 4 fresh tortillas and you are good to go! Add a little hot sauce or free salsa from the table and you ate for less than a meal at a homeless shelter. Classy! Pretty much anything they have on the menu is available as a side dish. Ask nicely. The price is right.

Keep in mind that they often charge you extra for refills of the chips and salsa, this ain’t no Lonestar. So avoid chowing down on three or four bowls of this before your meal.

Margaritas at Las Margaritas are great, but they aren’t cheap. Why not try a virgin drink? They are made with natural fruit nectars, and taste just as good as their boozy counterparts – for a third of the price.

They also have a few great desserts. While their churros are incredible, few people can down a plate of fried dough after a big meal. If you order their hot chocolate it comes with two sweet fatty churros on the side, and it’s half the price of the dough-only dessert.

Address:

1999 West 4th Avenue (4th and Maple)
Vancouver, BC
604-734-7117

http://www.lasmargaritas.com/

I’ve never been a particularly big fan of A&W. Their heartwarming commercials make me kind of uncomfortable and their chicken burgers always taste somewhat raw. However, those frosted mugs filled to the brim with creamy, icy, rootbeer keep me from giving up on this chain completely.

There are ample A&Ws in Vancouver. None seem to be particularly well cared for, including the A&W at the corner of Broadway and Commericial. Nestled into the skytrain station this locale is always busy, and is a host to all sorts of neighborhood characters.

If you have your heart settled on chowing down on a Papa Burger, this is not the most welcoming A&W to spend your time in. I’ve seen more than a few fights break out here and the location tends to be dirty. Simply put, this ain’t no destination A&W.

Address:

1715 E Broadway
The HUB Transit Station
Broadway & Commericial Skytrain
Vancouver, BC

http://www.aw.ca/

The Urban Buffet is on the corner of Nelson and Homer. It looks a little creepy on the outside. On the inside the huge old building is glowing with neon lights and the glare off of deep fried this and that. However, once we were quickly seated and we dove in for our first round of eating, the nervousness subsided.

Vancouver’s Urban Buffet offers a strange selection of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and American cuisine. Basically it’s a lot of fried food, some sushi, and the required jello and roast beef. Granted, for $8.99 for a huge meal, I couldn’t have asked for more, and I left feeling perfectly disgusting.

Most of the food sort of tasted the same. Actually, it all tasted exactly the same. From the fried chicken balls to the cake to the soft serve ice cream, there was a distinct flavour running through it all. Hold on, I’m not saying it was bad. I only had one thing that I really couldn’t stomach (avoid the weird bready dessert ‘treats’). It’s actually kind of pleasant. The spring rolls and fatty noodles and broccoli were tasty, plentiful, and, best of all, the booze (not included in the price of admission) is dirt cheap!

Sure, for 8.99 you could go to Glowbal and have half a martini, but how fun is that? If you are in the mood for a disgusting all you can eat sort of experience, and have value in mind over taste, then head down to Yaletown’s finest (and only) buffet.

Address:

996 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC
604-630-1188