Occasion
Best Cheap Eats Restaurants in Los Angeles
The best LA spots for cheap eats, pulled from our guides and picked by taste, price, and vibe — with who each one is really for.
Diddy Riese
$Cookies / Ice Cream · Westwood / Sawtelle
Diddy Riese is a UCLA institution: warm cookies, fresh ice cream, and an ice cream sandwich — pick two cookies and a scoop — for just a couple of dollars. The line wraps down the block on warm nights and it's worth it. There's no cheaper way to feel like you treated yourself in Westwood Village, and it's the unofficial post-dinner ritual for half of campus.
In-N-Out (Westwood)
$Burgers · Westwood / Sawtelle
The Westwood In-N-Out is a UCLA staple for a reason: a Double-Double animal style, fries, and a shake for under ten dollars, open late, never a letdown. Learn the not-so-secret menu (animal style, protein style) and it becomes the dependable cheap answer for a late lunch, post-library dinner, or end-of-night burger run.
Attari Sandwich Shop
$Persian · Westwood / Sawtelle
Attari on Westwood Blvd is a beloved cheap-eats secret: Persian sandwiches (the kotlet and the famous beef-tongue sandwich), a daily ash reshteh soup, and a quiet back patio to eat on. It's inexpensive, deeply flavorful, and an easy introduction to Persian cooking for students who've never tried it. The Tuesday soup special is a local favorite.
Northern Cafe
$Chinese · Westwood / Sawtelle
Northern Cafe is the Westwood go-to for cheap, satisfying Chinese: juicy pork dumplings, beef noodle soup, and dan dan noodles that fill you up for not much. It's busy, fast, and open late, which makes it a reliable cheap-eats default for UCLA students after class or a long night. The dumplings and the beef roll are the standout cheap orders.
Fat Sal's
$Sandwiches · Westwood / Sawtelle
Fat Sal's makes absurdly large, loaded sandwiches — think the 'Fat Sal' stacked with cheesesteak, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, and fries inside the roll. It's pure indulgence, cheap per calorie, and easily splits into two meals. A late-night UCLA favorite when you want maximum food for minimum money and zero restraint.
Gushi
$Korean · Westwood / Sawtelle
Gushi is a tiny Westwood Village window doing Korean-style marinated meat over rice — the 'Gushi bowl' piled with garlic-heavy beef or chicken is cheap, fast, and seriously filling. It's a longtime student favorite for good reason: maximum flavor and volume for very little money, right in the Village.
Guisados
$Tacos · USC / South LA
A few homestyle braised tacos on thick, fresh-pressed tortillas — cochinita pibil, tinga, chiles toreados — and you've got a full, deeply flavorful meal for under ten dollars. The sampler plate is the best deal for trying a range. This is cheap eating that doesn't feel cheap, which is exactly what you want near campus.
Sumo Dog
$Hot Dogs / Japanese fusion · USC / South LA
In USC Village, Sumo Dog does Japanese-style hot dogs — think teriyaki, spicy mayo, furikake — that are cheap, fast, and more interesting than your standard dog. It's a solid between-class option when you want something quick and a little different without leaving campus or spending much.
Dave's Hot Chicken
$Nashville Hot Chicken · USC / South LA
Dave's started in LA and the formula is dialed in: crispy hot chicken sliders and tenders, pick your spice level (start at 'medium' unless you mean it), served with fries and a soft roll. It's cheap, fast, and consistently hits the spot. A reliable cheap-eats default when you want something hot and a little reckless.
Banh Mi & Taco Trucks (Figueroa corridor)
$Vietnamese / Mexican street food · USC / South LA
The trucks and tiny shops along the Figueroa corridor are where the real cheap-eats value lives — a banh mi packed with pickled vegetables and herbs, or a few al pastor tacos off the grill, for just a few dollars. Bring cash, keep an eye on which trucks have the lines, and you'll eat better for less than almost anywhere indoors.
Cafe Dulce
$Cafe / Bakery · USC / South LA
Cafe Dulce does great coffee and inventive, affordable pastries — bacon-cheddar twists, green-tea donuts, churro donuts — that make for cheap, satisfying study fuel. It's an easy, low-cost way to caffeinate and snack without committing to a full meal, and a nice change from the campus coffee lineup.
BCD Tofu House
$Korean / Soondubu · Koreatown / Westwood / DTLA
BCD Tofu House on Wilshire in Koreatown is open 24 hours and a short ride from USC. The soondubu — soft tofu hot pot still bubbling when it hits the table, spice level 1–5 — is $12–16 with rice and banchan. At 1am after a long night it's one of the best meals in the city. Order level 3, crack the egg in at the table, and eat with the communal rice.
Original Tommy's
$Burgers / Chili · Koreatown / Westwood / DTLA
The original Tommy's near Rampart has been slinging chili-soaked burgers 24 hours a day since 1946. It's not refined — it's a paper-wrapped chili cheeseburger eaten standing up at 2am — but it's a genuine LA late-night rite of passage, roughly between the two campuses and open whenever you need it. Bring napkins. Many of them.
The Original Pantry Cafe
$American Diner · Koreatown / Westwood / DTLA
Open continuously since 1924, The Original Pantry in DTLA doesn't have a lock on the door. The food is simple — eggs, steak, sourdough, strong coffee — and cheap, and it's a short ride from USC. The T-bone steak and eggs at 4am is one of the defining LA late-night experiences, in a room that feels like the last honest diner downtown.
In-N-Out (Westwood)
$Burgers · Koreatown / Westwood / DTLA
The Westwood In-N-Out is the UCLA late-night default: a Double-Double animal style, fries, and a shake for under ten dollars, open until 1–1:30am. Learn the not-so-secret menu and it becomes the dependable end-of-night burger run for half of campus. Consistent, cheap, and close.
Northern Cafe (Westwood)
$Chinese · Koreatown / Westwood / DTLA
Northern Cafe in Westwood is the UCLA go-to for cheap, satisfying late-night Chinese: juicy pork dumplings, beef noodle soup, and dan dan noodles that fill you up for not much. It's fast, busy, and open late, which makes it a reliable after-class or post-night answer right by campus.
Diddy Riese
$Cookies / Ice Cream · Koreatown / Westwood / DTLA
No UCLA late-night list is complete without Diddy Riese: warm cookies, fresh ice cream, and an ice cream sandwich for a couple of dollars, open late in Westwood Village. The line down the block at midnight is part of the ritual. The cheapest, most iconic way to end a night near campus on a sweet note.
Lamonica's NY Pizza
$Pizza · Westwood / Sawtelle
Lamonica's has been the Westwood Village pizza-by-the-slice spot for generations of UCLA students, using dough reportedly shipped from New York. It's a folded, floppy, satisfying NY-style slice for a few dollars — the kind of thing you grab walking through the Village. Not reinventing pizza, just consistently hitting the spot since long before you arrived.
Guisados
$Tacos · USC / South LA
Guisados specializes in guisados — homestyle braises like cochinita pibil, chicken tinga, and chiles toreados — served on thick, fresh-pressed tortillas. The sampler plate lets you try six kinds, which is the move on a first visit. It's affordable, genuinely great, and a major step up from the taco chains. The DTLA location is an easy ride from campus.