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50  Atasca Pasteis ... Tasca Lunch Salad $8.95 617.621.6991
49 Theo's Cozy Corner Egg Sandwich, Orange Juice, XL Coffee and Butterscotch Dum Dums Sucker $4.60 Pale-blue paint peels from the lamppost image on the eatery’s corner awning. Inside, a boy with gold hoop earrings and long brown hair spreads his newspaper on the counter; a man in a striped sailor shirt stirs his black coffee brown; and a family of four, still in slickers, huddles over plates of pancakes and white toast. We watch the cook pull eggs from stacked crates and break them by the handful on the griddle; egg whites dance. We order an egg sandwich for $1.95, an orange juice for $.90 cents, and an XL cup of house joe for $1.75. The Dum Dums in the basket by the door are free. Decked in black and white tile and red Tabasco, this cozy corner is something like the morning’s last dream. 617.367.2085
48 Audubon Circle Tomato Bisque and Grilled Cheese $7.50 617.421.1910
47 Miami Café Cubano Sandwich $5.50 617.859.8360
46 Panificio Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Cappuccino $9.75  Towards the seedier end of Charles Street, a step from the MGH T-stop and Beacon Hill Pub, syrup melts on plate-size chocolate-chip pancakes, pretty in powdered sugar. It’s not so very yuppie, though there’s a row of tiny painted china tea cups and a view of Crown Cleaners-Tailoring through brocade drapes. Well, think what you will, but as we plunk a strawberry on a buttery chocolate chip and stir cinnamon into our foamy cappuccino, we think, perhaps, that good food does not have so much to do with class. 617.227.4340
45 Zaftigs Delicatessen Banana Stuffed French Toast $7.95  617.975.0075
44 Barking Crab Po'Boy $10.00 Crab traps sit wounded in Christmas lights, patrons shout, and pitchers of Pabst are downed to the rampant beat of a cover band. The Oyster Po’Boy comes battered golden brown, with a side of seasoned fries, and a small plastic cup of coleslaw that authenticates the fish-shanty feel. (We, of course, consider ourselves to be experts in fish-shanty authenticity.) 617.426.CRAB
43 Flour Bakery and Café Curried Tuna, Apple, Golden Raisin, and Carrot Sandwich $6.50 617.267.4300
42 Umi Black Widow Maki $7.25 617.536.6688
41 Trident Booksellers and Café Malted Beligian Waffles $7.95 We browse the staff’s picks and find Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown. We grab a copy of Bust to read while waiting next to the gurgle and spit of the espresso bar for our late-night order of malted waffles, served with strawberries or bananas and whip cream. One bite in, our lips and magazine now sticky and stained, we decide we like the mess of book stacks and breakfast, bargain tables and bar: it’s one mess that doesn’t need much cleaning up. 617.267.8688
40 Bova's Bakery Spinach and Cheese Calzone $7.00 617.523.5601
39 Sandrine's Bistro Tarte Flambée Fromage Blanc Lunch $9.00  617.497.5300
38 Charlie's Kitchen Lobster Roll $9.95  Jason Hazlett, our resident art-department guru who recently shocked us by shaving his two-year-old fro, goes on record to say that the “Charlie’s Kitchen jukebox is possibly the best jukebox in Boston.” He elaborates that said jukebox rotates an “excellent selection for the up-and-coming hipster.” Cash meets Slayer, Tiffany lamps meet red vinyl, and a lobster roll meets the plate for $9.95 — steep for Charlie’s, but cheap by crustacean standards. Besides, it’s lobster. 617.492.9646
37 Kingfish Seafood Jumbo $8.25 617.523.8862
36 Veggie Planet Vegan Peanut Curry and Rasberry Lime Rickey $9.09  The vegan-peanut-curry meal is the superman of all super vegan, super organic supper-size lunches, doubling as a slow-rise pizza or a coconut-rice dish. The heart-shaped pizza or rice plate serves two super heroes, easy — and the Thai red-peanut-curry sauce is so good we forget we’re eating tofu and broccoli. Again, very super. Veggie Planet does not serve alcoholic drinks, but that hardly matters since the house-made raspberry- or peach-lime rickeys are so sweet and pulpy we forget our raging tendencies (but yes, we have brought flasks, we have spiked the rickeys, and we have gotten away with it. Please don’t tell). As a bonus, two percent of Veggie Planet’s food profit goes to Food for Free, a nonprofit organization feeding the hungry in Cambridge and surrounding areas. 617.661.1513
35 Café Brazil Sabor do Brazil Lunch $8.95 617.789.5980
34 Neighborhood Restaurant and Bakery Banana Pancakes with Two Eggs, Sausage, Home Fries, Muffins, Coffee and O.J. $7.99 617.628.2151
33 The Other Side Café Brie Wrap (...and then we threw some money at ale in a 24x500ml yellow, nitro can.) $7.75  Brie wrapped in onion, apple, pear, and honey mustard with a tall glass of velvet Boddington’s under the loft’s blood-red tapestry flowers: we need a cigarette. On the porch, Other Side waiter Taylor Knight tells us the watercolors are by a regular named Scott, the napkin dispenser graffiti is real, and that p-funk is short for Parliaments. “The place has a lot of weird circles,” says Knight. Our intern calls the place “scene.” Really, we don’t care, as long as the $4 Boddingtons is cold. 617.536.8437
32 Camino Real Tipico Palsa $9.50  617.254.5088
31 Bukowski Tavern Mac and Cheese $9.00 We stumble past a red-neon “Dead Author’s Club” sign, an empty Phoenix stand, and a three-by-five “Cash Only” doodle. The narrow bar at Bukowski’s is packed at 4:45 on a Wednesday. We take a seat under rows of dangling beer mugs belonging to the six-month-club — 120 beers in six months — and order the house mac and cheese. It comes with a choice of andouille sausage or broccoli, but we substitute bacon to eat it the way we always have. They’re okay with that. Warm four-cheese sauce hides in spiral cavatappi noodle hollows; bits of griddled bacon hide in the white sauce. To quote the bar’s blue-neon sign, “To all my friends … a drink” and home-kitchen-style mac and cheese till 1:30 am — Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. 617.437.9999
30 Tokyo City Lunchbox $5.95 617.562.8888
29 Jasmine Taste of Persia Chicken Kabobs $5.99 617.923.2999
28 Sunset Grill & Tap Taco Lunch Bar $6.99  The beer menu is 12 pages long, the subatomic Buffalo wings are boneless — we’re undecided whether that’s a good thing — and the ribs are brontosaurus, or something. But the $6.99 taco lunch bar is all you can eat, 11:30am–3pm, every day of the week (except weekends, a minor detail). The steaming chicken and black-bean tortillas are not the stale buffet or lubed-pasta-and-potato-salad type of deal. Sunset Grill’s bottomless taco bar is as unsullied as its quiet midday crowd, hungry for culinary girth and personal taco creativity. 617.254.1331
27 Café D White Gazpacho $7.50 617.522.9500
26 WaterFront Café Steak Tip Sandwich $9.45 617.523.4055
25 El Pelon Torta and Horchata Drink $6.35 The Mexican Big Mac (menu reads Torta Carne Asade) is a steak sandwich slathered with refried beans, limed onions, salsa, house guac — and a special spicy mayo sauce. The neighborhood taqueria has a wholesome, funky feel: the walls are tacked with vacation and house-party pics; the line cooks rub elbows with each other; the chips are usually hot, and the outdoor picnic tables seat all sorts. For an extra dollar and some change, wash it down with a cinnamon-and-almond spiced Horchata drink. We’re lovin’ it. 617.262.9090
24 The Paramount Restaurant Turkey Burger with Cranberry Chutney and Mashed Butternut Squash $8.00  617.720.1152
23 The Fish Pier Restaurant & Market Fried Scallop Dinner at The Fish Pier $8.95 617.269.2111
22 The Green Dragon Tavern Washington's Favorite Burger $9.99 The lot at the Green Dragon Tavern claim Old Sod origins. A round of Irish brogues and Guinnesses later, we learn that pub manager Alan Loughnane’s favorite burger is the Washington, a Black Angus burger mixed with herbs and slicked with garlic-parsley butter. It’s served with a side of Irish fries. We order another thick, dusky stout because we’re pretty lousy with beer and budgets. Plus, the pub won the Guinness Brewing Co.’s “Perfect Pint of Guinness” award. 617.367.0055
21 The Breakfast Club The Princess Belgian Waffle $5.95 617.783.1212
20 Houston's Clam Chowder, Macchiato, and a Cold Glass of Water $8.00 Tucked between the Financial District and Faneuil Hall, and steps below the bucket-drum and break-dance crowds, Houston’s draws locals from the Quincy Market tourist trap. Houston’s, in Boston, adheres to the chain’s food and art fusion. Though wary of corporate shackles at mealtime, we’ve acquired a taste for Deborah Butterfield’s equestrian Green Earth sculpture, Aaron Fink’s bleeding Strawberry mural, and Houston’s house-made clam chowder topped with bacon, oyster crackers, and freshly cracked black pepper. In deep red booths, we slurp the soup and sip a $1 macchiato and watch the city beat through open windows from underground. 617.573.9777
19 Café Polonia Smoked Salmon Potato Pancakes $9.00 617.269.0110
18 Meze Estiatorio The Cretan $10.00  The dinner menu and wine list at Mezé Estiatorio are in transition while chef Paul Delios passes the torch to Anthony Caturano, Italian god of Prezza. Mezé’s general manager, Fotios Stamos, tells us he’s confident in the transition and confident in Chef Caturano’s interpretation of Greek cuisine. Fotios also tells us that his native island of Kalymnos — the sponge diver’s island — was under Italian occupation during the Second World War. His favorite burger on the lunch menu is the Cretan. We find that in a mélange of marble and thatched ceiling, rabbit and lamb, acclaimed chefs and foreign hosts, we, the alternative, the sweaty, the cheap, receive the best service. So we order the Mediterranean burger — grilled and spiced ground lamb, topped with peppers, onions, and mushrooms. It’s the cheapest eat on a gourmand-crafted menu, but we are not made to feel cheap. We feel peacefully upscale. 617.242.MEZE
17 Bob's Southern Bistro Fried Chicken and Waffle $9.95 617.536.6204
16 Il Panino Express Chicken Sub $5.95 Pass the stuffed provincial rooster and place a fast order for the chicken sub: fried chicken in a sweet and salty San Marzano plum tomato sauce, swathed in imported parmesan. The gourmet sub is roughly one foot long and three times wider than the average human mouth. In tattered jeans and old sneakers, we plan to stain our undershirt. The dark wood and floor-to-ceiling windows, open to the street, are fancy enough. But we’re dining at Il Panino’s — the cheapest eat on the block. 617.720.5720
15 Aquitaine Saturday Prix Fixe Brunch $9.95 617.424.8577
14 Upper Crust Slice of the Day $3.25 617.723.9600
13 Hong Kong Café Sesame Chicken Luncheon Entrée $5.95  We call it the Kong — a Chinese café in the lobby of HoJo. With a bright lobster tank, paper place mats, and views of the Howard Johnson swimming pool, the Kong serves large luncheon portions for less than six bucks. The luncheon entrée includes an appetizer, soup, and rice. The hot-and-sour soup sometimes comes too hot, sometimes too sour, but always in a swirl of wood-ear mushrooms. Dunk the crab Rangoon in bowls of duck sauce. The sesame chicken is a sticky favorite. 617.267.8300
12 Pizzeria Regina Small Quattro Formagio $9.99  617.742.1713
11 The Fours Chicken Quesadilla $8.95 617.720.4455
10 Chacarero Chacarero $5.80 Downtown Crossing’s Chilean Chacarero is a meal wrapped tight in shiny tinsel. The sandwich is a two-ply food pyramid, combining grain, vegetables, fruit, fat, oil, dairy, and meat. Is that possible? Yes. Is that possible and impossibly tasty? Oh, yes. The thick fresh-baked bun holds a beef-and-chicken combo, melted Muenster cheese, tomato, and salty-peppery steamed green beans. It is an imagined sandwich — something a drunken man would concoct, if he were drunk past human enlightenment. Like homemade summer absinthe, it’s a green-fairy lunch in the middle of a city street. 617.542.0392
9 Antico Forno Arrosta Di Agnello $9.00 617.723.6733
8 Boston Beer Works Triple Decker Turkey Club on Texas Toast $9.95 617.536.2337
7 Cafe Algiers Merguesa Sandwich $9.95 Café Algiers’ Merguesa is a soft lamb-sausage sandwich, spiced to gently season the palate. Rolled in fresh flat bread with ripe tomato, hummus, and parsley, it’s enough food for two. We like Café Algiers because, among the mirrors and under a cherry-wood tower, it is easy to hide. Sometimes it feels best to taste the Mediterranean like this, secreted in an alcove. Although we like the balcony overlooking Brattle Street too. 617.492.1557
6 Ernesto's Chicken Rancho Slice $4.00 617.523.1373
5 Shawarma King Chicken Shawarma with Garlic $4.95 617.731.6035
4 Haymarket Pizza Large Cheese Pizza and a Gumball $6.25 After suds at Pete’s Pub, we’re primed for next door’s $6 pie — fresh mozzarella, sweet tomato sauce, and the scent of oregano. A slab of red Formica on steady sawhorses satisfies our drunken craving for a large cheese pie at a common table. A giant gumball machine looms between stacks of pizza boxes and Ms. Pac-man. Dessert may be pink, green, yellow, or blue, but it’s only twenty-five cents. 617.723.8585
3 Steve's Greek Cuisine Souvlaki Plate $9.95 617.278.2121
2 Deluca's Market Deli Sandwich and Sanpellegrino Aranciata $7.24 617.262.5990
1 Blue Ribbon Bar-B-Q Texas Sliced Beef Brisket and Homemade Sweet Potato Pie $9.24  Blue Ribbon is road-trip-, truck-stop-, sweet-to-melt-in the-cigarette-sour-mouth-style barbeque. The place seats a dozen in chrome-lit vintage-license-plate digs and orders are placed at the counter. Take-out is cheap too. The Texas sliced-beef-brisket sandwich comes meaty, with a side of baked beans, slaw, and house pickles. Cornbread is $.75, but we save room for the homemade sweet-potato pie. 781.648.7427
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