With the incredible number of amazing places to eat in Portland, the problem with finding a cheap meal is not actually locating cheap food but, rather, narrowing your list so the sheer quantity of choices does not overwhelm you.

Which is where this story starts.

This article began as the five best places for cheap eats. But, this being Portland, our initial list numbered well into the triple digits. So we cut food carts from the list; you don't need us to tell you where to find a cheap meal at a cart. We cut happy hour; that's more a snack than a meal. We cut breakfast. We limited the cost to $10 per person.

And we still had more than five contenders.

So we threw the original premise out and decided to list the five tried-and-true places we go to, again and again, when we want something hot and fast and have $10 or less in our pockets. This list isn't inclusive; it isn't meant to be. Instead, it is a starting point for when you are broke and hungry and too impatient to narrow down to a manageable few the hundreds of cheap eats Portland offers.

Trust us; it can't be done.

Pine State Biscuits

The atmosphere at Pine State Biscuits is one of joy. The cashier cheerily takes your order. The cooks happily make it. And the customers delightedly chat and munch and laugh and slurp in this small place filled with big noise.

And why wouldn't they be happy? They are all talking about, making or eating biscuits.

The cheapest, and best, of the biscuit sandwiches is the McIsley ($6). The McIsley is a fat, Southern-style biscuit, cut in half, slathered with sweet pickles, honey and grainy Dijon mustard, and topped with a piece of white-meat chicken that was dragged through buttermilk, breaded and fried. The result is a sweet and tangy sandwich that is far more satisfying than you should rightfully expect from a meal built on a solitary biscuit.

The perfect side dish to the McIsley is the Hash Browns ($2.50), which, despite the plural, is actually just one, enormous hash brown. Crispy brown potato on the outside, creamy golden potato on the inside and seasoned with Old Bay throughout, The Pine Street Biscuit Hash Brown has great flavor and great texture, making this the hash brown all other hash browns yearn to be.

7 a.m.-2 p.m. seven days a week; 3640 S.E. Belmont St.; 503-236-3346; www.pinestatebiscuits.com



At Portland Farmers Market at Portland State, South Park Blocks; 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays through October; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday November and December

Michael's Italian Beef & Sausage Co.

Anyone can find a cheap burger. After all, you can't turn around in this town without tripping across a burger place -- or at least a place that includes burgers on the menu. But a good hot dog? That is a rare find. Which is where Michael's comes in.

With its cheery red counter stools, clean white tables and bright pendant lights, Michael's is exactly what you would expect a hot dog place to be: warm, friendly and not at all complicated. Except when it comes to toppings.

Before you order a hot dog here, you need to understand your five topping choices. The pepperoncinis and the raw and sauteed onions are just straightforward pepperoncinis and onions -- no special sauce or cooking technique makes them anything other than what they are.

The two pepper toppings, on the other hand, are a bit more involved. On one hand, there are the hot peppers. A marinade of chili peppers, carrots, celery and garlic, they're actually fairly bland, providing more heat than flavor. But on the other hand are the craveworthy mild peppers: Although they are simply sliced bell peppers, they are cooked to a meltingly sweet perfection, making them the topping of choice.

The kosher Chicago Style Frank with The Works ($4.25) comes with the usual fixings (mustard, relish, pickle, raw onions and tomatoes) on a pillowy white roll. While you can add any of the toppings you prefer, we ask for the mild peppers because their sweetness is a perfect counterpoint to the meaty frank.

If you are, alas, not a hot dog person, you can get a sandwich at Michael's. Here's the trick to keeping it cheap: Get a half-sandwich.

The best of the seven available is the Chicago-style Italian Sausage ($3.95/half). Made of ground pork roast, it has a wonderfully crisp skin, comes with beef gravy and peppers and onions, and is served on Italian bread so fresh that chards of crust rain on the table with every bite.

And, as with the hot dog, you get your choice of topping. Here, too, the mild peppers are perfect.



10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-9 p.m. Saturday; 1111 S.E. Sandy Blvd.; 503-230-1899; www.michaelsitalianbeef.com

Thien Hong

When you think cheap food, you think Chinese. At least, we always do. Interestingly, however, the food at Thien Hong isn't the cheapest on our list -- at least, not until you factor in the multiple servings (at least three or four) you get per dish. Once you do, the price drops proportionately.

And, based on the number of takeout bags customers leave the place with, we're not the only ones stretching our one meal into several.

The decor at Thien Hong is a 1980s-style symphony of synthetics: Walls are decorated with clusters of limp fabric roses alternating with deep green blinds while the floor is crowded with sticky vinyl banquettes set cheek-to-jowl with blindingly glossy tables.

If you are really broke, the cheapest, most filling dish you can order is the BBQ Pork Noodle Soup ($5.75/small, $6.50/large). Although the broth is fatty and weak, it is satisfyingly hot; there is an abundance of thick pork slices and long thin noodles; the green onions and lettuce are fresh and crisp; and the quantity is so huge that the small size filled four soup bowls, making this a decent lunch for two.

One of the best vegetable dishes on the menu is the Eggplant in Hot Garlic Sauce ($7.75). Think Chinese eggplant cooked into mushy submission, drenched in a sauce rich with minced garlic and chilies, topped with a scattering of crunchy raw green onions, and served with a large container of slightly gummy white rice. Together, the dishes are filling and comforting with their soft nursery school texture.

If you can afford it, the one dish you should not leave Thien Hong without trying is the Pepper-salted Squid ($10). The squid is deep-fried perfection: neither greasy nor limp. The squid is tender and succulent while the breading is crisp and dry and peppery. Spooned on top of the squid were crunchy green onion greens and onions, a perfect complement to the sweet fish.

4-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 6749 N.E. Sandy Blvd.; 503-281-1247





Meat Cheese Bread

If you want to eat cheaply at Meat Cheese Bread, you need to think not meat, not cheese, not bread, but lettuce. Because the cheapest, tastiest lunch is not a sandwich; it's a salad.

With only four tables plus a streak of counter space, the bright and inviting Meat Cheese Bread is a small gem on the main street of a predominantly residential neighborhood. The restaurant feels like the polar opposite of Pine State Biscuits -- somber, quiet, focused -- but the food is equally good.

The star of the menu is the Wedge ($5.50), a riff on a classic 1950s-style salad. At its base is an enormous wedge of what is undoubtedly one of the least nutritious, but dearly beloved, greens: iceberg lettuce. This is drenched with a tangy blue cheese dressing heavy with chunks of cheese. Sprinkled on top is a generous handful of salty bacon pieces. And, next to this mountainous salad is a single, sliced, soft-boiled egg.

The only off note in this incredible salad are the croutons, which are so fine, they occasionally grit between your teeth.

If you prefer sandwiches, the best deal is the Roasted Mushroom ($6.95). The thick portobello mushrooms have the texture and satisfaction of meat without its heaviness; the onions are grilled until they are sweetness itself; the frisee adds a clean, peppery crunch; and best of all, the chevre adds a piquant note that marries perfectly with the smoky mushrooms.



7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1406 S.E. Stark St.; 503-234-1700; www.meatcheesebread.com



Por Que No



This is the place to go when you are so broke you can't even find enough change to make $5 or, if you can, you can't decide if you want to spend it on chicken, beef, pork or vegetarian. The most expensive taco here is an extravagant $4 (and 50 cents less from 3 to 6 p.m. daily and 3 p.m. to closing on Tuesday), with most tacos priced at $2.75 or $3.

The decor is mismatched chairs and communal tables, red walls and exposed beams, pictures and books and statues and tchotchkes -- with strings of tiny lights hung in what little space is left. The atmosphere is lively, the sound level is formidable, and the place is so enthusiastically crowded that you can't help bumping elbows and backsides as you make your way to your table.

The most flavorful taco on the menu is the Carne Asada ($3). Cubes of beef served with a spicy salsa roja (a garlic, chile, tomatillo sauce), grilled onions and a generous handful of cilantro (generous, as in, don't order if you don't truly love cilantro) -- and served with an eighth of a lime that they should (but do not) insist you squirt onto your taco, because the zip of the lime juice brightens and enhances the flavor of your food -- it makes up in taste what it lacks in size.

Now, the tacos are so cheap that you can surely afford (and likely want) another. A good second choice is the Calamari ($3.50). The squid, sauteed with a chili seasoning, is cooked until tender, not chewy. It's topped with salsa roja and a palate-cleaning mix of diced tomatoes and green peppers, and finished with crema, a Mexican version of creme fra