Delicious and inexpensive banh mi (Vietnamese mainstays jam-packed into classic French baguettes) can be found all over our fair city, but Cali brings the art of the cheap eat to new and awe-inspiring levels. A mind-boggling $2 buys you a big ticket to taste country. A foot-long, warmed baguette is stuffed with pickled carrots and onions, slathered in rich, homemade mayo and crammed with copious amounts of cilantro before your choice of protein is added to the mix. Should you have the barbecue pork, the pate, the tofu or the shredded beef? At prices this low, you can have them all. Buy five, and the sixth is free. Top that, Subway!
Readers' choice: Subway