Best Cheap Eats in Lewiston-Auburn Two People, Under $20
🏭 Lewiston-Auburn, ME · 22 deals · Updated August 12, 2026
Maine's second city is a Franco-American mill town, and it eats like one — which makes it one of the cheapest places to eat in New England. We checked roughly 120 restaurants across Lewiston and Auburn against a single question: can two people actually eat here for $20? 22 can, 17 of them confirmed against a menu the business itself publishes. The Italian sandwich is the engine: a market on Pine Street sells one for $5.49 and drops it to $2.99 on Wednesdays, an Auburn donut counter charges $5.70, and two of almost any of them feeds two people for well under the line. Beyond that: two complete Chinese lunch plates for $15.90, a Saturday bean supper with red snapper hot dogs for $17.99, and Subway's Sub of the Day at $4.99 a head. Organised by downtown Lewiston, the Sabattus and College Street side, and Auburn across the river — with every price before Maine's 8% tax, and no mandatory service charges anywhere in either city.
💡 How to eat cheap here: Order the Italian sandwich. Maine's state sandwich — ham or salami with American cheese, tomato, onion, green pepper, pickles, olives, salt and oil on a soft roll — is the single most reliable two-for-$20 in these twin cities, and the price range is remarkable: $5.49 at Ward's on Pine Street, $5.70 at Georgio's in Auburn, $7.99, $8.49 and $8.49 at three more. Two of any of them clears the line with room. After that it is weekday Chinese lunch specials — Canton Wok puts two complete plates on the table for $15.90 — and the Franco-American bean supper, which two bakeries still make: a quart of beans, coleslaw, rolls and red snapper hot dogs, enough for three or four people, for under $19. Two structural notes: Maine adds 8% tax on prepared food, so a $19.45 order is $21.01 at the till; but unlike Portland, not one restaurant here adds a mandatory service charge — we checked every owner menu on this page.
Cards marked ✓ VERIFIED were read off a source the restaurant controls — its own site, its own menu file or its own ordering page. Cards marked ⚠ PRICE CHECK PENDING carry a real number off a real owner menu, but one old enough or ambiguous enough that we would not swear to it; each says exactly what to check.
🏙️ Downtown Lewiston & the Lisbon Street Corridor · 5 spots
The mill-town core, and the cheapest Italian sandwiches in Maine — a neighbourhood market on Pine Street sells one for $5.49, and knocks it down to $2.99 on Wednesdays. Lower Lisbon Street is also the heart of one of the largest Somali communities per capita in the country, and we could not card a single one of its restaurants: Saban's, Naima, The Heritage, Baraka and the Mogadishu Business Center publish no prices anywhere they control. They are worth your money and your walk; we just cannot print a number we did not read.
🥪⚠ price check pending
Ward's Neighborhood Market
Two Italian Sandwiches · $10.98 for two
The cheapest real food in Lewiston. A fresh-made Ham, Salami, Pepperoni or Veggie Italian is $5.49, so two people eat for $10.98 — and on Wednesdays a premade ham or salami Italian drops to $2.99. It is a full neighbourhood market with a deli, a grill and a fried-chicken counter: a large cheese pizza is $11.99, a cheeseburger with fries $7.99, a chicken finger dinner $7.49 and a two-piece snack box with potato logs, coleslaw and a roll $7.99. The badge is amber on dating alone — the menu boards are images on Ward's own site carrying no date of any kind. With $9 of headroom the build survives almost any drift. Deli closes an hour before the store.
A classic Maine house of pizza — pizza, oven-toasted subs, gyros and dinners — on Lincoln Street at the edge of the Bates Mill. A ham Italian sub on an Italian roll is $7.99, so two people eat for $15.98; a cheese pizza at $9.99 with french fries at $4.99 is $14.98. Veggie and cheese subs are $8.99 and turkey breast $9.00. Priced off its own live Slice ordering page rather than its static site, because the backend is the number the register actually takes. No Sunday hours are published.
A Greek-family pizzeria on Main Street with a long specialty-salad board alongside the Italians and gyros. Ham, turkey and salami Italians — onion, green pepper, tomato, pickle, salt, pepper and oil — are $8.49 each and the veggie $7.49, so two people eat for $16.98. A 14-inch cheese pizza is $14.99 and feeds two on its own; spaghetti with meatballs is $9.25, so two plates is $18.50 and lands at $19.98 with tax. A beef gyro is $10.49. Closed Mondays. Priced off their own takeout PDF and cross-checked against their live menu page, where three items differ by a single cent.
A family-owned Maine diner and bakery since 1959, and the pie case is the point. The Governor's Breakfast Sandwich — a fried egg with American cheese and bacon, ham or a sausage patty on their own hamburger roll or an English muffin — is $6.49, so two people eat for $12.98. Off the ordering page, two grilled cheeses on “Gov's famous bread” are $13.98 and a grilled ham and cheese is $8.99. The breakfast sandwich combo at $12.49 comes with home fries and coffee and the menu itself offers a second sandwich for $4.50 — $16.99 for two, which is the build designed for a pair. Two full Famous Breakfast Specials are $19.00, over the line once tax lands. Note Governor's prices differ by region and Lewiston reads the Ellsworth tier.
In the Bates Mill complex, and the brick-oven pizza is the only door under $20 — but it is a proper named section of the menu, not a bar snack. A 14-inch large cheese is $13.00 shared two ways and a 10-inch small $9.00, so two smalls is $18.00. A Margherita is $14.00 small and $22.00 large; house and Caesar salads are $8.00 and $13.00. Everything past the pizza board is out of range: pastas $22–$28, meat $29–$37, seafood $30–$38. The badge is amber on a notation problem rather than a sourcing one — the plain-cheese prices are written on the menu as “+9” and “+13” rather than as plain numbers, and that is ambiguous enough to be worth a phone call first.
🛣️ Lewiston — Sabattus Street, College Street & the Malls · 6 spots
Out past the downtown, where Bates College sits and where Lewiston actually eats on a weeknight. Two Chinese kitchens run weekday lunch specials that feed two for under $18, a bakery on Bartlett Street does the full Franco-American Saturday supper — beans, slaw, bread and red snappers — and Grant's runs a delivery route to the Bates mail room.
🫘✓ verified
The Italian Bakery
Saturday Bean Supper · $17.99 for two
The full Franco-American Saturday supper, still made on Bartlett Street. A quart of baked beans with slaw and bread is $12.99 and six red hot dogs are $5.00, so two people eat the real thing for $17.99 — a pint of beans with slaw and bread is $8.00 if you want less. Any day of the week the Italians are $7.00 flat for ham, genoa or veggie, so two is $14.00, and “Our Real” Italian is $7.99 small. Thursdays bring a deep-dish chicken pot pie at $6.50 and Wednesdays a five-ounce cheeseburger at the same price. A 14-inch cheese pizza is $14.00 and a Sicilian slice $3.00. Closed Mondays.
The weekday lunch special done properly: the Business Person's Special is $7.95 and every version is a complete plate — an egg roll with pork fried rice, chicken chow mein with rice, wings or fingers with beef teriyaki and rice. Two of them feed two people for $15.90. Pork egg foo young with rice is $8.25, a small pork fried rice or chicken chow mein $7.50, egg rolls $4.95 and the combination specials $12.50 with pork fried rice. Priced off Canton Wok's own ordering backend. One caveat worth knowing: their backend was live and taking orders when we checked but a review site had them flagged closed, so call before you drive.
On East Avenue, and the way two people actually order cheap Chinese here: a small roast pork fried rice at $8.95 with a small roast pork lo mein at $10.50 comes to $19.45 shared. It is tight — $21.01 once Maine's 8% lands — so know that going in. The lunch specials are excellent value per head at $12.95 with roast pork fried rice included, served 11am to 3:30pm every day of the week, but two of them is $25.90 and does not clear. Chow mein is $10.50–$10.95 small, egg and shrimp rolls $2.50, combination plates $16.95. Priced off a menu PDF the restaurant refreshed in April 2026.
In the Bates College neighbourhood on College Street, and the honest route under $20 is the meatless column: pad thai and egg fried rice without meat are $9.00 each, so two full plates is $18.00. With meat those same dishes are $17.00 and the weekday lunch versions $13.95, so two of either misses. Thai salad is $8.00, house soup $7.95, tom yum $8.95, crispy spring rolls $9.00 and jasmine rice $3.50. Worth noting how current this is: the restaurant's own ordering system timestamps each item, and these prices were last touched on the morning we checked them. Their backend also confirms no service fee of any kind. Closed Tuesdays.
A Sabattus Street pizzeria where the cold subs are the value — a ham Italian is $8.85, so two people eat for $17.70, and the hot subs (meatball, chicken or sausage parmesan) are $9.95. A cheese pizza is $9.95 and a cheese calzone the same; wraps are $8.85 and hand-cut fries start at $5.50. A pizza plus a sub is $18.80, which crosses $20 at the register. The badge is amber on availability rather than price: every item on their ordering page showed out of stock when we checked, which usually means the store had paused ordering for the session but can mean longer. Worth a call before you go. Closed Mondays.
The other Franco-American bean supper, and the quart special is a genuine feast: one quart of beans, a pint of coleslaw, six dinner rolls and five red or brown hot dogs for $18.65, which the bakery itself rates at three to four adult servings. A pint version is $8.85, so two pints is $17.70; beans alone are $6.50 a quart and hot brown bread $3.75 on Saturdays. A four-inch chicken pot pie is $6.15. They run a standing delivery route to the Bates College mail room, Tuesday to Saturday. The badge is amber on file age — the linked price list is dated February 2025 even though the page pointing at it was refreshed in May 2026. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
Auburn is a separate city from Lewiston — one bridge across the river — and we list it here because the two are one place to anyone who lives in either. It is also the cheaper half: a 1950s pizza-and-donut counter on Minot Ave sells Italian sandwiches at $5.70, and a family entertainment centre in the Auburn Mall sells two sixteen-inch pizzas for $17.00 on Fridays.
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Georgio's Pizza & Donut Shop
Two Italian Sandwiches · $11.40 for two
A 1950s Minot Avenue counter doing pizza, Italians and homemade donuts, open seven days from 7am to 7pm. Ham and salami Italian sandwiches are $5.70, so two people eat for $11.40, and a ham-and-salami combo is $6.95. A 10-inch cheese pizza is $9.30, a meatball sub $6.70, a Dagwood $6.20, homemade soup $4.15 and oven fries $4.15 — so a pizza plus an Italian is $15.00 with change. Breakfast sandwiches are $2.95 and donuts $2.60. Their “world-famous” UFO sandwich is $8.25. The best value on this page and one of the best in Maine.
A plain, cheap neighbourhood pizza-and-subs counter over on the Lake Auburn side. A cheese pizza is $10.49 and french fries $4.49, so two people eat for $14.98; two Italian subs at $7.99 each is $15.98. Steak-and-cheese and meatball parmesan subs are $7.49, chicken wings $9.99 and spaghetti with marinara $10.99. Do not stack it — an Italian sub, a steak and cheese and fries comes to $19.97, which is $21.57 at the register. Priced off their own ordering page, refreshed a week before we read it. Hours are the one soft spot: the owner does not publish them plainly, so call.
Old-school American-Chinese on Minot Avenue with a bilingual menu and the strongest weekday lunch board in Auburn. Two small chicken lo meins are $17.90 and available all day; two small chicken fried rices the same. The weekday luncheon specials are the better food — chicken with broccoli, sweet and sour chicken or chicken lo mein at $9.95, each served with an egg roll and fried rice, from 11am to 3pm — but two of them is $19.90 and lands at $21.49 once tax applies, so the all-day route is the safer one. General Tso's and beef with broccoli are $10.25 at lunch, wonton soup $3.50 small. Their ordering page gates the lunch menu in real time, which is how we know it is live. Closed Mondays.
The family entertainment centre in the Auburn Mall, and its kitchen is genuinely cheap. A 12-inch cheese pizza is $9.19 and the Poutine Fry Bowl — a pound of hand-cut fries with Canadian gravy and cheese curd — is $8.25, so two people eat for $17.44, and the poutine is a real Franco-American plate rather than a side. Fridays are the move: a large 16-inch cheese pizza special is $7.50 and a large pepperoni $9.50, so two whole sixteen-inch pizzas cost $17.00. A cheeseburger basket is $9.25, a hot dog basket $5.50, a grilled cheese basket $4.99 and mac and cheese $7.25. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
New Auburn's mill-side diner — “just good cookin' and plenty of it” — where breakfast runs all day and every sandwich comes with potato chips and a pickle. A quarter-pound cheeseburger is $8.00 and a BLT $7.50, so two people eat for $15.50; a grilled ham and cheese is $6.50 and a grilled cheese or hot dog $4.50. At breakfast, two eggs with homefries and toast is $8.00, so two plates is $16.00, and the New Auburn Omelet — a bacon omelet stuffed with baked beans and cheese — is $12.00. Breakfast starts at 5am on weekdays. Priced off their own ordering backend.
Led by Sam's Italian Foods, which is not a national chain with a local outpost but the reverse — an L-A business since 1939 with five of its nine Maine shops in these two cities. The nationals here are thin for the usual reason: Pizza Hut, KFC and Five Guys all have stores in Lewiston or Auburn and none of them publishes a per-store price readable from its own site, so they are not carded. Governor's is on the Lewiston section above rather than here, since it is one store rather than a regional presence.
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Sam's Italian Foods
Two Ham Italians · $16.98 for two
The definitive Lewiston-Auburn sandwich institution, making the Maine Italian since 1939 — and this is an L-A chain with a few outlying stores rather than a chain with an L-A outpost: five of its nine Maine shops are in these two cities. Ham, veggie, salami and pepperoni Italians are $8.49, so two people eat for $16.98; the Combo with ham and cotto salami is $9.49 and a genoa $9.99. A 14-inch large pizza is $14.99 and feeds two on one order; a 10-inch is $9.99 and a classic BLT $7.99. Lewiston stores are on Lisbon St, Main St and Sabattus St; Auburn has Millett Dr and Center St. Their 268 Main St shop is now a bakery-goods store, not a sandwich counter.
Two medium two-topping pizzas at $6.99 each on the standing Mix & Match offer, so two people eat for $13.98. Read off Domino's own ordering system for the Lewiston and Auburn stores, where the coupon record shows it has been running since February 2025 with no end date — everyday pricing, not a limited-time promotion. The same $6.99 covers breads, loaded tots, boneless chicken, pastas, sandwiches, salads and desserts, so a pizza and a pasta is the same money. Lewiston is on Lisbon St, Auburn on School St. Worth knowing the price point does drift: this was $5.99 for years.
The Lisbon Street store publishes its own “$6.99 each” offer on two medium two-topping pizzas, so two people eat for $13.98, and the same store page carries a standing 50% off all regular-price pizzas when you carry out. There is no Auburn store — Papa John's only Maine locations are Bangor, Biddeford, Lewiston and Portland. No end date is published on the offer, though the price point is the kind that moves, so treat it as current rather than permanent.
The cheapest confirmable two-person meal in either city: the Sub of the Day is $4.99 at both Lewiston stores, so two people eat for $9.98, and the Meal of the Day is $6.99. Both figures are genuine store-level pricing rather than national marketing — they appear on the Mollison Way and Lisbon Street store menus and vanish entirely from Subway's menu when no store is selected. The 133 Lisbon Street store has closed and is correctly gone from the locator.
Maine's first all-canned craft brewery, in the Bates Mill complex, brewing an “L-A Light” named for the twin cities. The Campfire Quesadilla sits on the mains board at $10.00, so two people eat for exactly $20.00 — this is the tightest card on the page and there is no room in it at all: $21.60 at the register once Maine's 8% lands, and the kids menu carries a $5 upcharge for anyone over 18, so there is no way to trim it. Everything else is above the line — Lumber Camp Mac and the Logger's BLT are $15.00 and the smash burgers $18–$19. Their menu file was republished two weeks before we read it, which makes it the best-dated source in the sweep.
The Portland original that invented the Italian sandwich in 1902, with two Lewiston shops — and unusually, these run gas-station-adjacent and open at 5am, which makes them the earliest food on this page. The Amato's Original Real Italian is $6.09 small and $7.39 large, so two smalls is $12.18 and two larges $14.78. A classic Italian cold cut is $8.99 small, a BLT $5.99 and a nine-inch cheese pizza $8.79. The badge is amber purely on age: the price list Amato's links for these stores carries a “Printed 06/2024” footer, which is two years old, and their live ordering backend publishes nothing readable. The numbers are almost certainly low now.