💡 How to eat cheap here: Portland's food reputation is built on its $30-entrée rooms, and it hides a second city underneath. Three habits do the work. Get off the peninsula — Forest Ave, Brighton Ave and Morrill's Corner are where the halal counters, the 2am fried chicken and the $8.70 bagel breakfast are, and the price ladder drops a full rung the moment you cross I-295. Order chowder, not lobster — Gilbert's roll is $27.95 and its small chowder $7.95, which is the whole trick of eating cheap on the waterfront. And eat breakfast: the wharf diners that want $38 at lunch will feed two people eggs for $17–18, and South Portland turns out to be the best breakfast territory in the region, with a $9.00 two-egg plate at Q Street and a $3.50 egg-and-cheese at the Maine Mall. Two structural warnings: Maine adds 8% tax on prepared food, so a $19.90 build is $21.49 at the till, and several peninsula kitchens add a mandatory 3–5% service charge on top — the cards say which.
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 that we would not swear to it; each says exactly what to check.
🦞 Old Port & the Working Waterfront · 10 spots
Portland's most expensive square mile, and the one where straight cheap-eats hunting turns up more closures than bargains. What works here instead is specific: a whole pizza rather than two plates, chowder rather than a lobster roll — Gilbert's roll is $27.95 and its chowder is $7.95 — and breakfast rather than dinner, because the wharf diners that charge $38 for lunch will feed two people eggs for $18. Gelato Fiasco on Fore St scoops till 11pm if you just want dessert; two mediums are $14.08.
Off Track Pizza
Whole 16" Cheese Pie · $16.00 for two
The cheapest real pizza in the Old Port, and a whole cheese pie at $16.00 is a complete dinner for two with change. Slices are $4.50 cheese and $5.50 pepperoni if you would rather graze — though four slices lands on $20.00 exactly, so the whole pie is both cheaper and more food. NY-style slice bar downstairs, pinball and a bar upstairs, focaccia baked in-house daily. Priced off Off Track's own site.
Camp Pennant
Wood-Fired Cheese Pizza · $16.00 for two · $8.00 at happy hour
A 900° wood oven on a deck over the harbour, and the cheese pizza is $16.00 — but go between 3 and 5pm Wednesday to Friday and food is half price, which makes that same pizza $8.00 and is comfortably the best deal on the waterfront. A warm pretzel and chips-and-dip are $8.00 each if you want to share more. This is the rebranded successor to Liquid Riot in the same building. Priced off Camp Pennant's own menu.
The Porthole Restaurant & Pub
Two-Egg Breakfast + Garden Salad · $18.00 for two
A 1929 wharf diner-pub with the largest waterfront deck in Portland, and breakfast is where the $20 lives — the lunch and dinner menus run to $38 lobster rolls. The two-egg breakfast is $10.00 and comes with home fries and toast; add a small house garden salad at $8.00 and two people eat for $18.00. Two full breakfasts is $20.00 exactly, which crosses the line once Maine's 8% lands. Kitchen from 7am daily. Priced off the Porthole's own menus page.
Portland Lobster Company
Chowder Cup + Fries · $15.98 for two
The classic Maine move: skip the lobster roll, which is Market Price, and order the chowder, which is not. A cup of New England clam chowder is $9.99 and french fries $5.99, so two people eat on the working-waterfront deck for $15.98 with live music most afternoons. Two chowder cups is $19.98 — real, but $21.58 once tax lands, so the fries build is the safer one. Corn on the cob and a baked potato are $4.99. Priced off their own menu PDF, generated May 2026.
Standard Baking Co.
Two Croissants + Two Coffees · $15.00 for two
Arguably the best croissant in Maine, and the cheapest sit-down-adjacent breakfast on Commercial Street. Croissants are $4.25, pain au chocolat $4.50, morning buns $4.25 and scones $4.00, with coffee $3.25–$3.75 — so two pastries and two coffees is $15.00, or four pastries between two is $17.00. Wood-and-stone bakery under the Portland Regency end, going since 1995. Priced off their own shop page, which flags items sold out that day.
Novare Res Bier Café
Grilled Cheese + Chips & Dip · $18.00 for two
A sunken beer-hall rathskeller with 33 taps, hidden down an alley off Exchange Street, and the food is proper bar cooking rather than an afterthought. A classic grilled cheese on Bread & Butter Bakery pain de mie is $10.00 and house chips with french onion dip $8.00; a warm pretzel or a deep-fried quarter-pound Ripper Dog are $10.00 each, and deviled eggs or landjaeger $6.00. Their menu PDF carries the internal file name “food 8/8/26” — four days old when we read it, the freshest source in this sweep.
Old Port Sea Grill & Raw Bar
Two Cups of Clam Chowder · $18.00 for two
Two cups of New England clam chowder are $18.00, or one cup with parmesan garlic bread is $17.00. The reason to time it, though, is buck-a-shuck from 3 to 6pm: oysters drop to $1.00, so a dozen between two is $12.00 and a dozen with a basket of fries is $19.00. Off happy hour oysters are $3.50 each. Priced off their Summer 2026 menu PDF.
Gilbert's Chowder House
Two Small Chowders · $15.90 for two
A no-frills chowder house at the head of Custom House Wharf, and the honest order is two small chowders — clam and haddock are $7.95 each, so two people eat for $15.90. Ignore the received wisdom about pairing chowder with fried seafood: every fried item here is $17.95, which puts that combination at $25.90. The lobster roll is $27.95, not the $25 the old version of this card claimed. A small chowder with the $10.95 grilled cheese is $18.90, which crosses $20 at the register. Read off Gilbert's own menu image, updated 21 July 2026.
Becky's Diner
Two Eggs & Toast ×2 · $17.00 for two
On the working waterfront since 1991, open at 5am, and breakfast is served all day — so the $8.50 “2 Eggs & Toast” plate works at any hour and two people eat for $17.00. Cheaper still: the Commercial Street sandwich, an English muffin with egg and cheese, is $5.50, so two is $11.00. Hot dogs and corn dogs are $8.00, grilled cheese $9.00, a BLT or spaghetti $12.00. Note a mandatory 3% Kitchen Appreciation Fee on every check — $17.00 becomes $18.91 with that and tax. Read off Becky's own April 2026 menu PDF.
MAMI
Buta No Kakuni + Yaki Onigiri · $17.00 for two
Japanese street food that graduated from a truck to a Fore Street room. Braised pork belly is $10.00 and a grilled rice ball $7.00, so two people eat for $17.00; takoyaki is also $10.00 and sunomono, shishito peppers or another onigiri $7.00. Karaage at $13.00 plus an onigiri lands on $20.00 exactly. The bigger plates — yakisoba and the Big Mami at $14.00, katsu sando $16.00, donburi $16–18 — are one-person orders. Priced off MAMI's own menu; note the old version of this card listed gyoza, which is not on the menu.
🎭 Downtown, Monument Square & the Arts District · 5 spots
Congress Street is the city's cheapest serious eating, but it is not what it was: the halal counters, East African kitchens, banh mi shops and dumpling windows that used to be here have all moved out to Forest Ave and Washington Ave. What the corridor still does brilliantly is pizza, dim sum and $5.95 tacos — plus one arcade bar with a real kitchen.
Empire Chinese Kitchen
Spring Rolls + Chinese Eggplant · $18.00 for two
Maine's first dim sum restaurant, and the trick is that the cheap half of the menu is not a snack list — the Chinese eggplant in sweet-and-tangy garlic sauce is $10.50 and comes with rice, so it plus $7.50 vegan spring rolls is a genuine dinner for two at $18.00. Shanghai soup dumplings are $9.50, chicken potstickers and char siu bao $10.50, hot and sour soup $7.50. Large plates run $18–$25, so stay on the dumpling side. Closed Tuesdays, walk-ins only. Priced off Empire's own site.
El Rayo Taqueria
Two Tacos + Chips & Salsa · $18.85 for two
Sub-$6 tacos are the cheapest real street-food plate downtown: al carbon, carnitas, BBQ pulled pork and the signature pescado are $5.95 each, carne asada $6.95. Two tacos with corn chips and salsa at $6.95 comes to $18.85. A basic burrito with rice, black beans and Jack cheese is $9.95, so two is $19.90 — inside the line but $21.49 at the register. Four tacos does not clear at $23.80. The Monday–Friday happy hour is drinks only. Priced off their Spring 2026 menu image.
Arcadia
Two Loaded Hot Dogs · $16.00 for two
A pinball and arcade bar with a genuine kitchen, and the hot dogs are the play: the Plain Wayne is $7.00 and the pimento cheese dog $9.00, so two people eat for $16.00, with the Chicago dog at $10.00 and the Tokyo Drift $11.00. Every pizza is a 10-inch — cheese $12.00, garlic stick $13.00 — so a pie and a dog is $19.00, which crosses $20 with tax. 21+ only, closed Tuesdays, open till 1am. Their menu file is stamped 2 May 2026.
Roasty's
Two Beast Style Chips · $18.00 for two
Six regional roast beef sandwiches — Boston three-way, Buffalo beef-on-weck, Chicago Italian beef, LA French dip, Philly cheesesteak — from beef cooked more than twenty hours. Be warned that two sandwiches is $28.00 and does not clear. What does is the Beast Style Chips at $9.00: house Maine potato chips buried under shaved beef, melted cheese and garlic sauce, and a substantial plate rather than a side. Two of them is $18.00. Beast Style Fries are $11.00 standard and $13.00 large. Hours are not published — call ahead. Priced off Roasty's own menu.
Taco Escobarr
Two-for-$12 Tacos + Black Beans · $16.00 for two
Crispy and puffy tacos are sold two for $12.00, so a pair with black beans at $4.00 feeds two for $16.00, and with chips and salsa roja at $5.00 it is $17.00. El Ninos Nachos are $12.00 and genuinely shareable. Soft tacos are $6.50 each, so four is $26.00 — the “plate of street tacos” this card used to promise never existed at that price. A 5% back-of-house fee is added to all checks, removable on request, and lengua, carne asada, pescado and shrimp carry a market upcharge. Priced off their April 2026 QR menu; the older menu on the same domain is years out of date.
🌅 Munjoy Hill, India Street & the East End · 4 spots
Washington Avenue has a reputation for $28 entrées and it is half deserved — but the same street has a $6 egg sandwich that comes with a coffee, a Texas-Czech kolache counter that opens at 8am, and a smokehouse whose five-days-a-week happy hour puts enchiladas on the table for $10. Round the corner on India Street, a 1949 grocery cuts the best-value lunch in Portland at a counter in the back.
Ramona's
Two Junior Deals · $12.00 for two, coffee included
The best breakfast value in Portland and it is not close. The Junior Deal is $6.00 — a junior egg sandwich on a Martin's bun with Cooper Sharp, calabrian chili and mayo, served with a hot coffee — so two people eat and caffeinate for $12.00. It runs 9am to noon on weekdays; the rest of the time, eggs and Cooper Sharp on a kaiser roll are $8.00 each. Caesar and chopped salads are $7.00–$8.00. A Philly-style hoagie counter on Washington Ave. Priced off Ramona's own 2026 menu art.
Micucci Grocery Co.
Two Sicilian Slabs · $16.98 for two
A 1949 Italian grocery on India Street where the famous Sicilian slab — thick, sweet-sauced, sold by the piece — is cut at a counter in the back corner of the shop. A slab is $8.49 and a meal, so two people eat for $16.98; a slab with two cannoli at $4.50 each is $17.49, and Luna bread is $2.99. Slabs go out from 11am Monday to Saturday, first come first served, and they do sell out. Closed Sundays. Priced off Micucci's own bakery page.
Terlingua
Happy-Hour Enchiladas + Papas con Queso · $18.00 for two
Central Texas smokehouse crossed with northern Mexico, eleven years on Washington Ave — and the happy hour is a standing five-days-a-week fixture, not a promotion. From 3 to 5pm Sunday to Thursday, enchiladas with chihuahua cheese, red chile, crema and cilantro are $10.00 and papas con queso $8.00, so two eat for $18.00; pork sliders are $4.00 and brisket $5.00. Off happy hour the cheapest honest two-person order is $20.00 exactly, so time it. A 3% fair-wage charge applies to all checks. Priced off Terlingua's own 2026 happy-hour PDF.
The Terlingua Outpost
Pocket-Rito + Savory Kolache · $18.00 for two
The counter café next door to Terlingua, and the only thing on this stretch that opens at 8am. A pocket-rito is a proper burrito finished on the panini press — the all-day breakfast one with egg, potato, cheese, black beans and green taco sauce is $10.00, as is the smoked meat version — and kolaches, the Czech-Texan pastry, are $6.00 sweet and $8.00 savory with smoked meat, cheese and jalapeño. That pairing is $18.00; a pocket-rito with a sweet kolache is $16.00. Real espresso, and soft serve from $4.00. Priced off the Outpost's own menu.
🍺 Bayside & East Bayside · 6 spots
Six breweries inside four blocks, an Eritrean kitchen that has been here twenty years, a Greek mezze board and a 1949 dining car — this is the most underwritten part of Portland and the best value per step. Fair warning on the brewery district: four of the six taprooms run a resident kitchen, and almost none of them publish a price we can read, so the cards below are the ones we could actually stand behind.
Za
Three Slices · $17.00 for two
NY-Neapolitan hybrid slices from the Truckin' Pizza couple, in the room Slab occupied for a decade. Cheese slices are $5.50 and pepperoni or the pizza of the day $6.00, so three slices between two is $17.00 — the build that still clears $20 after tax. A whole 14-inch cheese pie is $19.00 and two slices with the $9.00 simple greens is $20.00, both of which cross the line at the register. Do not miss the Preble Street Lobster Roll: a Maine red snapper hot dog wrapped in pizza dough, $10.00. Priced off Za's own Spring 2026 menu.
Bayside Bowl
Bayside Snappies + Fries · $15.00 for two
Twenty lanes, a rooftop with an Airstream kitchen, and the cheapest full sit-down meal in Bayside. The Bayside Snappies plate is $10.00 for two red snapper hot dogs with caramelised onions and Carolina gold barbecue — and like every sandwich here it arrives with hand-cut fries or tots and house pickles — so adding a small side of fries or tots at $5.00 feeds two for $15.00. A 10-inch cheese pizza is $12.00, a cheese quesadilla $8.00, nachos $12.00 to share. Their menu file is dated 29 June 2026.
Red Sea Restaurant
Falafel + Sambusa · $16.00 for two
Eritrean and Ethiopian on Washington Ave, more than twenty years in business, and the one East African kitchen actually inside East Bayside. Spicy ground-chickpea falafel with parsley, herbs and garlic is $8.00, and sambusas — beef, chicken or lentil in a crisp pastry shell — are $8.00, so two people eat for $16.00 with room for two $2.00 sodas at $20.00 exactly. The rice dishes and zigni stews are $15–$17 each, which never worked for two. Closed Sunday and Monday. Priced off Red Sea's own menu PDF.
Magissa
Mezze “Pick 3” · $15.00 for two
A Greek taverna in a small corner building at Anderson and Fox. The mezze board is the order: “Pick 3” is $15.00 and arrives with warm pita and olives, which is a real shared lunch for two; “Pick 5” is $22.00. À la carte, house olives and dolma are $9.00 each and a small Greek salad $8.00, so a salad and dolma is $17.00. Skip the gyros — lamb $18.00, chicken $17.00, tofu $16.00 — because two of them is $33.00 or more. Priced off Magissa's own lunch PDF.
Miss Portland Diner
Two Breakfast Sandwiches · $18.50 for two
A 1949 Worcester Lunch Car — dining car No. 818 — trucked to Marginal Way, and the only genuine landmark diner in this part of town. Breakfast sandwiches are $9.25 so two is $18.50; the two-egg breakfast is $9.75, and two of those lands at $19.50, which is $21.06 once tax applies. Hot oatmeal is $8.50, fries $5.50, a single egg $2.75 and toast $3.00. Open seven days but daytime only. Priced off the diner's own menu page, whose site vintage we could not date — the $18.50 build has the headroom to absorb a bump.
Pizzaiolo
12" Cheese Pizza + Garlic Bread · $18.00 for two
Counter-serve New York slices and meatball subs on the southern rim of Bayside, open to midnight every night and 1am at weekends — the late-night option on this side of town. A 12-inch cheese pizza is $15.00 and garlic bread $1.50 a piece, so a pie and two breads is $18.00; garlic knots at $8.00 with a Caesar at $9.00 is $17.00. The 16-inch jumps to $22.00, which is where two people stop clearing. A single meatball is $3.00 and a cannoli $6.00. Priced off Pizzaiolo's own menu.
🌳 West End, Longfellow Square & Libbytown · 3 spots
The residential half of the peninsula, where a dive pizzeria sells a whole cheese pie for $10.50 and a Southern breakfast counter does a sandwich for $7. It used to have more: Anania's, the neighborhood's great Italian-sandwich shop, closed on Christmas Eve 2024 after 61 years, and Salvage BBQ and Bao Bao went the same way. Pizza Villa now carries the Italian-sub torch west of Longfellow Square more or less alone.
Pizza Villa
Whole Cheese Pizza + Garlic Toast · $14.25 for two
An old-school Libbytown dive pizzeria with a bar, thin-crust pan pies and a sideline in Greek-inspired soups. A whole cheese pizza or calzone starts at $10.50 and garlic toast is $3.75, so two people eat for $14.25 — and there is a Monday-to-Wednesday in-house cheese pizza special at $5.00. Small Italian subs are $8.75 and BLTs $8.00, both served with chips, so two subs is $16.75. Note that third-party sites still quote a $6.29 ten-inch pie; the owner's price is $10.50. Open to 1am Thursday to Saturday.
Hot Suppa
Breakfast Sandwich + Grilled Cheese · $15.00 for two
A Southern-leaning breakfast counter just west of Longfellow Square, with a corned beef hash that has had national write-ups. The entrées are $17–$21, so the sandwich column is where two people eat: the classic breakfast sandwich is $8.00 and a grilled cheese $7.00, coming to $15.00, with hand-cut fries or grits at $5.00 to share. A single buttermilk waffle is $8.00 and toast $2.00. Adding fries to the two sandwiches makes $20.00 exactly, which is $21.60 at the register. Breakfast and lunch only, seven days. Priced off Hot Suppa's own menus page.
Margaritas Mexican Restaurant
Two Tacos + Rice and Beans · $16.50 for two
A New England regional, but the à-la-carte column on St John Street is genuinely cheap and it is one of very few kitchens on this side open past 10pm — midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Single tacos with ground beef or chicken are $6.25 and single enchiladas $6.50, so two tacos with rice and beans at $4.00 is $16.50, or two tacos with fries at $5.50 is $18.00. Tomato garlic nachos are $7.00 and Mexican rice $2.50. The full entrées start at $13.50, so order singles. Priced off the chain's own Portland menu page.
🛣️ Forest Ave, Woodfords, Morrill's Corner & Deering · 8 spots
Off the peninsula the price ladder drops a full rung, and this is now where Portland's immigrant kitchens actually are — halal fried chicken open till 2am on Brighton Ave, Levantine shawarma at Morrill's Corner, and four Vietnamese restaurants within four blocks of each other on Forest Ave. It is also home to the cheapest card on this page: two bagels and cream cheese at Rose Foods, $8.70.
Rose Foods
Two Bagels with Cream Cheese · $8.70 for two
The cheapest card on this page, and one of the best things in the city. House-milled, boiled-and-baked golden bagels with a proper appetising counter — a bagel is $2.60 and plain cream cheese $1.75, so two people eat for $8.70. The Good Deal, at $8.00, is tomato, cucumber, dill, capers and lox cream cheese. Wednesdays bring an egg-in-a-bagel at $5.50 and Fridays a poppy and onion bialy at $4.50. Daily 7am to 2pm. Their menu file is date-stamped 4 June 2026 — the freshest owner-published price document in this whole sweep.
Tasty Fried Chicken
Two Chicken Sandwich Combos · $15.98 for two
Halal fried chicken, kababs, gyros and chicken-over-rice on Brighton Ave, open until 2am seven days a week — the late-night workhorse of off-peninsula Portland. The chicken sandwich combo is $7.99 and each one includes fries and a drink, so two people eat, sides and sodas included, for $15.98. The two-piece chicken combo with mash or coleslaw and a roll is $5.99, so two of those is $11.98; chicken over rice with salad and a soda is $11.99 and Jamaican beef patties $2.50. Priced off TFC's own menu images, which carry no date — the margin is wide enough to absorb real drift.
Mazzat Restaurant
Chicken Shawarma + Falafel Sandwich · $17.98 for two
A halal Levantine counter at Morrill's Corner — shawarma carved off the vertical spit, saj wraps, kufta and mezze by the pound. A chicken shawarma sandwich is $9.99 and falafel $7.99, so two people eat for $17.98; the cheeseburger and grilled chicken sandwiches are $6.99 each, which is $13.98 for two. Combos add fries and a drink for $4 more. Two shawarmas is $19.98, which crosses $20 at the register. Priced off Mazzat's own menu images; the site footer dates to 2021, so the $2 of headroom here is worth a call before you count on it.
Portland House of Pizza
10" Cheese Pizza + Garlic Bread · $16.98 for two
Family-run since 1988 and moved out to Northgate from Forest Ave, with homemade dough and a long grinder board. A 10-inch cheese pizza or calzone is $12.99 and garlic bread $3.99, so two eat for $16.98; a hamburger at $8.99 with a cheeseburger at $9.99 is $18.98, as is the pizza with small fries — both of which cross $20 once tax lands. The 14-inch pie is $17.99 and pasta marinara $11.99. Priced off their own food menu.
North Deering Tavern
10" Cheese Pizza + Grilled Cheese · $15.98 for two
A proper neighbourhood tavern that opened in 2025 in the old Parker's building at Allen's Corner, replacing Samuel's — pizza, burgers, haddock, trivia and karaoke, open to 1am. A 10-inch cheese pizza on homemade dough is $11.99 and a grilled cheese $3.99, so two people eat for $15.98. Lemon chicken and rice is $6.99 a cup and $8.99 a bowl, a basket of fries $6.99, a house salad or small cheese nachos $8.99, and the hummus plate and jumbo pretzel $9.99 each. Priced off the tavern's own menu.
Playmakers Pizza & Pub
10" Bar Pie + Hand-Cut Fries · $19.00 for two
A new sports pub on the turf out at Warren Ave, next to the Dome, from the Paper City BBQ and Legends Rest people. The signature 10-inch bar pie is $11.00 and hand-cut sea salt fries $8.00, so two eat for $19.00 — a tight one, $20.52 once Maine's 8% lands. Twin red snappers served with fries are $12.00, baked mac and cheese $12.00, fried cheese curds $10.00 and a Caesar $10.00. Check the days before you go: summer hours are Tuesday to Friday 4–9pm and it is closed Saturday through Monday. Priced off Playmakers' own site.
Crooked Mile Cafe
BLT + Grilled Cheese · $14.90 for two
A counter-serve sandwich and egg cafe out at Rosemont, in the old Udder Place, and the cheapest honest breakfast in this part of town. A whole BLT is $9.95 and a grilled cheese on twelve-grain $4.95, so two people eat for $14.90; at breakfast, two hot egg sandwiches at $4.95 each is $9.90. Half sandwiches are $6.95–$7.95, a toasted bagel with spreads $2.25 and a scrambled egg burrito $6.50. Monday to Saturday, 7am to 3pm. Priced off their own eHungry ordering page.
Great Lost Bear
Cheese Fries + Cup of Chili · $17.98 for two
A Portland institution on Forest Ave, gloriously eclectic, with one of the region's deepest tap lists — and still open, despite the rumours: the 2023 story was founder Dave Evans selling to longtime staff, not a closure, and the Press Herald priced one of its sandwiches as a current dish this month. Cheese fries are $9.99 and a cup of chili $7.99, so two eat for $17.98, or share the pulled pork nachos at $17.99. The badge is amber on the menu's age, not the restaurant: the owner's PDF is dated February 2025 and the Press Herald's figure last week was a dollar above it, so treat these as a floor. Two cheesesteaks, which this card used to point at, are $32.98.
🌉 South Portland · across the bridge · 11 spots
South Portland is a separate city — four miles and one bridge from the Old Port — and we list it because that is how people here actually eat, not because it is Portland. It is also, unexpectedly, the best breakfast territory in the region: a $9 two-egg plate at Q Street, $7.25 egg sandwiches in Knightville, a $3.50 egg-and-cheese at the Maine Mall, and the two cheapest Italian sandwiches anywhere in this guide. Red's Dairy Freeze on Cottage Rd has been scooping since 1952 and two small cones are $7.00, but its menu is frozen-only, so it is a dessert stop rather than dinner.
DiPietro's Market
Two Small Italian Sandwiches · $10.98 for two
The cheapest Maine Italian in the region, from a 1972 neighbourhood market on Cottage Road with a serious sandwich counter and an enormous beer wall. A small regular ham Italian is $5.49, so two people eat for $10.98; salami and provolone is $7.49 small. Cheese slices are $3.25 and a 16-inch cheese pizza special $13.99, which also feeds two. A ziti bucket is $10.99. The menu page carries no date, so treat the prices as indicative — though with $9 of headroom against the line, it clears whatever the drift.
Ferry Village Market
Two Small Maine Italians · $13.18 for two
A real corner market with a made-to-order deli — Botto's rolls, Carrabassett coffee, breakfast served all day. The Maine Italian with ham and American is $6.59 small and $7.99 large, so two smalls is $13.18; the veggie Italian is the same price and genoa with salami and provolone $7.49. At breakfast, egg and cheese on an English muffin is $4.99, so two with small home fries at $3.99 is $13.97. Hamburgers are $5.99 and a 10-inch cheese pizza $9.99. Closed Sundays. Priced off their own March 2026 takeout menu.
Q Street Diner
Egg Salad + Chicken Salad · $16.00 for two
An unreconstructed short-order diner off the Broadway side, blessed by the Press Herald as “perfect every time”. Egg, chicken and tuna salad sandwiches are $8.00 each, so two people eat for $16.00. The breakfast is the real draw though: “Start Your Engine” is $9.00 for two eggs, toast and potatoes, so two full plates is $18.00, and an egg and cheese is $5.50. Five silver dollar pancakes are $7.50, a hot dog $6.00, oatmeal $5.00. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Their menu PDF was re-shot on 3 July 2026 — the best-dated source in this sweep.
Cia Cafe
Bien Special + Egg and Cheese · $14.85 for two
A coffee-sandwiches-and-art corner shop in Knightville that makes its own English muffins and serves breakfast all day. The Bien Special without egg is $7.25 and an egg and cheese $7.60, so two people eat for $14.85; bacon, egg and cheese or The Sopo are $8.10 each. A bagel with cream cheese, or with hummus and cucumber, is $4.95, so two is $9.90, and a biscuit with butter and jam $3.85. At lunch, Bill's egg salad and the grilled cheese are $8.90 each. Priced off their own 2026 menu images.
Mister Bagel (Maine Mall)
Two Bacon, Egg & Cheese · $10.50 for two
A boiled-bagel counter tucked into the mall plaza, twenty years in, and home to the cheapest hot item anywhere in South Portland: an egg and cheese for $3.50, so two people eat for $7.00. Bacon, sausage or ham with egg and cheese is $5.25, making two $10.50. Plain bagels are $1.75, gluten-free $2.79, cream cheese $4.00 and tofu spread $4.25. Mister Bagel is a Maine brand, individually owned rather than a national franchise — this is a different business from the Forest Ave shop, with its own prices. Closed Sundays; the page carries no date.
Willows Pizza + Restaurant
Two Small Subs · $17.98 for two
A thirty-year family pizza house on Broadway where — counterintuitively — the subs are the value and the pizzas are not. Small imported ham, genoa salami or vegetarian subs are $8.99 each, so two people eat for $17.98; a 10-inch cheese pizza at $12.99 with a cup of soup at $4.99 is the same number. The 14-inch pie jumps to $21.99. Cheesy bread is $7.99 and salads $9.99. Closed Mondays. Priced off Willows' own site and cross-checked against their SpotOn ordering backend, where every overlapping item matched to the cent.
Caribbean Taste
Jerk Chicken Small Plate + Soup · $18.00 for two
Family-run Jamaican out at Cash Corner — jerk chicken, curry goat, oxtail, festival and patties. Order small plates, not “meals”: the jerk or fried chicken small plate is $12.00 while the meal version is $21.00, and oxtail is $30.00, so a single meal already breaks the budget. A small plate with chicken soup at $6.00 is $18.00; a small plate with a beef patty at $3.00 and a veggie patty at $2.50 is $17.50. Five festivals are $5.00, rice and plantain $2.00 each. Priced off their live SpotOn backend — the static menu on their own domain is materially out of date.
Taco Trio
Two Carnitas Tacos + Chips · $17.50 for two
Scratch-made traditional Mexican in Knightville with a self-serve salsa bar. Stay on the taco list and it is a genuine cheap meal: carne asada, carnitas, pollo asado, chorizo and pastor are $6.75 each and a frijoles taco $4.85, so two carnitas with chips at $4.00 is $17.50, and three tacos between two comes to $18.35. Roasted-vegetable and mushroom tacos are $6.00, as are tamales. Burritos and quesadillas are $15–$17, so two of those is $30 and does not clear. Priced off their own Clover ordering backend.
Thai Taste
Noodle Soup + Egg Fried Rice · $19.90 for two
A long-running Thai kitchen on Cottage Road with a big soup list, and the tightest card on this page. Thai noodle soup, tofu and vegetable soup, wonton soup, tom yum, egg fried rice with chopped scallion and the green salad are all $9.95, so any two of them is $19.90 — inside the line, but $21.49 once Maine's 8% lands. Be aware that the $9.95 shelf is the entire budget menu here: Kuay-Teow bowls start at $16.95 and entrées run to $25.99. Priced off their own menu PDF, refreshed 3 July 2026, and cross-checked against their live ordering backend.
Ruby Thailand Cuisine
Lunch Pad Thai + Egg Fried Rice · $19.68 for two
The one South Portland Thai kitchen whose lunch plates dip under $13, which makes this a lunch-only card — dinner entrées are $15–$26. A weekday lunch pad thai, house fried rice or green curry is $12.69, and egg fried rice with scallion $6.99, so two people eat for $19.68. That is $21.25 at the register, so the lighter build is worth knowing: tom yum at $7.49 with the egg fried rice is $14.48. Chive dumplings and vegetable tofu soup are $6.99, fried tofu $7.49. Two lunch specials would be $25.38. Priced off Ruby's own SmilePOS ordering backend.
South Portland House of Pizza
Small Cheese Pizza · $15.95 for two
Greek-style crust since 1991, with a cheddar-mozzarella blend, on Waterman Drive. A small cheese pizza at $15.95 shared two ways is the only build here that works — the grinders are $12.70 and up, so two of those is $25.40. A calzone with sauce, cheese and a topping is $15.95 and french fries $6.95. The badge is amber on the file's age: the owner's menu page was last modified in December 2023, and aggregators already show the small pie drifting to $16.85. Even at that number it clears, which is why it is here at all — but call before you count on $15.95.
📍 Regional & National Chains · 8 spots
Four Maine originals and four nationals — and the street address on every card is deliberate, because “Portland” in a chain locator very often means South Portland. Pizza Hut's nearest store is in Westbrook, Five Guys and KFC are in South Portland and Scarborough, and Jersey Mike's has one store in the entire state. The brands missing from this list mostly publish no per-store price readable from their own sites; this page would rather run short than card a guess.
Amato's
Two Large Real Italians · $15.98 for two
Portland's contribution to American food: in 1902 Giovanni Amato started selling a roll stuffed with meat, cheese, tomato, onion, pepper, olives and oil to dockworkers, and the Italian sandwich was born. The Original Real Italian is $6.59 small and $7.99 large, so two larges is $15.98 and two smalls $13.18. Wednesdays and Thursdays there is a pasta dinner with two meatballs at $9.25 — two of those is $18.50, or $19.98 with tax. Three Portland stores: India St, St John St and Washington Ave; the Broadway and Maine Mall shops are South Portland. Priced off Amato's own takeout PDF, whose footer reads “Printed 07/25”.
OTTO Pizza
12" Create Your Own · $15.50 for two
The brand that made Portland's pizza reputation — thin, floppy, foldable crust and the mashed-potato-bacon-scallion pie that put it on national lists. A 12-inch create-your-own is $13.50 and a meat topping $2.00, so a pepperoni pie for two is $15.50; the 16-inch is $18.50, which is $19.98 at the register. Thick crust adds $1.50 and vegan cheese $2.25. Two Portland stores — 576 Congress St, the original 2009 slice shop, and 250 Read St — while Cottage Rd and John Roberts Rd are South Portland. Slice prices are not published anywhere OTTO controls, so this is whole-pie math.
Portland Pie Company
10" Pizza + Half Caesar · $16.98 for two
The Maine chain whose whole idea is flavoured dough — basil, beer, garlic and wheat — and the beer dough is the reason to pick it. A 10-inch build-your-own is $10.49 and a half Caesar $6.49, so two people eat for $16.98; a 14-inch thin crust at $15.99 also splits two ways. Do not add the cheesy breadsticks at $9.99, which pushes it to $20.48. A half garden salad is $5.99 and baked penne marinara $10.99. The Portland restaurant is 51 York St — their Ocean St address is a corporate office in South Portland, not a dining room.
Mister Bagel (Forest Ave)
Two Bacon, Egg & Cheese · $14.70 for two
A Maine franchise founded in Portland in 1977, with rock-star-named breakfast bagels at prices from another decade. The David Bowie — bacon, egg and American — is $7.35, as are the Jimi Hendrix and Mr B's Original, so two people eat for $14.70. The Elvis Tribute, which adds peanut butter and banana to bacon, egg and cheese, is $8.45, and the Jerry Lee Lewis $8.95. Egg only is $3.95 and the Lady Gaga, avocado with salt and pepper, $5.90. Skip the burritos at $14.75 and up. Breakfast only — the shop closes at noon and all day Monday, and its own lunch page is still under construction.
Domino's Pizza
Mix & Match: two medium pizzas · $13.98
The best-evidenced deal on this page. Store 3001 at Woodfords Corner runs the standing Mix & Match offer — “any 2 or more medium 2-topping pizzas, breads, loaded tots, boneless chicken, pastas, sandwiches, salads or desserts for $6.99 each” — so two medium pizzas is $13.98. Read off Domino's own ordering system, where the store's coupon record shows it valid all seven days with no real end date, which makes it everyday pricing rather than a limited-time promotion. A large with up to five toppings is $11.99 carryout. Worth knowing the price point does drift: this was $5.99 for years.
Papa John's
Two Medium 2-Topping Pizzas · $13.98
The Forest Ave 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. Open daily from 10am to 2am, and to 2:30am on Friday and Saturday, which makes it one of the few genuinely late options this far up Forest Ave. No end date is published on the offer, though the price point is the kind that moves. Read off Papa John's own store page.
Subway
Two Footlong Subs · $16.00 for two
Not interesting, but it is the cheapest confirmable two-person meal actually inside Portland — three stores, on Congress St, St John St and Allen Ave, which is more than most national chains manage here. Footlong oven-roasted turkey, black forest ham, tuna, BMT, spicy italian and grilled chicken are $8.00 each at the Congress St store, so two is $16.00; the meatball is $7.60. Six-inch Deli Faves — cold cut combo, ham and salami, BLT, spicy pepperoni — are $4.00, so two is $8.00. Skip the Protein Pockets: the store's own menu tags them limited-time.
Buffalo Wild Wings
Pick 6 — Meal for Two · $19.99
The Pick 6 — two entrées, two sides and two drinks — is $19.99, confirmed directly with the Waterman Drive store in August 2026. That confirmation matters because Buffalo Wild Wings publishes no per-store pricing anywhere it controls: the offer page carries the bundle, its structured data marks it in stock with no end date, and there is not a single dollar figure on it. So the offer is verifiably current, and the number came from the restaurant rather than the website. Note the two nearest stores — 180 Waterman Dr and 85 Western Ave — are both in South Portland, about ten minutes from downtown, and $19.99 is $21.59 with Maine's tax.
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