❄️ Minneapolis / St. Paul Meal Deals

Best Cheap Eats in Minneapolis / St. Paul
Two People, Under $20

❄️ Minneapolis / St. Paul  ·  21 verified deals  ·  Updated August 2026

The Twin Cities have a food scene that surprises visitors every time. Somali, Hmong, Eastern European, and James Beard-winning American — all sitting alongside 70-year-old breakfast counters and Jucy Lucy burger joints — at prices that haven't kept up with the coasts.

❄️ Local Twin Cities Meal Deals

🍔 ✓ verified

Matt's Bar

Jucy Lucy — $9.50

The South Minneapolis dive that invented the Jucy Lucy — a molten cheese-stuffed cheeseburger — in the 1950s. A Jucy Lucy is $9.50, so two people each get one for around $19. Cash only; expect a wait.

📍 Minneapolis — Longfellow  ·  ⏳ Daily — cash
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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Kramarczuk's

Goulash $6 · Sausages

A Northeast Minneapolis Eastern European deli and sausage maker since 1954. A bowl of goulash is $6 and house-made sausages, pierogi, and cabbage rolls round it out. Two people eat a hearty plate for around $16. (Skip the $20 Reuben.)

📍 Minneapolis — Northeast  ·  ⏳ Tue–Sat 10a–8p
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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Holy Land

Shawarma Sandwich — $10

A Northeast Minneapolis Middle Eastern deli, grocery, and bakery (a Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives stop). A chicken shawarma wrap is $10 and falafel sandwiches a bit less. Two people eat a halal Mediterranean lunch for around $18.

📍 Minneapolis — Northeast  ·  ⏳ Daily
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
🥖 ✓ verified

Lu's Sandwiches

Banh Mi — ~$6.50

The Twin Cities banh mi standby — sandwiches run about $7 now, so two people eat for around $14. Multiple locations, fast counter service.

📍 Minneapolis — Eat Street  ·  ⏳ Mon–Sat 10a–8p
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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El Taco Riendo

Tacos — ~$2.10

The Northeast Minneapolis taqueria favorite — tacos run about $3.30 (specialty $3.70–3.90), so three tacos each lands two people right around $20.

📍 Minneapolis — Northeast  ·  ⏳ Daily
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
🥟 ✓ verified

Boludo

Argentine Empanadas — $3.50

A Kingfield Argentine spot (with several locations) for hand-folded empanadas — beef, ham-and-cheese, spinach — at $3.50–4 each. Two people share a half-dozen for well under $20. (Their pizzas run higher — stick to empanadas.)

📍 Minneapolis, MN  ·  ⏳ Tue–Sun (downtown)
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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Wally's Falafel and Hummus

Falafel/Shawarma Sandwich — ~$9.75

Dinkytown's falafel institution — falafel sandwiches are $9.99, so two of those hit $20 on the nose; shawarma runs higher, so falafel is the play.

📍 Minneapolis — Dinkytown  ·  ⏳ Daily 11a–10p
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
🌭 ✓ verified

The Wienery

Hot Dogs — from $3.50

A Cedar-Riverside hot-dog dive — a basic Vienna Beef dog is $3.50 and a fully loaded Chicago or Maxwell Street dog $6.25, with cheap burgers and brats too. Two people eat for around $13. Closed Mon–Wed.

📍 Minneapolis — Cedar-Riverside  ·  ⏳ Thu–Sun
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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Taqueria Los Ocampo

Tacos — 6 for $18

A 24-hour Lake Street taqueria (since 2003) for street tacos at about $3 each — six for $18 — plus quesabirria and elotes. Two people share a stack of tacos for around $18.

📍 St. Paul, MN  ·  ⏳ Daily 10am–10pm
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
🍜 ✓ verified

Hmongtown Marketplace

Pho $7 · Egg Rolls $5

The St. Paul Hmong food-stall universe — big plates of stir-fry, sausage and purple sticky rice at stall prices keep two under $20. Note: the market has been running temporarily reduced hours since early 2026, so call ahead.

📍 Saint Paul — North End  ·  ⏳ Daily — cash
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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iPho by Saigon

Banh Mi $3.75 · Bun Bowl $8.95

A University Ave Vietnamese mainstay — banh mi start around $5.30, so two people do sandwiches and a shared appetizer under $20; the noodle bowls have climbed well past the old prices.

📍 Saint Paul — Little Mekong  ·  ⏳ Daily
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
🍜 ✓ verified

Cheng Heng

Cambodian Noodle Soup — $6

A Summit-University Cambodian restaurant on University Ave — a curry noodle soup is $6, sweet-and-sour noodle soup $5.75, and most entrées $6–9. Two people each get a steaming bowl for around $14.

📍 Saint Paul — Summit-University  ·  ⏳ Daily 9:30a–9:30p
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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Trieu Chau

Pho — under $10

A long-running Summit-University Vietnamese spot on University Ave — pho is under $10, eight-piece wontons under $5, plus bun bo hue and rice plates. Two people each get a bowl for around $18. Closed Tue–Wed.

📍 Saint Paul — Summit-University  ·  ⏳ Mon, Thu–Sun 10a–8p
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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Pho Ca Dao

Build-Your-Own Pho — from $5.75

A Little Mekong / Frogtown Vietnamese spot on University Ave where you build your own pho from $5.75 and egg rolls are $2.75. Two people each get a bowl for around $13. Cash only.

📍 Saint Paul — Frogtown  ·  ⏳ Daily ~10a–7p — cash
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🥐 ✓ verified

Trung Nam French Bakery

Banh Mi $3.50 · Croissants $2.25

A Frogtown Vietnamese-French bakery on University Ave — a house banh mi is $3.50 and buttery croissants $2.25–2.50 (almond $4.75). Two people eat sandwiches and pastries for under $12. Closed Sundays.

📍 Saint Paul — Frogtown  ·  ⏳ Mon–Sat 8a–1p
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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El Burrito Mercado

Tortas $9.25 · Tamales $3.32

A West Side (District del Sol) Mexican grocery, deli, and cantina, family-run since 1979 — a traditional torta is $9.25 and a pork tamale $3.32. Two people each get a torta for around $18.

📍 Saint Paul — West Side  ·  ⏳ Daily
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
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Gopher Bar

Coney Dog — $4.50

A Lowertown dive (since the 1930s) famous for the coney dog — a regular or cheese coney is $4.50 and egg rolls $5. Two people eat coneys with sides for under $20. Cash only.

📍 Saint Paul — Lowertown  ·  ⏳ Daily — cash
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💡 Pro tip: All deals are community-verified but prices and availability change. Always check the restaurant's website or app before making a special trip — and if something's expired, flag it on our main directory so we can update it.

📍 Regional Chains

Bigger than one storefront, smaller than the home-page national list — verified on each chain's own published menus.

🏰 ✓ verified

White Castle

Sliders À La Carte · Breakfast Combos — Two Under $20

The slider empire's northern outpost — four castles split between Minneapolis (Central Ave NE, University Ave) and St. Paul (Rice St, White Bear Ave). Our July 2026 cart read at the chain's Las Vegas castle sets the pattern: Original Sliders $1.39 à la carte — ten built one by one is $13.90, cheaper than the bundled Shareable Meal unless you want its fries and drinks — the Breakfast Bun combo (sausage-egg-&-cheese slider, hash brown nibblers, coffee) $7.97, two breakfasts for $15.94, and the Crispy Chicken Combo $9.56, two for $19.12, while beef combos run past the line. Prices shift castle to castle, so run the same math on your store's menu in the app before you order.

📍 Twin Cities, MN (4 castles)  ·  ⏳ Many open late — check your castle
🗺️ Map🌐 Order
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Taco John's

Daily Deals — $1.39 Taco Tuesdays · $2.79 Taco Bravo Thursdays

The Cheyenne-born West-Mex chain (1969, ~300 stores in 22 states) — Minnesota is its biggest state, and the in-town store on St. Paul's Rice St (plus a ring of metro-suburb stores) runs the chain-published Daily Deals: $1.39 crispy tacos all day Tuesday (they invented Taco Tuesday — and held the trademark until 2023), $3.19 Meat & Potato breakfast burritos Wednesday, $2.79 Taco Bravo Thursday, and $1.39 crispy tacos after 8pm every single night. Two people taco-crawl for $8–12 on any deal day, Potato Olés on the side. Prices are published chain-wide on tacojohns.com (exclude tax, participating stores, limited-time guarantee) — confirm at your store.

📍 St. Paul, MN (Rice St · + metro suburbs)  ·  ⏳ Tue/Wed/Thu deals · $1.39 tacos nightly after 8
🗺️ Map🌐 Menu📊 Prices
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Fuzzy's Taco Shop

Breakfast Burritos All Day — Two for $14–15.38

The Fort Worth-born Baja taco chain — about 100 shops across 14 states — with its lone Minnesota store on Washington Ave in the North Loop. The Breakfast Whenever menu is served all day: bacon-potatoes-egg-&-cheese and chorizo-potatoes-egg-&-cheese burritos are $7.69, bacon-egg-&-cheese is $7.19, and potatoes-egg-&-cheese $6.89 — two burritos run $14–15.38 any hour the store's open. Prices read from the store's own online menu, July 2026.

📍 Minneapolis, MN (North Loop · 701 N Washington Ave)  ·  ⏳ Breakfast served all day
🗺️ Map🌐 Menu
🍕 ✓ verified

Jet's Pizza

$5 Off Any Specialty Pizza Online — Medium All Meaty $17.87

The Detroit-style original — Sterling Heights, Michigan, 1978, the chain that made the buttery, caramel-crusted square a national thing — rings the Twin Cities with ten suburban stores — Anoka, Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Minnetonka, New Hope and Plymouth. The play is the $5 Off Any Specialty Pizzas deal built into the chain's online ordering menu: a medium All Meaty (pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, bacon, hamburger) listed at $22.87 on our August 2026 read at the chain's Denver store and rang up $17.87 with the deal applied — under the line with room for tax, and a medium is eight big slices, plenty for two. It's a deals-menu item so it can rotate out — and if it does, texting your order to your store takes 15% off menu-priced pizza. Prices vary by store, so run the math at yours before checkout.

📍 Twin Cities metro (10 suburban stores)  ·  ⏳ Online ordering deal · limited time
🗺️ Map🌐 Menu📊 Prices

🇺🇸 Also Valid Nationwide

These chain deals work anywhere in the country, including Twin Cities.

🧀 ✓ verified

Buffalo Wild Wings

Pick 6 — Meal for Two from $19.99

The Pick 6 lets two people build a shared meal — choose six items across wings, tenders, and sides — starting around $19.99. A reliable two-for-$20 play at any BWW. Dine-in or takeout; pricing varies slightly by market.

📍 Nationwide  ·  ⏳ Ongoing
🗺️ Map🌐 Site
🍝 ✓ verified

Olive Garden

Lunch Duos — Lunch for Two Under $20

Mon–Fri before 3pm, build a Lunch Duo from mini pasta bowls, sandwiches, and flatbreads, each with soup or salad — two people typically lunch for under $20 (prices vary by location).

📍 9 metro locations  ·  ⏳ Mon–Fri to 3pm
🗺️ Map🌐 Site

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