$7.00 French dip with gooey Swiss cheese and grilled onions at The Rolling Stoves Gimme Sandwich (North Killingsworth Street and Greeley Avenue, twitter.com/gimmesandwich). It’s nothing fancy, but it’s an excellent, messy stomach-warmer on a cold day and one of the few dips in town that won’t put you into a food coma.

$7.00 Tao hoo tod, addictive wedges of deep-fried tofu rolled in roasted coconut and served with sweet peanut sauce at Chiang Mai.

$6.95 Kalé rice with beef at Kalé, a popular Japanese dish that has more in common with good ol’ American beef stew than with the Thai and Indian curries we know and love.

$6.95 “Snack box” with a fried chicken leg and thigh and three potatoes’ worth of breaded jojos at Fryer Tuck.

$6.50 The chipotle barbecue pork sandwich is a sweet, spicy mess at Robb’s Really Good Food (Southeast 52nd Avenue and Foster Road, 724-8384, twitter.com/RobbsGoodFood).

$6.00 Brunch at Biddy McGraw’s (6000 NE Glisan St., 233-1178) offers your choice of eggs Benedict, French toast, beef hash, pancakes, a Monte Cristo, oatmeal, scones and gravy, veggie cakes, birds in a basket or a half-pound burger from 9 am to 3 pm.

$5.50 Wedge salad: The Midwestern favorite is gaining popularity around town, and the one at Meat Cheese Bread (1406 SE Stark St., 234-1700), with blue cheese, bacon and a soft-boiled egg, is the best value of them all.

$5.25 Oreo Obsession: Of all the lunatic crêpe creations at Mojo Crepes, this one, stuffed with Death by Chocolate ice cream, crushed Oreos, bananas and chocolate syrup, might be the craziest.

$5.00 Fishy Chips are a shamelessly American twist on a classic Spanish snack at Euro Trash (Southeast 43rd Avenue and Belmont Street, facebook.com/EuroTrashCart): breaded, deep-fried and served with herby aioli.

$5.00 Huu muu thawt: The pork ear strips with Chinese black vinegar sauce at Whiskey Soda Lounge taste like sweet-’n’-sour churros.

$5.00 Ka-Pow! Bar: Elizabeth Montes has had so much success with this combination of fine-ground coffee and cocoa butter that she closed her retail shop, Sahagún (sahagunchocolates.com), and now sells exclusively online.

$5.00 Grandma’s keftethes: Dorio owner Taki Chalkiopoulos won’t give up the secret “Greek spices” in his tiny meatballs. Seared and salty outside, moist and slightly sweet inside, each one is a poppable bite of savory Mediterranean goodness.

$5.00 Two-scoop sundae: The pile of Oregon hazelnuts, housemade fudge and drippy amarena cherries at Cool Moon Ice Cream makes kiddies of us all.

$4.50 Frito pie: We’ve had cheaper takes on this über-Texas junk food than the one at Podnah’s Pit (1625 NE Killingsworth St., 281-3700), but they weren’t made with Rodney Muirhead’s amazing red chili.

$4.00 Cheese arepas: These Venezuelan fried corn cakes are filled with cheese and topped with lime cilantro sauce at Fuego de Lotus (Southeast 32nd Avenue and Division Street, fuegodelotus.com).

$3.75 Cheeseburger: The cheapest lunch in the Pearl is the quarter-pounder on an undersized bun at Little Big Burger.

$3.50 Personal pecan pie: Ashley Ragsdale and Jessica Woods have been cranking out tiny pies since 2009, and now sell them directly to the public at Pie Spot (Southeast 32nd Avenue and Division Street, pie-spot.com). Our favorite is the gooey pecan.

$3.25 Quattro formaggio slice: Mozzarella, fontina, provolone, Parmesan and tomato sauce are melted in a deep-dish cornmeal crust at Dove Vivi.

$3.00 Al pastor taco: We hold $3 tacos to a pretty high standard, and Autentica’s (5507 NE 30th Ave., 287-7555) loaded taco al pastor is still a steal at that price.

$2.50 Pork meatball banh mi: You could go for the less adventurous and probably healthier barbecue pork, but Binh Minh Bakery makes a mean mystery-meat sandwich.

$2.50 Shishito pepper skewer: This salty-sweet-smoky snack of grilled chiles is the best thing on the menu at Ping (102 NW 4th Ave., 229-7464).

$2.00 Italian ice: Though it’s temporarily serving exclusively soup, Oregon Ice Works (Southeast 32nd Avenue and Division Street) in summer makes the best coconut-vanilla ice in Oregon.

$1.95 Nutella kolache: Ask the good folks at Happy Sparrow to nuke it first, so the insides ooze out all gooey and warm.

$1.50 Panucho: The version of this Yucatecan favorite at Taqueria la Estacion fills a fried tortilla with bean paste and tops it with lettuce, chicken, onion, tomato, avocado and chiles.

$1.00 Arancini: The delicate and mischievous-feeling Sicilian fried risotto balls at Eastmoreland Market and Kitchen are among the best versions of this popular snack to be found in Portland.

Back to the Cheap Eats 2011 guide.