Ultra-cheap eats: dinner out for under $5 – open thread

There aren’t many things you can buy for $1 – even a packet of chips from the supermarket costs more than that. But if you search for it, there are places in our capital cities where its possible to eat dinner for under $5.

In Sydney, The Soda Factory isn’t particularly easy to find, and even when you do it’s hard to figure out how to enter. Tip – the bar lies behind a fridge door. We walked in to find the place completely packed – which considering this was a Tuesday night and we were in Surry Hills – home to what seems like thousands of bars and restaurants – showed the $1 hot dogs were a big success.

So how did the hot dogs taste? Pretty good considering the cost. In fact I liked them so much I ate three. The Soda Factory serves lamb, pork, chicken and veggie sausage options. The buns were soft and each hot dog came with its own condiments smothered on top of the dog: one came with a couple of onion rings, another with chopped herbs.

However, there was a one-hour wait to get served and drinks were expensive – our beer cost $9 a bottle – for “boutique” beer. But still, no one was stopping you from going in just to have a $1 hot dog and a good look around. There’s even live music thrown in.

The competition to get patrons through the door in our big cities is hot. That’s why bars are offering great deals to attract customers. Once in the door, venues hope patrons will spend up big on booze.

If a $1 dinner will break your budget, the Toxteth Hotel in Glebe will do one better than that – offering 50 cent chicken wings on Fridays.

In Melbourne you can get oysters for $1 every night between 6pm-7pm at Panama and there are $1 tacos at the Dan O’ Connell Hotel on Thursdays.

Specials proliferate in all our capital cities - where you can easily eat for under $5 – if you really wanted to – every night of the week. Here are some places in Brisbane where you can eat from $2 and dine in Adelaide for under $5.

Where are the places you go to for a cheap meal? Let us know in the comments.