Chipotle
While Chipotle isn’t even remotely a Tuscaloosa chain or a local business, they do serve nutritious, clean and tasty food. More importantly, you can get a huge meal for cheap if you just know how to order right. Doing this requires a few “secret” tidbits of knowledge: One, you can fit infinitely more food in a bowl than inside a tightly wrapped burrito so order a bowl. Two, everything except for extra meat and guacamole is free, so fill up your bowl with double rice, beans, veggies, etc. And three, a tortilla comes free on the side of any burrito bowl. So for a little under $7 plus the two minutes of work to wrap your own burrito, you can be the King or Queen of BurritoLand for two meals’ worth of food.
Glory Bound Gyro Co.
Glory Bound is a sister company to burger joint Mugshot’s and does a lot of the same things right: meat, melted cheese and a ton of different topping combinations all on warm toasty pita bread. Every Tuesday and Thursday you can get a full gyro plus a pile of thick cut wedge fries for $5. Stack that with the free hummus coupon found on the Campus Special app or coupon booklet, and you now have a feast for just $5.45 with tax.
Taco Mama
Taco Mama is a relatively new addition to Tuscaloosa that opened last spring on University Drive across from Moe’s BBQ. Taco Mama serves standard Mexican fare: tacos, burritos and nachos. The first step to eating cheap there is using your eyeballs to read the sign that states, “All toppings free.” The second step involves judging the difference in the topping ready surface area between two small taco shells, one large burrito wrapper or a giant plate of crispy tortilla chips. Spend $7 on create-your-own nachos and receive a solid pound and a half of cheesy, beefy, guacamole topped goodness.
