It’s 3 p.m. — lunch is a distant memory, and dinner is hours away — then hunger strikes. You’re feeling snacky, but you don’t want to blow your budget on a quick pick-me-up. Don’t worry, you’ve got options: These hand-held bites, all available for under $5, are here to comfort you in your time of need.
Photo courtesy My Empanada
RVA Empanada
$4.50, My Empanada
My Empanada’s scratch-made empanadas and salsas were born from owner Claudia Urrea’s Colombian and South American family recipes. This small Henrico storefront cranks out around 2,000 moon-shaped treats per week, in chicken, beef and veggie varieties. The RVA empanada combines guajillo chile-stewed chicken and mozzarella cheese. Empanadas are four for $12 on Wednesdays at the shop.
Ice Cream Sandwich
$4.29, Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches
This ice cream sandwich eats like a meal, and everyone has a go-to flavor, whether it’s the chocolate chip cookie-studded Cookie Monster or the tangy, brown sugar cookie Key Lime Pie. Thankfully, you’ll find these all over Richmond, from Stella’s Grocery to Outpost Market. Pro tip: Share with a friend.
Fatayer
$4.29, Mediterranean Bakery & Deli
The spinach and feta is by far the most sought after of Mediterranean Bakery’s fatayers, pastry-wrapped hand pies that are popular in the Middle East. This family-run Quioccasin Road shop bakes dozens of fatayers, including chicken, beef and feta, daily. Make it a combo with two sides and don’t sleep on the mujadarra, aka lentils and rice.
Pupusas Revueltas
$1.50, Shelley’s Food, Comida Latina
Shelley’s Salvadoran pupusas are practically perfect, with a thick, griddled masa exterior concealing gooey, melty cheese and either beans, pork or loroco — chopped flower buds. At $1.50 per, you’d be a fool to order anything less than three, which will still keep you under $5 and fill your belly for the rest of the day.
Spring Rolls
$4.75, Tan A (6221 W. Broad St.)
These are what I call “impulse spring rolls,” because they’re affordable and conveniently positioned near the register at the Asian grocery store Tan A. In each pack, you’ll find three expertly composed spring rolls filled with shrimp, lettuce, green onions and vermicelli noodles, served with a tangy peanut sauce for dipping.
Photo by Justin Vaughan
Do-Oni Vegan Onigiri Donut
2 for $4.50, Chum Chum Onigiri
In this steal of a deal, you’ll find two flawlessly cooked sticky rice doughnuts seasoned with furikake, a Japanese rice seasoning of seaweed, sesame seeds and other umami-forward surprises. This vegan snack is filling, so start with one of the individually wrapped doughnuts and save the other for subsequent snacking.
Spanikopita Hand Pie
$4, Perk!
Perk! owner Christophile Konstas drew on her family’s spanakopita recipe for the Bon Air coffee shop’s hand pies. The filling combines spinach, feta and ricotta cheese with a few glugs of Peraspori, Konstas’ family olive oil. In-house baker Kathi Gennett whips up batches every Tuesday morning.
Beef Patty
$2.30, Jamaica House
The subtle heat of Jamaica House’s beef and chicken patties keeps me coming back bite after bite until my patty has mysteriously disappeared, so I always order a second. These Jamaican staples will shower a golden confetti of flaky pastry shards everywhere, so grab extra napkins and snag a D&G cream soda to wash it down.
Photo by Justin Vaughan
Hoptarts
$5, Fat Rabbit
Hoptarts are one of Fat Rabbit bakery’s most beloved and requested items, usually selling out daily. Ellyn Hopper created the filled and frosted pastries as an homage to her much-loved childhood treat, Pop-Tarts. Fat Rabbit offers a rotating selection that features seasonal fruit and fun flavors including the wildly nostalgic s’mores with toasted marshmallow topping.
Gorditas de Chicharron
$3.50, Taqueria Panchito
A well-portioned solo snack, Taqueria Panchito’s gorditas de chicharron feature crispy fried pork skin nestled in a crunchy empanada-like shell loaded with onions, cilantro and shredded cheese. While the chicharrones are hard to beat, you can also opt for gorditas filled with Panchito’s charcoal-roasted chicken.
